Birdman

There are films that make you cry, films that make you think and films that make you go “how the hell did they pull that off?” – Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman is one of the very few films that manages to do all three. It’s masterfully shot (in seemingly one continuous long take), ingeniously scored and brilliantly acted by an inspired cast of actors both old and new. And despite it still being only January, it also looks like this is going to be the film to beat in 2015.

The plot revolves around Riggan Thomson, a fading movie star best known for portraying the superhero Birdman in a couple of blockbusters from the early ‘90s. In a desperate attempt to step out of his on-screen alter ego’s shadow and prove himself a worthy actor, he invests all of his savings in putting on a Raymond Carver play on Broadway. What Thomson isn’t prepared for is the host of difficult characters he’ll have to contend with in the run-up to the show’s opening night, from cast and family members to agents and film critics. There’s also the minor issue of an inner voice that won't stop tormenting him, and it sounds a lot like Birdman’s…

Is it a coincidence that Riggan is being played by Michael Keaton, one of Hollywood’s great forgotten actors best known for playing Batman in a couple of blockbusters from the early ‘90s? Hardly. In fact, one of the many pleasures of Birdman is watching the meta being cranked up to eleven and fun poked at Hollywood’s current obsession with comic book movies: as Riggan puts forward Jeremy Renner and Michal Fassbender as potential replacements for an actor that’s dropped out of the play, his agent points out they’re too busy shooting Avengers and X-Men movies; when Riggan retires to his changing room, a news report in the background announces that Robert Downey Jr. has renewed his contract to play Iron Man for a sixth time; meanwhile, Birdman tries to persuade Riggan (in a gravelly Christian Bale voice, of course) to drop the auteur bullcrap and make a superhero comeback.

However, satirical jabs are not aimed solely at film studios getting into bed with Marvel and DC. In fact, it often feels like Iñárritu is on a mission to put just about every showbiz institution in its place. Broadway comes under fire for its current overreliance on movie stars for boosting theatre ticket sales. Reality TV is lambasted as a desperate last resort for washed-up celebrities. Method actors are portrayed as arrogant pricks drunk on their own talent. And film critics come off as snobbish haters that are all too eager to tear apart a director’s work, possibly due to a dormant frustration at their inability to direct themselves. Iñárritu never holds back and the cast revel in the audacious political incorrectness.

But in case all this makes Birdman sound like South Park, let’s be clear: this isn’t merciless ribbing just for the sake of it. Strip away the in-jokes and cocky commentary and what you’ll find is a deeply moving film on the human condition – it just so happens that it’s being explored through actors playing actors. The film has fun with clichés and stereotypes, but none of the characters feel one-dimensional: they’re flawed, contradictory, sometimes flat-out unlikeable, but they all feel painfully human. Riggan’s daughter, Sam (played with heartfelt conviction by Emma Stone), has a burning desire for her father’s approval underneath all her bubbling rage, yet during a tense confrontation she equates “existing” to having a Facebook page. Edward Norton’s method actor Mike Shiner is an insufferable prick throughout the film, but in one disarming scene he admits that the only time he’s honest is when he’s on stage or in front of a camera.

At the centre of this hurricane of egos is Michael Keaton, giving what has to be the performance of his career. As a pathetic has-been, he’s a man consumed by vanity and his legacy, a role that in the wrong actor’s hands could easily come off as smug and conceited. But Keaton infuses Riggan Thomson with a touching vulnerability that makes him an instantly relatable figure, rather than a sulking prima donna (imagine if he was being played by Bruce Willis or Tom Cruise). Also, due to the real life similarities between Thomson and Keaton’s careers, it is never clear where the character ends and the actor begins, which is what makes the performance all the more fascinating to watch. Here’s hoping that a Best Actor Academy Award is on the cards – or at the very least, a casting call from “Martin Scorsees”.

5/5