The ever present beating of drums throughout the entirety of
the film keeps the emotional tensions at bay; it sure made me at ease with
every shift of the scene change momentum with smooth camera transitions. The coping with the roller-coaster of emotions had been as smooth as I was viewing a musical. The film is almost 2 hours on
dialogue yet there was never a dull moment. I liked it from the way it began
with that cryptic dead jellyfish (?) to the ubiquitous split persona of a
flying bird-man always pestering Keaton wherever he goes – his room, the bar,
even while on the road and at the hospital. That euphoria kept me glued; it
connects fantasy and real world seamlessly. It lets us enter into his inner world of personal demons.
It’s also more like a play on celebrity relevance
knowing how Keaton disappeared from the limelight so many years after he was
the iconic Batman. All he was now is an ageing actor. I love Batman but we all know this movie franchise always gets a
reboot. Sadly for Keaton, his run ended in 1992 much like how Riggan Thomson,
his character ended his fame with the last installment of Birdman, coincidentally
in 1992 as well [if I remember that correctly].
For a star of such stature to sink so low after all this
time, I can’t help but imagine watching Michael’s own rise and fall story but it is somehow altered I believe. Add former Hulk star, Edward Norton in the fray, I believe casting got completed when they chose Emma Stone to
support him. We all know she just recently died on the latest Spiderman reboot
as the superhero’s first love interest. This looks to me like an ensemble that
Keaton would have personally picked up if he was handling casting. You’ll never
realize that until you picture them all three together particularly in that rehearsal scene.
Beyond that, what’s more entertaining is that I grew up
watching and loving superhero flicks so this connection was automatic right off
the bat after seeing these brilliant actors together. But what took Michael so
long to stage such a strong comeback? Apparently he had minor films in between his last Batman film and Birdman.
Ironically Norton’s character was named Mike and
Keaton's character was Riggan, a forgotten movie star from 1992 [right when the last
Batman flick he starred in was shown] who played the iconic Birdman [err-Batman,
sorry for mixing reality with fantasy!].
He survives by putting a gamble on a collection of
short stories by Raymond Carver entitled “What We Talk About When We Talk About
Love” for he had been inspired by a note purportedly written by the man and it
suddenly became his scapegoat of a dream. What I have been most fascinated
about was the film’s surplus of villains, typical of the movies Thomson once
starred in – superhero flicks.
Mike Shiner [Norton's character] was notably first up on the line. His
character looked to me like the saving grace of Thomson’s desperate theater
plans but all he was is like
Superman’s Luthor; a fluid character who goes from saving the boat to almost
sinking it. That’s where Thomson realized a few things that played well with
the outcome of the film. Our Birdman almost got his nose off because of that damn gun change but he ended up
flying toward the latter parts of the film anyway. For me Norton plays the real celebrities
that would have ridden off a movie star’s fame in real life while at the same
time contradicting it too. Keaton may have had some episodes in his career
where an actor/actress or any film industry insider worked with him, screwed
with him but he eventually got out of the deadlock which was to say the least,
how the Birdman came to reality.
Next on the list was his daughter, the gorgeous Emma Stone.
She represents the youth of today because she’s connected to social media, a
very defining trait of many youngsters. She reminds her father how this whole
theater fiasco is just a dumb way for him to validate his claim that he is still the mega-star he once was. Thomson being already old don’t even have
Facebook which Emma uses as metaphor to his father's non-existence. I know that's shallow but you see a glimmer of truth in there somehow. That’s how popularity has been nowadays and Sam [Emma] clearly shows that
disconnect.
I also consider the grouchy, pompous lady critic who chose
a particular bar for her writing alone time itinerary, as one of the anti-heroes. But she
represents to me the many critics out there too, professional are some of them!
Some, build up movies honestly, others just seeing holes in otherwise perfect
films or Broadway plays; worse are the paid scoundrels! There would be some who’d not praise Birdman to the moon, she [critic
Tabitha Dickinson or actress Lindsay Duncan] represents those critics. That’s how life is, as an artist is anyway; you get either critical acclaim or scathing remarks. Tabitha may have had a change of heart though toward the end.
But heroes don’t live the day saving people’s asses with no
allies. Thomson had some of his own too and they’re played by many great
characters as well. For one, the ever hilarious Zach Galifianakis was a tad too
serious in his lawyer and friend portrayal but he had been a supporting glue for Riggan’s
mess-ups from start to finish, although his means to an end may not be all ethical.
His wife was also supportive in a sense that she dropped some
major clues on our protagonist’s psyche early on. That powerful quote from the 31st
minute mark left me speechless. She said “you confuse love for admiration”.
True enough, in such few words, we knew why Thomson acts the way he does and
why he would act the way he did throughout the film. Eccentric to say the
least, but he loved the craft more than anything. He was a negligent father who
prioritized work more than his daughter making him an absentee parent, had
affairs to satisfy his manhood and had this obsession for fame. I guess this
sticks to any movie stars who are now living lives away from all the glam.
The film is also peppered with a lot of other quotable one
liners and if you’re not busy enough to spot them while watching or
re-watching, I’d quote a few other personal favorites for convenience’ sake.
Galifianakis: “That
was a present from the crew, don’t fuck with those guys, they’re union.”
[Disclaimer: Not
entirely spoken by any of the characters but this quote off Riggan’s mirror
caught my eye]: “A thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing”
Norton: “Make it
work with one line” [telling us to keep it short and simple!]
Another Norton: “You
know a douchebag’s born every minute, that was PT Barnum’s premise when he invented
the circus and nothing much has changed…”
Stone: “You are
not doing this for the sake of art, you are doing this because you wanna feel
relevant again.”
Stone again: “When
I was in rehab they made us do this. It’s a… [on a very long tissue roll] these
dashes represent the 6 billion years that the earth has been around, so each
dash represent a thousand years and this is how long humans have been here [just
a single piece]. A hundred and fifty thousand years. I think they’re trying to
remind us that that’s all our ego and self-obsession are worth.” [being
consistent on how she tackles her father’s irrelevance to the modern times and
direct attack on her father’s obsession].
Keaton: “I can’t
smell…”
Birdman alter-ego [Keaton]:
“You destroyed a genius book with that infantile adaptation, now you’re about
to destroy what’s left of your career.”
To continue, Birdman also obviously tackles a lot about the
state of theater today though I’m no expert on this manner, it’s pretty obvious
what the film wants to convey and they used the critic’s character for us
viewers. She wants to kill the play because of Riggan’s inexperience. For her,
theater is so sacred you can’t just budge in and do what you want to do because
you have the resources. Riggan retaliated with a classic “he’s an actor”
dialogue telling us how critics don’t realize what it’s really like on the
other end of the stage. Contemplating hard enough though makes you realize that
the critic somehow had a point. To be able to enter any new craft, you need not
just talent but also guidance. Riggan had the former but not the latter. Well
to close my theater banter, let’s just say there are always unexpected virtues
in ignorance as it sometimes draws a new blood thus the film’s sub-title.
Give or take, the film was superb and something I would have
loved to be shown on film viewing activities for art and communication students
come time. I never knew Keaton beyond Batman but his tenacity to take up on
this film is way more satisfactory to me for an expected accolade sooner or
later [He already has Golden Globes and Critics Choice for this film as of this writing, few more hits and he could win a BAFTA and an Oscar too]. The rest of the cast are also superb and I wouldn’t mind saying it’s one
of the best I've seen this early. I think we’re off to a good year with movies [although
the movie actually opened last year].
As for takeaways, I had two major ones. First, that fame for
most celebrities can ruin lives beyond what we see portrayed by the news. It’s
no wonder, a-listers sometimes resort to illegal drugs, have eccentric ways on
social media and have mental disorders such as depression or obsession. The struggle for
relevancy for someone who was already there but has been gone for long is high
and if you’re passionate at what you do, it will eat you alive but that is if
you manage to get out of the business of show alive [or of ripe age].
And lastly, I learned that Farrah Fawcett died the same day
as Michael Jackson; go figure!
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