Birdman Review
Birdman is new experience of seeing movies. This takes us into a mans head, but not just any man, a former big time celebrity that has an alter ego that he or the public will never let him forget about.
The movie follows a man named Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) an actor that hit it big in the late eighties and early nineties by playing a comic superhero named Birdman but has since fallen into obscurity, if only he knew how popular superhero roles would be. He is putting together a play that he is writing, directing and staring in himself. It's going bad and an actor needs to be replaced, so they get Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) a method actor if there ever was one, while on the stage it is all real to him, but off his life seems like an inconsequential illusion. Riggan also has his daughter Sam (Emma Stone) working for him as his assistant, shes out of rehab and doesn't have much sympathy for her out of touch, unpopular father. Meanwhile there's Riggans lawyer and friend Jake (Zack Galifianakis) that is dropped into the center of all the ego, pressure and bad luck that this production brings.
The movie is constructed to look like it was all done in one shot. Alfred Hitchcock tried this back in 1948 with Rope, but had to use obvious tactics to hide his cuts. Birdman is much more elegant with its execution of its technique. The camera pans and follows its characters throughout a scene and there are the time-lapses and what-not to compress time.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu infuses the scenes and locations with atmosphere, with a moody stage and dusty dressing rooms. Everything that can go wrong on this production goes wrong.
But beyond the impressive one shot illusion is the acting. The acting in this movie is genuinely amazing. Michael Keaton is so unashamedly raw, Edward Norton is riveting as an uncompromising actor (which he actually is), we've never seen Zack Galifianakis be so engaging, Emma Stone is as sharp as a razor. The one shot technique is nice and well executed but ultimately we don't need it because we are given these amazing performances to suck us into this world.
There is a scene in the movie where Riggan has a moment of raising tension with a critic and what he says, with full intensity and conviction nearly scared me from writing my review. There are a few long scenes like this throughout the movie but this is the one that struck me the deepest (for obvious reasons).
The movie is so interesting because Michael Keatons career has indeed gone into a slump and he has fallen off the public radar. His casting as this character is so pivotal to the movie you have to wonder if the role was written for him or even if the movie would be one drop as effective without him.
It is true that since Batman Returns Michael Keaton's career has not been deserving of him. I cant really think of any truly big movies that he has been involved with in the last decade. If you have had any doubts about his ability or have forgotten what an acting force he is then Birdman will remind you.
Rating: 4 stars out of 4
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar