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.
