Friday 30 January 2015

Birdman 2015 english movie Review

Birdman 2015 english movie Review


Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman is a film about hope; about love, both lost and found; about finding the best version of yourself and accepting it; about loving what you do and doing what you love. But mostly, it's about a bunch of foul-mouthed washed-up or nobody actors trying to get their first Broadway play off the ground successfully.

Michael Keaton is Riggan Thompson, who is most popularly known for playing the superhero character Birdman in three blockbuster films in the early 90s. He turned down a fourth installment in the franchise back then, and has done a bunch of nothing since then. What makes this situation funny is that Keaton actually played Batman in two films from 1989-92. Riggan even comes equipped with a Birdman alter-ego who talks in a hoarse voice, much like Batman.

So, Riggan decides to mount a Broadway play (initially to disastrous results) with a cast of actors that includes Naomi Watts, Edward Norton and Andrea Riseborough. Also in the mix is his assistant/daughter Emma Stone, his ex-wife Amy Ryan and his best friend/lawyer/producer Zach Galifianakis.

Birdman is like a Broadway play, much like the one the characters seem to be doing. The camera, the actual camera, follows each character around, as a normal person would, as they go about having conversations with each, fighting with each other dressed in their underwear, having sex on top of the stage lights, or simply having a breakdown.

Much like a stage play, the line between scenes is blurred, as one act ends and another one seamlessly begins. The camera work, by now-legendary cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, flows with the grace and delicate flexibility of a ballet dancer, almost floating in the air as it goes from one end of the backstage building to the other.

One aspect of Birdman that is hard to get past is the constant flow of dialogue. If ever a film has maintained a steady barrage of words throughout its running length, it's Birdman. In fact, this film is the most reliant on conversation between its protagonists since the final film in Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy. And the dialogues themselves are a thing of beauty. The characters say things that range from unabashed, no-holds-barred, cuss-filled one-liners that make your either chuckle with glee or lough out loud, to their general insights about life that generally entertain you with how true their social commentary is.

Sample this: Michael Keaton, while imagining having a conversation with his Birdman alter-ego, looks at himself in the mirror and says "you look like a turkey with leukimia". Or when Edward Norton says about a woman at a bar, "she looks like she just licked a homeless man's ass". These are some of the most politically incorrect things that you will hear someone saying, things that should shock and stun you. Instead, you laugh your heart out at the honesty with which the various characters conduct themselves.

Unlike most films about previously successful professionals who end up trying their hand at something new, Birdman is not an inspirational film. Sure, Riggan finds a new side to himself that he didn't know existed by the end, and the play turns out to be successful. But the film doesn't try to manipulate you, trying to pump you up like a "Just Do It" style sports commercial. In fact, the realization dawns upon him during a mostly funny extended fantasy sequence involving a giant bird trying to destroy New York.

Even though the film is about a Broadway play, it's actually much more a sum of all of its key players. It's all about relationships that are built over the course of it, and those that are broken. And director Inarritu, who's previous films have had a large cast of interconnected characters, is the perfect man for the job of handling all of his players.

Inarritu, who also co-wrote the film with Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr and Armando Bo, lets his cast flourish, letting them go at each other in long, uncut, one-shot sequences, as he stands by gently guiding them in the direction he wants to go. He takes a story that doesn't have as much comedic potential on first glance, and makes a film that is deeply funny, yet deeply insightful. He not only blurs the line between different sequences, he also blurs the line between fantasy and reality when it comes to Keaton's solo scenes.

A special mention for Antonio Sanchez, who provides an off-beat, drums-based musical score that only helps in highlighting the comedy within each sequence.

Keaton's performance is one of the most meta moments in cinematic history. Much like the character he's playing, Keaton seems to have found his groove in an uncharacteristic and surprisingly self-deprecatory role. Not only is his comic timing pitch perfect, but the earnestness that he displays in the film's dramatic moments is stunning to watch. Keaton is only surpassed by blinding performance by Edward Norton, as a popular theater actor with his own eccentricities. Every single time Norton is on screen, you start laughing in anticipation of the next abomination that would surely come from his mouth. He does the most shocking things with ease of a kid shoveling dirt in a park.

Emma Stone takes you completely by surprise as Keaton's drug-addict daughter who believes in the power of social media. Anyone, including me, who would've ever doubted her acting capabilities before this film, her monolog outburst against her father somewhere near the middle of the film should shut us up for good. Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Andrea Riseborough play their parts with aplomb, managing to be funny when you least expect it.

Considering the number of months left in 2015, there might be a small possibility that you end up finding a funnier film than Birdman this year. But I could bet my (insert collateral here) that you won't find a smarter comedy than this genius piece of cinema.


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