the unexpected brilliance of cinema

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2015)

Birdman , though the name is deceiving is not a triple a superhero movie you would expect crowding the Hollywood cinema in this age and era of movie , but this a movie that i can best describe as an experience. Birdman gets nearly every aspect of a good cinema right and in this review i will breakdown each aspect and giving you all the reasons why you need to watch this movie and also validate the fact as to why i rated this 8 and not a shot 10.
1) Casting and Performances :- One of the best things in the movie is the wonderfully cast roles.The movie hold an exclusive banner with a stigma array of actors ranging from industry veterans like Michael Keaton and Edward Nortan as well as others like Zach ,Emma stone , Naomi watts ,Andrea Riseborough and so on giving a stellar performance with a well clicked sense of humor and comedic timing. Michael Keaton fits the role perfectly with his brief history of being batman in it's previous iterations. Michael Keaton in this movie is named Riggan once popular for his action superhero movie birdman is now off the fame ladder and tries to make himself significant in the industry with a book adapted play shown in Broadway. Both Michael and Edward Norton taking leads of sort display a spectrum of emotions each of them having a unique charismatic peak. On a whole birdman "shouts casting done perfectly " in every frame.
2) Direction :- For people who watched Alejandro's previous movie biutiful starring Javier they are certain about one thing, a visual treat which is pleasureful to our eyes. Alejandro's camera is the first person perspective of a real event grounded in reality with each stance of the movie depicting fear , emotions ,characters even without the need of a solid dialogue delivery. Birdman is shot with some really clever camera and editing tricks to make the movie feel like it's shot in a single go. Lighting is perfectly lit , sounds are realistic , angle of shot is dispensed with utmost beauty. It's a rare trait that not many directors inhibit.
3) Story :- The story as seen from it's surface is simple and mild going through the struggles ,fears , pain , ego and many other emotions of a man trying to redeem himself and become significant in the world, but what really surprises is the ending that according to me is one of the most well thought out endings for a movie. The movie can be broadly divided into 4 acts , the introduction , the practice , the execution and the finale. The introduction begins with the director showing the type of life Riggan played by Michael Keaton lives , the present , his career and his troubled relationships with his daughter and wife. The director does a clean job in marking out the subtleties in their loose characterized bond with Riggan focusing on his Broadway play , his daughter trying to cope with loneliness and her need for drug use. The second act holds place exclusively for Edward Norton .A stellar performance by him ( for the second time in the year after grand Budapest hotel ). Norton lifts the already lifted show playing a character named Mike , an actor who believes he is a person with only a character he plays but no natural character of his own, more like water in a container taking shape of what he is placed in. The third act is where the movie falls short just a bit with the same story , and narrative dragging on with a bit pacing issue. What really stands out in the movie is the final act , the act that depicts ideologies of realization , self consciousness , self control , ego burst and perfection and as stated previously , an ending that truly makes a difference. The story does a brilliant job in touching concepts and showing the life behind the curtains. Story of actors struggling to act ,story of actors trying to stay in characterized control despite their real life emotional breakdown ,a actors striving to be significant , fights with reviewers and so on , a complete drama package.
The reason why i rated this movie 8 is mainly because the movie drags on a bit in the middle and a lot of characters are left out with little to no conclusion.
This is movie that is more of art, it's clearly depicted as Alejandro's playground of thoughts , his ideas , this movie is a painting whose beauty can witnessed more than once.