BIRDMAN, directed by Alejandro G. Iñarritu (2014) Written Review (3/5) Hitchcock in 1948 directed a film that had the idea of telling a story as if it were just one shot, known as Rope. Of course, at the time, it was impossible to do so, because it was shot in film. So, Hitchcock used filmmaking tricks to cut each take in seemless moments, thus making the audience believe it was all done in one shot. Iñarritu sought to use the same technique in Birdman. The result is quite fascinating in terms of storytelling. It follows the story of a man, Riggan Thomson, who was once a huge icon in American cinema, but not through his talent as an actor, rather through the medium itself: action hero movies. Which action hero movie? Birdman, of course! Its not coincidental the fact that Michael Keaton, the man who played Batman in the early 90s, is portraying that role. And we see the consequences of being an action hero, but unfortunately the protagonist is not able to continue his career as an actor of talent, someone who can make a name for himself, someone who can be remembered as Riggan Thomson, instead of Birdman. So, how does Riggan try to make a comeback? Through a broadway play, one that he writes, directs and stars as the main character. Sadly, the journey he takes until opening day is not a kind one. The artistic direction, the photography, the lighting, the sets, the colours used, the clothes that each character wears, it is all intentional to take you on this visually satisfying and climactic journey, at times real, at times imaginary. And this is all taken place in one theatre building, supposedly shown in just one shot. Is it a masterpiece though? Or is it an attempt at a masterpiece, but fails dramatically? Neither. It could have been an amazing film, but ther are a couple of moments that I felt could have been better. For instance, the cgi scene (lets call it that) is creative enough, it serves its purpose, but it was too modern for my taste. It could have been truly thrilling if it combined with old style filmmaking techniques as seen in the Adam West Batman series, for instance. But this is me nitpicking, because it does dive into the nature of the character, watching him succumb to his Birdman thoughts. I would have personally preferred it been shown through a different way. However, there is a scene that nearly ruined the entire film, especially in terms of character development: the last scene of the movie is an unforgiving cop out move by the director. There was an ending that I wanted, an ending I was afraid of, one that you start to foresee at a certain point, but at the same time, it makes sense, to impact a world who only sees you as something that you dont want to be, and forever be remembered as who you are, and not what people want you to be. And then theres an ending after the ending that I wanted... If not for that second ending, it would have been a pretty great and refreshing film. Not a masterpiece, but certainly great. Yes, you might say its pretentious, since its obviously trying to be something different and unique, but I always applaud pretentious films, because of those reasons, even if it doesnt succed at what it wanted to be. Which is definitely the case with Birdman. Watch it, even if the last scene of the movie is disrespectful to the entire movie and cinema itself. Trailer: https://youtube/watch?v=-efiEOb2qEU
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 00:37:19 +0000
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