Birdman Review: Misery as depicted in a single take

Micheal Keaton snaps his fingers in Birdman

Photo Credit: Fox Searchlight

Birdman

A

 A review by Frederick Cholowski

I’m a big sucker for long tracking shots. I’ve always loved the ability to linger on sequences and follow them without having to cut away. So imagine my glee watching Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), the latest film from director Alejandro González Iñárrit that attempts to replicate being shot as a single super long tracking shot. But Birdman ends up being so much more than that in fact it’s the film version of a tight rope act; a film with so many strange moving parts that at any point one can feel as though it could collapse at any moment. Some of the film’s elements, the stunt casting, the magical realism, the filmmaking style, or the in your face satire could cause the film to derail instantly; but ultimately it never does. Instead Birdman is one of the most engaging, exhilarating, and excellent films of the year.

Birdman transports the audience into the world of Riggan (Michael Keaton) a washed up actor and former star of the extremely popular Birdman franchise. Riggan wants to prove himself as an artist instead of being labeled a one pony and so in a huge stab at relevancy he adapts, directs, and stars in “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love” on Broadway. The film takes us through the previews of the shows and up to opening day as Riggan has to deal with a temperamental actor Mike (Edward Norton) who never ceases to do insane things, his formerly drug addicted daughter Sam (Emma Stone), his best friend/always panicking producer Jake (Zach Galifianakis), and his growing misery and insanity. Riggan struggles throughout the development of his play to prove his relevance and worth not only to everyone around him, but himself.

The best part about Riggan’s adventure is that it a tale full of sorrow, but it’s never one that dwells in it. The film mixes in a whole boatload of satire to offset the pure melancholy of Riggan’s life and it works extremely well. The film is very funny at points and while the satire isn’t necessary subtle it works for what it’s trying to do. The film’s satire is almost making fun of itself at points as a wink towards audience; sometimes being so obvious it seems it has to be self-parody. Again it works though as this could have been a drudgingly depressing film through and through (like some of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s previous efforts) but it manages to transcend that and remain consistently entertaining through the use of comedy.

It also helps that the character’s developed in the film all feel three dimensional and don’t end up being “Hollywood satire archetypes”. One of the best examples of these characters is Edward Norton’s magnificent Mike whom must have seemed like a terrible character on paper, but Edward Norton’s performance take the character into a galaxy all on its own. Sure the character is crazy but he has a heart too, he’s a man who can only display real emotions on stage and is seemingly flailing through life everywhere else. Edward Norton is the best he’s been in a long time really bringing a tour de force performance here. Emma Stone’s character could have been a disaster too but the film adds enough dimensions to make the character interesting. Sure Sam on the surface is a satire of Hollywood daughters but the material has enough heart that it works extraordinarily well.

The best character of them all though is the one at the film’s center. Could Michael Keaton be seen as pure stunt casting for this role, absolutely, but does it work, absolutely. This film is a showcase of just how great of an actor Michael Keaton really is as he handles so much strange and at times contrasting material with such grace and power. He transforms Riggan into a complex and tragic figure, one that is super compelling at that. Riggan is equal parts a figure who gets to wallow in sorrow as well as a figure whom the audience can get a good laugh out of and Keaton manages to balance these traits perfectly. Keaton balances on the tight rope with grace and skill and ultimately delivers one of the year’s most compelling performances.

Finally I cannot go on with this review any longer without getting in detail about the way this film is shot. As I mentioned off the top of the review, the film plays out as if it is one continuous tracking shot without cuts. Of course there are cuts in this film and they are obvious even if you don’t know that much about the language of filmmaking; but the cuts are disguised very well and didn’t break my suspension of disbelief even if I could see what parts the film where the edits occurred. But even if the filmmaking style worked on its own it actually has to work within the context of the film, which is achieved in Birdman. The filmmaking style adds energy to the proceedings as the camera weaves through hallways, spins around scenes and allowed to follow characters through routines for longer periods of time. One of the best shot sequences in the film involves the camera navigating Times Square as it follows nearly naked Riggan, after locking himself out of the theatre, on a desperate ploy to get to the stage in order not to miss his part in the final scene of the play. The camera weaving in and out of the crowd that forms around him adds to the energy and ultimate insanity of the sequence and is one of the many examples of the moving camera adding intrigue to sequences that might not feel as lifelike without it.

Movement along with the characters isn’t the only thing that the tracking shot format is able to achieve though; the method also allows the camera to linger on character moments and ultimately make them have more meaning and power. One of the best scenes in Birdman involves the camera simply lurking on Sam’s face after she delivers a speech to her father. Normally in film we’d cut from her speech to a reaction shot from her father, but instead the camera is forced to linger on Sam herself after the speech is delivered and the audience gets to watch her facial expressions change as she’s gripping on to different emotions before ultimately walking away. It seems so small but it adds so much to the scene. The audience probably could guess Riggan’s reaction but Sam’s is much more ambiguous and interesting. Because of the nature of a single take tracking shot, character moments like this are allowed to breathe as the camera really can’t move until the characters do, allowing for fascinatingly unique prospective on sequences.

Ultimately though it’s the sum of all of Birdman’s parts that make it such and intriguing film. The film’s ability to put all of its elements together is a true tight rope act that never weavers across its two hour running length. Birdman is a unique and fascinating filmmaking experience and one of the best films of 2014.