Birdman Soars

There are not many actors or actresses working in Hollywood today that are so willing to have their personal, real life narratives, play alongside their character's as a way of constructing a performance. The reason why Natalie Portman's performance in "Black Swan" was such a triumph, was because the film was as much about Nina Sayers finding her inner Black Swan as it was Natalie Portman. Watching that movie, we not only saw the character go from being a meek, submissive girl into a complicated, strong woman, but we also saw a capable, yet underrated actress transform into a true leading lady.

That technique is front and center in director/writer Alejandro González Iñárritu's black comedy "Birdman", a film about a fading actor, once known for playing a superhero, trying desperately to be remembered for anything but playing a superhero. That actor, Riggan Thomson, is played by Michael Keaton, an actor that hasn't done much of anything since he played a superhero back in the 90's. Much like his character, Keaton was in need a project that showcased his acting talent. Birdman is that film, and then some.

Taking place almost entirely in New York City's St. James Theatre, the film's plot focuses on Thomson's ambitious stage adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story, "What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Love". Thomson is joined by actresses Leslie (Naomi Watts), Laura (Andrea Riseborough), leading man Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), his manager Jake (Zach Galifianakis) and daughter/assistant Sam (Emma Stone). The production faces some trouble, however, as Mike's inherent narcissism and bizarre method acting techniques clash with Riggan's paranoia and self-doubt over the show's success. He's haunted by the voice of Birdman, who urges him to put back on the suit, or face fading into irrelevancy forever.

The film serves as a wonderfully entertaining "backstage" drama, one that could go toe to toe with classics like "All About Eve", but there's revelatory work here across the board that make Birdman so much different from anything you've seen, or will ever see. The most talked about, is the editing and cinematography; the film is set up to look like one never ending long take. We as film spectators have been subjected to films with so much editing it's hard to get into the headspace of the characters we're watching onscreen. But here, Iñàrritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki put us right in Riggan Thomson's mind; the filmmaking is delicate and fluid, almost like a ballet. Much like Thomson, we are hyper-aware of his surrounding's, almost gliding through the city and this playhouse with a grace that's missing from so many movies.

The long take technique also gives the performances room to breathe. Where one editor would cut back and forth between conversation participants, thus removing an aspect of emotion or intensity, here we get to see the emotions build up on the faces of the characters in real time, without being told but instead shown.

This is the most evident in the scene between Sam and Riggan. We see the anger and frustration boil up to an explosive intensity, then cool down to a chilling regret.

I can only wonder what a film like "August Osage County" would have been like had the filmmaker embraced this technique, rather than hastily cutting to every character at every available moment and having them try and act their hardest. The performances in Birdman are so authentic, and just flat out incredible. As I mentioned, Keaton fully grasps his own narrative of being an "irrelevant" actor and fuses it with his characterization of Riggan, creating a hilariously meta, yet awe inspiring performance. I never knew he was capable of something this great before, and I'll be shocked if another actor this year tops him. He's my favorite to win the Oscar next year.

The supporting cast is fantastic as well, with Naomi Watts turning in a hilariously self-aware performance, one that I think tops her previously Oscar nominated performance in "The Impossible". Edward Norton, who hasn't had a role this meaty since "American History X", throws his entire body into Mike Shiner, creating a character as energetically ridiculous as he is refreshingly nuanced. He knows when to crank it up, and then dial it back down.

However, the one that I found myself walking away from the film thinking about the most was Emma Stone, who finally delivers upon her early promise. She hinted at brilliance before in "Easy A", giving a performance so much better than Jennifer Lawrence's talked about work in "Winter's Bone". Had I voted on the Oscar's Best Actress line up that year, Stone's name would have easily replaced Lawrence's. Since that film however, Stone hasn't done much of anything substantially challenging (unless you call trying to make those "Spiderman" reboot films seem important or any good, challenging), until now. As Sam, she seizes a character that could have easily been forgettable, and fills it with so much of herself that it's impossible to forget about her. Her expressively huge eyes convey so much more feeling, emotion and acid sarcasm to the words she's speaking; I really hope she takes more roles in projects like this one.

It's kind of funny that Fox Searchlight took on distributing this film, so soon after Black Swan; there are so many similarities between the two that it's almost hard to distinguish them besides the obvious plot points. At their centers, they are stories about plagued performers and the people around them. There's elements of psychosis that play into the narratives, that offer for the storytellers to have fun with unique visuals. And most importantly of all, they are unforgettable examples of some of the amazing, innovative filmmaking that, in a world of redundant biopics and big budget superhero flicks, still happen. These are the films that remind us why filmmaking is important, and above all, an art form.

Grade: A+

Oscar Chances: Would it be ridiculous for me to call it a lock in just about every category? It certainly deserves to be. Keaton deserves to win Actor, but may end up losing out to more conventional fare in the form of Eddie Redmayne or Benedict Cumberbatch. Supporting Actor is so weak I feel as if Norton could take it, and Emma Stone should definitely earn her first career nomination. Don't be too shocked if Lubezki takes a second consecutive trophy after winning last year for "Gravity".

Originally published by The Whit