washed-up actor searches for purpose on Broadway in an attempt to get back the attention and support he once felt.
From the moment I saw Riggan levitating, I knew that his role as the protagonist would be interesting. I was not wrong. For me, this complex narrative assisted by its unique cinematic devices created a masterpiece of a film that I was drawn to from the very first second. Riggan, our central protagonist is a washed-up actor searching for reason and purpose. However, his pessimistic daughter points out his insignificance in comparison to the vast world, a truth that she has learned to accept. This harsh reality is reiterated by the fictional hero from Riggan’s past who haunts him persistently as a reminder that he is nothing without Birdman. As the narrative unfolds we gradually watch Riggan breakdown as he starts to believe this.
The narrative of Birdman creates a strong sense of character development and a climactic build-up to the opening night of Riggan’s new Broadway show using two major techniques. Firstly, an obvious feature in regard to the aesthetics of Birdman is the lack of editing. There were only in fact 28 cuts used in the whole film, many of these, being a part of the montage at the end. This is not the first time we have seen the technique however the subtlety of the constant tracking immerses the audience and could be part of a much deeper meaning. Another technique that heavily stuck out for me was the distinctive soundtrack. A consistent use of drums is something that didn’t appeal to me at the beginning, however, it slowly grew on me as the movie progressed. This use of sound was complimented with the lack of editing and I spent some time trying to figure out why.
It is no secret that Riggan’s life has become slow, boring, and unfulfilled without Birdman. He is constantly in a mental conflict with his past self who has been fed so much attention and love as he has been lacking these things since he quit the role. We wonder whether the supernatural events that Riggan appears to cause are real or whether they are simply a figure of his imagination. This enigma becomes stronger as the supernatural talents become more extreme, for example when he flies at the end of the film. So how does this all link to Riggan? For me the lack of editing, contrapuntal drumming, and visions communicated how difficult it had become for Riggan to differentiate the real world with his fictional characters. The confusing lack of context to his random powers and the consistent enigma’s created were possibly intended to connote how confused Riggan had become as a consequence of his life dedicated to being something else. This theme is portrayed more extremely by our secondary character Shiner. He emphasizes how easy he finds the embodiment of an on-stage character, yet he is unable to fully operate as a civilized human in the real world. This sends a strong message about the way that acting can completely distort your self-perception.
Acting requires you to sincerely take on the personality of someone else causing dedicated actors such as Riggan and Shiner to lose sight of who they are outside of their career. Maybe this movie is a slight exaggeration of how acting can affect your life however I’m sure in many cases it has been an unfortunate reality. Nevertheless, the carefully selected cast for this film fits the complex roles that made up such an intense story. The ending was, however, a slight letdown for me as it felt very lazy and careless. I’m not usually a fan of open narratives however I can appreciate them when they have purpose, occurring at a suitable time. Moments like the final one where Riggan appears to jump out the window followed by his daughter hearing sirens only to look up and smile had previously been established as visions and this ending seems therefore completely lazy and unjustified.
I feel that there was a more effective and satisfying way for the film to end which would have been on stage where Riggan understandably shoots himself in front of the audience to show his infatuation with acting proving the critic wrong. This ending is evidently slightly more graphic and cynical, however, it portrays the effect that acting has had on Riggan in a much more powerful way than him simply jumping out of the window at the end. Although the ending was a letdown, I found the film enjoyable and appreciated its skillful production therefore I would award it a deserving 4 stars. However, this could have been higher if I hadn’t felt so unfulfilled by the ending.
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