I have to say, I feel like I’m on quite a roll right now with brilliant movie choices. That’s not to say that I expected a former Best Picture winner to be terrible, but it wouldn’t be the first movie to be considered a very poor winner of the top gong. In fact, Birdman often appears on worst winners of all time lists, but I fail to see how that is the case, especially when perfectly average movies like Oliver! (1968) have won it in the past.
Often lauded as a pretentious film buff’s movie, Birdman actually felt more like real cinematic artistry to me. Perhaps that’s a pretentious thing for me to say in itself, but there was just something so genuinely interesting about this one.
Starring Michael Keaton in the titular role as a fading actor who is attempting a Hollywood comeback since his popularity has waned ever since his portrayal of a glitzy, blockbuster superhero. As opening night gets ever closer, the attempts to re-build his career become more difficult than he anticipated.
Put simply, I’m just flabbergasted at how much I enjoyed this, even if I can’t claim to understand it all. Everyone involved, take a bow. This is quite clearly an accumulation of months of hard work and rehearsal, and it shows beautifully on the screen.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu is a madman. Whilst (so far) the only other movie of his that I’ve seen is The Revenant, it seems that he is intent on making the most complexly produced movies possible. And I am so appreciative of that. Birdman is a demonstration of the technical mastery of filmmaking at its finest. Filmed and edited to appear as one single shot, watching it felt like watching a choreographed waltz, making it one of the most unique live-action movies I’ve seen in a long while.
What makes Birdman work above all else? The talent of its cast. Every single actor is on the same page, with each of them giving us everything they have. Ed Norton, Amy Ryan and Emma Stone stand out, but Michael Keaton? He is the life and soul of this film. The fact that Eddie Redmayne beat him out for the Academy Award in 2015 is absolutely baffling to me – he is the epitome of perfect in this role and should have easily swept that awards season.
I won’t pretend it’s perfect. Whilst its jazz percussion soundtrack is impressive, it can also be distracting at times. Whilst its themes are interesting in their experimentality, it’s kind of frustrating that there are so many different interpretations of the film’s meaning. Whilst it is often a joy to watch, there are one or two sequences that make the film drag on too long. And yet, I can’t help but love it.
When this movie was released, I could not have been more indifferent about seeing it. But now? I’m just annoyed I didn’t watch it sooner. Catch it while you can.
Birdman is currently available to stream on Disney+ in the UK.
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Overall Enjoyability Rating: ½
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