This is my most favourite film of all time. Period.
Whenever someone asks me about my top film, this is my go-to answer. This is a film that changed my life forever. I remember when I watched it for the first time. I was a noob; I was understanding films a little, but I was completely blown away by it. Everything hit me like a complete force of art from the direction to acting. I was learning technicality of films that time, so everything was coming at myself to the rawest form and then I watched this. And what stuck beyond this technical masterpiece, that its philosophy. Even from the philosophical point of view, it shocked to my core till this day. And I as I rewatched it today, it still is that much moving since the first day I watched it.
Maybe there is a biasness working out here, but any film related to filmmaking or theatre itself will be a dear to mine. Innnaritu puts the audience right into the head of Birdman, to give us the view of the play head, narrates how he's feeling, and master cinematographer Lubezki continuously shot this thing without dropping a bar adds layers after layers to this increasing boil pot of theatrics.
This film critics about the art of creation, the labour one has to put up with to finesse one thing, how critique obliterate it without giving it a second thought. It puts up a debate over the ever-increasing multimillion dollar Francaise business worldwide and how its consuming the practice of true art form. Consuming in a way that even if you want, you won't be able to go back to practice theatre once you go with the trend. People, critique, everyone - will not let you forget it whether how much hypocritical it might look like.
To give a life to this tight script, Innaritu gathered magnificent bunch of actors among them Keaton was the most praiseworthy. He embodied his real-life persona into the film and gave the performance of a lifetime. He ran and ran in his tightly whities just to get love from his peers and his daughter. And in the process, he won us. The audience. And Emma Stone and Edward Norton just couldn’t be better. Actually, Emma deserved that Oscar more here than her performance in La La Land. But that's for another day.
The script itself is hilarious. Straight out black comedy which satires the person they were having on the room. It playfully banters the viral culture while also mocks about not being relevant again. But it doesn’t let us forget the reality we actually live in.
The film also wouldn’t be possible without the superb editing. As the film was shot in only 3 weeks and with very few takes the sharp editing was pivotal to the experience. Plus, the drum beat to the whole film worked in a way the continuous shot worked, giving life to the film. Making it energetic till the last shot, where the birdman really flies away.