You can watch youtube review HERE!!! Ps - I filmed it as a one take.
Unfortunately for the past few weeks I haven't had enough time to do written reviews as I've been busy with editing several videos on top of my usual video reviews and also family due to the holiday season. I do plan to catch up with several reviews but will either skip or write less for films I don't really feel the need to talk about. But I thought I'd start the year with the film I saw on New Year's Eve...Birdman.
Birdman is the latest film from Mexican Auteur Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu who previously made the dramatic downers Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful. This time around he brings a dramatic comedy set in the world of Theatre vs Hollywood and the pursuit of art. The film sports a fantastic cast with Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Ryan and the very underrated Andrea Riseborough. From a fantastically meta screenplay that is laugh out loud but also filled with soul and depth.
Keaton's Riggan is washed up ageing actor who played the titular superhero Birdman in several films twenty years ago (exactly how long ago Keaton played Batman). Riggan is now directing and starring in a play he adapted from a Raymond Carver short story on Broadway and the film takes place over three previews and the first performance where it will be reviewed by the incredibly spiteful critic Tabitha Dickinson. Riggan is doing all of this so he can leave behind a legacy that can be respected rather than tight bird-shaped latex.
This film is about art, particularly acting and the actors are absolutely fantastic. Michael Keaton gives his best performance with Norton being a great foil/partner in crime playing a similar character to himself. The rest of the cast is strong and I really hope we get more Andrea Riseborough in our films. Now their performances are both loud and subtle, fusing stage and film acting into a very balanced combination. These performances all derived from a brilliantly meta, hilarious and poignant script and aided by Emmanuel Lubezki's gorgeous cinematography which I shall now discuss.
Lubezki is a master of movement, lighting and composition. He's a frequent collaborator of Inarritu's Mexican brother-in-film Alfonso Cuaron who he'd work with to create long unbroken takes or at least the illusion of them and Terrence Malick who he'd create beautifully spiritually images with. Birdman is an extension of the former with touches of the latter; made to look as if the film was shot in one long take (with the exception of cuts at the start and end). This adds an infectious energy to the film while also aiding the performances with their theatre influence and adding a spot of fun if you're film fan as you'll be looking for where it most likely cut (not at all taking away from the experience of the film).
This film is an absolutely blast while also being artistically genius and the best superhero movie of 2014 (I really want a real Birdman movie). The score is also quite fantastic being mostly comprised of just improvised drumming. What makes this film even more special is that it's a unique and original work that actually got green-lit in a world seemingly only hungry for comic book and franchise films. The fact that it looks like is cost four times more than its budget is just a testament to the craft of all the people involved. This is a film that makes me just want to go out and make a film and that is one of the best compliments I can give.
5 out of 5 stars.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
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