Birdman the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance
If a social commentary is a grenade, Birdman is a nuclear bomb detonating every minute and through the thick, murky smoke it generates a clear vision luminates above its fiery depths. A compilation of scolding to cinema’s flaws it is, but limited it isn’t as Birdman ventures the inadequacies in human nature and our constant endeavor to oblivion.
From a director whose name I can barely pronounce, Birdman puts blockbusters to shame and genre films to bed; at night’s dusk it rises like icarus closer to the sun emulating our protagonist who emulates us. If it burns too hot, it’s the unprecedented technical achievement in the one-take simulation or the lucid yet singing dialogue that often draws the line in audacious and pretentious; but if you can’t bear the heat Birdman’s not for you.
Of course it’s not for everyone and to some, a two hour quasi religious fable is 110 minutes too many. But for the cinephiles with problems in cinema, or humans with problems in humanity, Birdman is our chance to rise and proclaim. If my overbearing love for this film makes me cultish, then make me the leader for there’s nothing that’ll put me to shame or digress my strong felt emotions.
From a to z, it has it all from device overuse, washed up careers, eyes of the youth, fame vs success, relevance vs art, labels and prequels. What’s too much is diluted and processed by a screenplay the best in a while, direction cogent and potent, a fresh drum score, and acting pure masterclass, all stitched up by an editing team mending and darning its brilliance.
In the deep backbones, Birdman is an odyssey for both the characters and the audience, and if you suffer with what life’s all about, Birdman says chill. Even the weirdly long title suggests one part: a stewed up, chewed up definition of the truth, and another, a label. Life’s lived to be lived not evaluated. As Alejandro indicates: “a thing is a thing, not what is said of that thing”.
Or in the mere outer layer, it’s a fun movie with a protagonist that depicts who we’ll all probably be in 30 years if we don’t get our head out of the gutter. Just go watch it. It’s pretty good.
10/10
