Before attempting to analyze a movie which won best movie at oscars, let's just take a second to attempt understand the possible objective of this movie :Entertainment : may be
Artsy : Definitely
Entertainment for masses: hell no!
Awards : No comments ( a vigorous head shaking suggesting - hell yeah!)
But then the real question is - does this movie has any real content ?
I think this is where this movie takes the cake. Birdman really brings out the schizophrenic world of movie celebrities, the egos they battle and the egos they nurse. It goes into the classic debates - is pop art really an art ( e.g is comic book a form of literature) and Theatre vs movies.
Plot: Riggan played Birdman, an iconic comic book character 20 years ago which built a multi million dollar franchise. However he forever remained "the Birdman" and never could do much beyond that. With the dwindling fortune for the comic book franchise, his career also nose dived. The movie starts with him putting down his last reserves to put up this Broadway theatre to make his come back as a serious actor. He is somehow able to pull together this group with his daughter (Sam) who has just made it out of rehab, an ego maniacal theatre star(Mike) , his new love interest (Laura) and his manager (Jake). All his ambition comes to a grinding halt when the most revered theatre critic (Tabitha) decides to ruin his play, purely because he is an erstwhile movie star and doesn't belong to the world of theatre, which she has taken upon herself to guard from such outsiders. This leads to climax which brings out Riggan's frustration at the labels which forced him to lead the life he had, and now didn't allow him to make an honest attempt at doing what he wanted..
I think this is where this movie takes the cake. Birdman really brings out the schizophrenic world of movie celebrities, the egos they battle and the egos they nurse. It goes into the classic debates - is pop art really an art ( e.g is comic book a form of literature) and Theatre vs movies.
Plot: Riggan played Birdman, an iconic comic book character 20 years ago which built a multi million dollar franchise. However he forever remained "the Birdman" and never could do much beyond that. With the dwindling fortune for the comic book franchise, his career also nose dived. The movie starts with him putting down his last reserves to put up this Broadway theatre to make his come back as a serious actor. He is somehow able to pull together this group with his daughter (Sam) who has just made it out of rehab, an ego maniacal theatre star(Mike) , his new love interest (Laura) and his manager (Jake). All his ambition comes to a grinding halt when the most revered theatre critic (Tabitha) decides to ruin his play, purely because he is an erstwhile movie star and doesn't belong to the world of theatre, which she has taken upon herself to guard from such outsiders. This leads to climax which brings out Riggan's frustration at the labels which forced him to lead the life he had, and now didn't allow him to make an honest attempt at doing what he wanted..
The way the movie is shot is quite heady, and you will have a tough time understanding what is reality and what is imagined ( read again- artsy), however the characters brought out are very real and very honest, and acting is simply incredible. The movie starts off slow but really picks up its pace towards the end. One thing to note is the background score - lot of jazz drumming, as if they have played Whiplash in the background ( that would explain what might have confused the jury)
In the end to conclude :
Should you watch it : yes, but go in with right expectations
Did it deserve oscars : how does it matter what I say ( they didn't select Dark Knight as the best movie of the year, I really don't get those loonies)
Should you watch it : yes, but go in with right expectations
Did it deserve oscars : how does it matter what I say ( they didn't select Dark Knight as the best movie of the year, I really don't get those loonies)
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