An Innovative Achievement

Rating: Null/10 (16 November 2014)

From the richness of "Babel" and "21 Grams", we know Alejandro González Iñárritu has a knack for directing but he transcends to even greater levels of excellence with his astonishing work in "Birdman". He moves the camera, frames the shots, and sets up the material superbly but further dazzles you with his diligence in making a theatrical film experience. Iñárritu's "Birdman" is one of the few exhilarating cinematic experiences of 2014. It's the type of movie that not only dares some arduous and fresh challenges, but actually surmounts them gracefully.
"Birdman" develops a technique first established with "Gravity" last year in filming entire blocks of time within a scene in a single take. Emmanuel Lubezki helps Iñárritu capture "Birdman" with as little cutting in the film editing as possible. It slides around the actors and objects for nearly two hours without any noticeable moments where Iñárritu categorically moves from one separate shot to another.
For 120 minutes, we see "Birdman" fly with this technique perfected by the directing and photography. The spirit of the theater is uncorked by this "gimmick", but to call it a "gimmick" is feels unjust--it's a move of artistic genius and technical mastery to enhance the storytelling. In addition to relentlessly gliding around the actors and through the sets, the cinematography is softly-lit and possesses a tender radiance, making "Birdman" easy on the eyes.
"Birdman" is one of a kind. In the most elegant ways, it pushes the boundaries of art film in mainstream cinema. The screenplays harnesses a meta theme to a dark ideology and comments on show business, specifically how the reputations of actors become linked to certain defining roles, the difficulty in achieving beyond that hump, and the criticism involved with show business in the media-obsessed world of today. With so much creativity on display in the technical and acting departments, the finely formulated dialogue should fade into the background but it doesn't.
The cast of "Birdman" slays the project and unifies their talents for a spectacular result.
For Michael Keaton playing this role must be so personal to him, and that seeps through from his real life into the fictional life of his character. Keaton has his fair share of "Look At Me!" moments, such as when his character violently demolishes his dressing room, but I find his acting to be more thought-provoking in fragile and sensitive than the noisy scenes, as when he intimately speaks with his ex-wife and daughter about the past. (Though one cannot help but stare silly at Keaton knocking every loud moment out of the park, like when he, slightly inebriated, confronts and disparages a New York Times theater critic at a bar.) This performance is capable of winning him Best Actor at the Oscars and a win would certainly be deserved.
Edward Norton is the right-hand man to Keaton's splendid leading performance. Norton conducts himself with a buoyant, ceaseless energy and won't be overlooked by anyone in the audience. Naomi Watts continues her string of post-"Diana" supporting roles, and she makes her role in "Birdman" terrific, tearing into the audience's emotions to larger extents than other actresses would be able to do in the role. Emma Stone is receiving raves for her work here, though I found her to be a step below Keaton, Watts, and Norton, there's something she brings to her work--a tranquil, quiet stillness most noticed in her final scene with Keaton--that justifies the praise. Amy Ryan and Zach Galifanakis round out the cast. Though they are of the lesser utilized additions to the ensemble, they squeeze everything out of their briefer scenes.
"Birdman" is resourcefully made, commandingly acted, and ambitiously envisioned; it's an innovative achievement.
* * * * / * * * *
Grade: A