Riggan Thomas is an actor known from his iconic role as the superhero called Birdman. He wants to be taking more seriously as an actor, which makes him do a play for the Broadway. During the events he struggles to restore his ego, family and, of course, his career.
I've wanted to see Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance ever since I first heard about it. It had good actors in it, including Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton. I didn't even know so much about the plot until I started getting really, really excited about it. And then I found out my city's movie theatre isn't even going to show it, so I had to go to a bigger city to see it. And the premiere here in Finland was 16th of January, so... yeah, I didn't see it as early as I wanted to.
I had really high expectations about this movie. Like really high. And usually when I expect this much of something, the movie usually fails me a bit. Like with American Beauty - everyone said how wonderful it was and all that, and it was disappointing. Still sort of good, but disappointing. However, Birdman Or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance lived up to those expectations.
First of all, the story. It felt like something quite usual with some extra spices when you quickly read the summary on iMDB or anywhere. And then I saw the trailer and everything, and it seemed like Birdman was going to be something really unusual. Maybe not the story and the themes, they are pretty regular, But I enjoyed the story and the writing. The dialogue was so real, but it didn't seem like the writer was trying too much to make the dialogue between characters natural. And of course the dialogue had that... thing that movie dialogue usually has, something that can't happen in real. For example, in real life you never could do one big monologue without anyone interrupting, apart from special occasions. But I don't think dialogue has to be exactly like in real life to be good. The text, the story under the dialogue has to work, the characters have to be good, and them the dialogue will be good.
The filming was also great. Mostly the movie was made with very long shots - and it seemed like it hadn't been edited at all, but that the camera was rolling the whole time and they just did the movie like that. Of course that's not how it happened, but the effect was great. Everything seemed so very, very smooth. The camera work was very excellent. It felt like it was mostly filmed by hand, and that the cameraman was also a character, that didn't say or do anything. They just were there during any moment of someone's life, and they were almost intruding, staring at intimate moments and all that. It was very interesting. I have a feeling Birdman could have a very good chance to win the "Best Cinematography" Award. What did I originally bet, The Grand Budapest Hotel? I have a feeling I'm betting on the two on almost every category.
Also the music was amazing. Mostly there were only the drums, which was actually weird and I actually didn't think that would work. But the drums, percussions, whatever, actually did suit to every scene they were in, and any emotion. It was surprising, but it's good to know that. When it weren't the drums, it was the sort of music you hear in some action and superhero movies. And that kind of string music was mainly used during the most dream-like parts of the movie. Both the percussion and the strings worked perfectly for their moments.
I really, really, really liked Birdman. It had the sort of Slipstream feel to it, which is something I'm really starting to love in movies, ever since, well, Slipstream (directed by Sir Anthony Hopkins). And Birdman affected me very much, and I don't even know why. It made the audience laugh, it made the audience feel horrified and uneasy. And it made many of us think. Also one of the best things is that the movie doesn't have just one simple solution to it. Was Riggan just delusional? Was everything just a dream? Or maybe everything that happened was true just the way it was? I don't know, and I don't want to know. What I want to do is go read different kind of theories about the story. I did read one theory, and it seemed like a very good theory. I just need more, and I need to see the movie several more times.
If Birdman doesn't win Best Picture or Best Directing or Best Cinematography, then I guess I don't know as much about movies as I'd like to. (Or maybe the academy is just full of idiots, which seems more likely.)
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
10/10
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