Grade: A+
Verdict: “Birdman” is constantly on the verge of not working. But it does and the result places it high on the list of best movies of 2014.
Alfred Hitchcock tried the one-shot-film in 1948 with one of his best movies, “Rope,” creating an experiment unlike any other in filmmaking.
More than 50 years later, Alejandro González Iñárritu tried the same trick in “Birdman” by making a film without a cut. Iñarritu, however, achieves this technique by using editing. This lack of cuts places the viewer inside the head of the main character in a different way than most recent movies, making “Birdman” a speeding train of thought that never stops until the screen goes black. Riding this train is one of the best film experiences of the year.
The movie tells the story of Riggan (Michael Keaton), once a famous actor in the Birdman blockbuster movie franchise, who is trying to stage and act in a Broadway play. He hopes this play will prove he is also capable of doing art.
Iñárritu makes sure to show early on he will not let reality dictate his story. In the opening scene, Riggan is meditating while floating above the ground. All he is wearing is a dirty and oversized underwear, adding to the irony and absurdity of the situation. The scene effectively introduces the story of a man, unsure about his talents and his role in the world, who is about to expose himself before the critical Broadway audience.
The film uses images in this fashion constantly, where the laws of physics are broken in order to show what this man is experiencing. At first, these scenes are disconcerting, for they seem to be out of place in this drama. However, Iñárritu insists in them, just like he insists in the lack of cuts.
And slowly something magical begins happening: everything works. Although they seem like gimmicks at first, they later on become integral parts of the movie. Iñárritu challenges the viewer who can either stay in an ordinary and often boring world or fully embark into this story, letting the characters and scenes overwhelm the senses. And Iñárritu ends up winning this battle.
In one of the best scenes of the movie, Riggan gets locked out of the theater just before he must take the stage. As he runs through Times Square in his underwear, there is the comic nature of the situation, the tension of getting back into scene on time and the fear of being exposed to an entire world. In one scene, Iñárritu defines “Birdman” and everything it speaks about. Keaton’s performance is nothing short of impressive. If Iñárritu succeeded in creating such a complex and nuanced character, Keaton is greatly responsible for this success.
It is thrilling to watch a film in the dark room, on the big screen that, someday, years from now, may still be studied and remembered. These types of movies do not come often and if there is a film worth your hard earned dollars this month, its name is “Birdman.”
