Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a 2014 production by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. It stars some Hollywood’s best with Micheal Keaton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. The movie won 4 Oscars, including Best Motion Picture, beating out the likes of Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Furthermore, the movie has 87 Metascore and 7,7 stars on IMDb.
A Summary
Birdman tells the story of superhero movie star Riggan (Micheal Keaton) who tries to make a name for himself on the stage, instead of only being known as ‘the actor who plays Birdman’. He writes, directs, produces en stars in his play. However, the theatre scene is not a big fan of Hollywood stars. All along the way, he faces resistance to his play, including critics and even his own actor, famous theatre actor Mike Shiner (Edward Norton).
Riggan has trouble leaving his Birdman history behind. In public, everybody wants autographs and photo’s, because he is Birdman. Riggan himself hears a voice from Birdman in his head, a voice that tells him that his play won’t succeed and he needs to get back to making superhero movies.
After getting Mike back in line, he needs to focus on a New York Times critic who could make or break his play with her review. She tells him before she’s even seen the play that she will write a bad review. The explanation? She is not a fan of Hollywood actors and their attitude. Riggan whole career and finances depend on this play being a success and knowing that it will fail before the opening night destroys him.
After getting drunk and sleeping on the street, he wakes up with the thought that he is Birdman. He flies back to the theatre (he takes a cab) and there the opening night starts.
In the final scene, his character takes his own life with a gun, but this time Riggan replaced the prop gun with a real one and shoots himself in the face. We find out that he survived and ends up in the hospital, with the success he wanted. He is on the cover of the paper with an exceptional review, partly because he used a real gun and therefore used actual blood instead of fake.
This success didn’t get rid of the Birdman voice in his head. He stands in the window frame as the camera pans away to his daughter Sam (Emma Stone), who is entering the room as he disappeared. She looks out of the window to the ground and then up to the sky, after which she laughs.
The Story
The story of a previously successful and rich actor who wants to make a play isn’t relatable for, well, anybody. However, I was definitely interested in the problems he was facing. A daughter who was addicted, a broken marriage, more enemies than friends in the city and one play on which your whole life depends.
Only a few days of Riggan’s life have been told in this movie, which gives the story an extra interesting swing. His history, his current status and his future life are all told within this short timeframe and I think that Iñárritu executed that extremely well. His story isn’t pushed through our throat, but we’re rather gently informed about his past doings throughout the movie.
The Characters
Riggan
He is a multi-layered character with problems on every level of his life, personally and professionally. We’re made aware that he cheated on his wife after which the marriage fell apart, which in turn likely led to Sam falling into rehab and therefore his completely broken family. All of that while he was the star of the billion-dollar franchise Birdman.
He tries to find redemption for his failures with his play, a play that could’ve been in part copied from his own life. This adds an extra layer of thought throughout the movie and especially his conversations with Sam about the play and their lives. Therefore I think the scenes between Emma Stone and Micheal Keaton are the best in the whole movie.
I also feel like Riggan is the only character that can be considered for this section. All the other character play small roles within the movie, with nobody really having enough screentime to be of major importance. A shame, in my opinion, I would’ve liked to see more of Sam and Mike throughout the movie as their lives are almost as interesting as Riggan’s.
The Production
The movie is a one-shot movie, sort of. There are no visible cuts, but there, of course, moments where the cut is hidden to switch surroundings. Also, time is not continuous. There are also short scenes where time visible passes because all the events in the movie can’t happen immediately after each other.
While this is an interesting way to make a movie, I feel like it doesn’t contribute to the quality. The ‘cuts’ weren’t hidden that well and there were scenes where nothing happens for extended periods, just to wait for logical timeframes. Furthermore, scenes filled with dialogue between two persons who are not in the same frame just makes less of an impact on me.