BIRDMAN Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BIRDMAN

Or

(The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Actors are a sensitive lot. But aren’t we all? They are exponentially more visible than us mere mortals, they’re out there, on stage, on TV or up on the big screen for all to see, hear and critique. Although, social media is giving everyone 15 minutes of fame, it’s just not the same level of fame that actors have to endure. And I do mean endure. They wear their hearts on their sleeve and bare all, emotionally and physically to bring a character to life. 

Sometimes it’s a calling or it calls them. It called me for about 20 years until one day I faced the fact that it was never going to happen they way I had envisioned, so I quit. Something I never thought I’d do. Every now and then, I think about going back into it but dread the thought of endless rejection. I recently joined up with an agency and was instantly reminded of all the bulshit hurdles I have to jump to get to the starting line, let alone to get a part. I’d lost my passion for the pursuit. So I did the – if its meant to be trick – to diminish expectations and consequent disappointment. And even though they say it’s not personal – it is personal. It’s you they don’t want. You don’t have the right look, walk, hair, voice or whatever they’re looking for. It chips away at your self-esteem, little by little. It’s like dying a little death every day, until you really believe you have nothing to offer as an actor.

Then there’s the crisis of actually getting the part. It’s trauma all over again. All the fears come to the surface. Will I be good enough? Can I pull it off? Will I get along with everyone? Will the director like me? Will the film get made, the play get staged or the TV show get the green light? Will they pay me the award wage or should I be grateful for the opportunity? And that’s another thing, the amount of free work I’ve done over the years for the privilege of just being apart of the process, or it might lead to more work or I’ll be discovered, wears very thin when your teetering on bankruptcy.

Then there’s the premiere/opening night, and the trauma starts all over again. Will it be successful/bomb? Will the public like/accept me? What will the dreaded critics write? What if they say nothing? If it doesn’t make a million on its opening weekend, is it considered a failure? On and on it goes. And it never ends. So you start again. You do anything to keep the momentum going, to stay in the flow. Once you’ve made the big time you have to maintain the big time, lest you be discarded, put out to pasture or thrown on the scrap heap with all the other has-beens.

Birdman brings all this anxiety, fear and desperation to light in a brilliant way. Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) plays the lead role in the play he wrote, produces and directs. He was once a big time blockbuster movie star who had major hits with Birdman (1, 2 & 3) before he hung up the cape in favour of meatier roles, but they never came.

Life imitating art, imitating life. Keaton was a big time movie star bringing Batman to life and kicking off the endless franchise with a succession of new Batman actors. In fact, director Alejandro Inarritu insisted that if Keaton wasn’t in the film, he wouldn’t make it, convinced Keaton could pull it off. And he was right.It’s almost a curse to play Batman, just look at the actors who have donned the cape: George Clooney, Val Klimar, Christian Bale, who was blown off screen by the late Health Ledger's brilliant performance as The Joker. The debate is still out on who is the best and who will be next Batman. These themes  and more are explored in Birdman: ego, competition, talent, fear, rejection, entanglement all get a run.  

For whatever reason, Keaton’s star faded during the 90’s and he was reduced to bit parts and walk on roles, similar to his character Riggan. So he sets about restoring his star status or at the very least restarting his career as a serious actor thereby restoring his reputation by staging a play he adapted from a book by Richard Carver, When We Talk About Love. The film explores the theatrical machinations in the days leading up to opening night on Broadway at the St James theatre.

His alter ego Birdman, (the critical self) nags him incessantly to get out of the play, its beneath him, he should be back in the big league. He taunts him mercilessly. He belittles him as he watches clips of Robert Downey Jr on morning TV and his meteoric rise to fame on the back of the Marvel comic franchise Ironman made possible because of Birdman. Another constant torture for actors, watching others go on to greater success while they languish in obscurity. Who knows why some actors are more successful than other’s, its not always talent that gets them there. It’s a mystery.  

The film starts during a rehearsal, when over-actor Ralph gets hit on the head by a stage light, putting him out of the play, much to Riggan’s delight. Enter Mike Shiner (Ed Norton) the love interest of Lesley (Naomi Watts) also in the play, who has dreamed about this all her life, its her big break and nothing is going to get in her way. Luckily Mike knows all the lines as he’s rehearsed every night with Lesley, so it’s a no brainer to take him on, but within minutes of his arrival he wrecks havoc. 

His reputation precedes him. Fired from his last gig, Mike is well known as an unpredictable scene-stealer and troublemaker, not auguring well for the production. But they need him. Stage manager Jake (Nick Galifianakis – in a straight role, nice change from the baboons he’s best known) is beside himself and knows the only way to save the production is to keep Mike in the play. Mike is so good he lifts everyone’s performance, including Riggan’s but he's always waiting for the gotcha moment, keeping everyone on their toes and seemingly getting away with it. We all know a Mike, don’t we? Norton is excellent as the cocky, cock-sure bastard Mike Shiner, always looking for the truth of the scene albeit undermining everyone who crosses his path. Such a bastard.

Then there’s Riggan’s daughter Sam (Emma Stone) who hangs around the theatre like a ghost, working as Riggan’s assistant, but really she has no where else to go. Recently completing a stint in Rehab, she tries to get closer to her father by being near him. She skulks around, begrudgingly running errands and looking miserable. Played to perfection by Stone who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress and deserved it. She’s great. Her eyes are so big you think they are going to pop out of her head. A beautiful freak of nature.

British actress Andrea Riseborough plays Riggan’s love interest who complicates his already complicated life. Amy Ryan plays his ex wife and Sam’s mother, the steady hand and the rock he leans on.    

Tabitha Dickerson is a hardnosed/cynical theatre critic determined to destroy the play. She hates Riggan because he’s a pampered, entitled, untrained movie star who doesn’t belong in the theatre, who hasn’t done the hard yards. He’s not an actor, he’s a celebrity and never the tawine shall meet. Another interesting hierarchal theme explored in Birdman - theatre Vs film -– which medium is the worthiest? Which is the real art form, film or theatre? Acting is acting right? Not so. There are some who believe only theatre actors are real actors and film actors can’t and shouldn’t even go near the stage. Its ridiculous of course, each medium has its on virtues and anyone can traverse both mediums as well as TV. In my day doing commercials was a sin, but now actors can swing between film, stage and TV and back again. And thank god, when one medium dries up you can call on another to keep you afloat. 

Birdman also explores the advent of social media and the measure of success is how many hits and likes you get.  As well as the reviews, there is public opinion to contend with, which has always been the case but heightened now with FB and Twitter. Riggan resists all forms of SM but Sam urges him to get involved as it’s the only way to get noticed and be relevant in a 2 second society where going viral is considered power and can make you powerful.

Riggan’s patience and sanity is tested when Mike upstages him at every turn and gets the rave reviews that he should be getting, but even over confident Mike has his insecurities. He’s all about being real and finding the truth but in reality he’s full of fear and can’t get hard-on. There’s always something, right?

The film score is marked by various drumbeats (Antonio Sanchez) that perfectly reflect the tension in each scene. It’s a fantastic devise. The long single takes Inarritu insisted on during the filming terrified the actors working on the film. If they fluffed a line then the whole thing had to be reshot again, so the onus was on everyone to give all they could and get it right every take. Apparently, the process was so arduous they shot only one scene per day. No pressure. And no mean feat. Inarritu is one of the most interesting and innovative directors in Hollywood today. I love everything he’s done thus far, but he has topped himself with Birdman, which he also co wrote. He's so insightful and intuitive he can do no wrong at present.   

To say that actors are more narcissistic and egotistical than the rest of us is too simplistic. They merely reflect our lives. It doesn’t matter what job you do, there is always someone more ambitious and ruthless to get to the top, and will do anything to get there. We've all met them, worked with them or lived with them. Hard work. It’s just that actor’s lives are more exposed than the rest of us, so they appear more self absorbed. Although, having said that, a certain amount of self-absorption is necessary to play any role. First they must understand themselves to be able to play a character and to do that they have to look inwards. I’m not defending them, well maybe I am, but I think an actors lot is a damn hard job. Not only do they need a thick skin they also need a certain about of masochism to be able to put up with the vicissitudes of an actors life. Ok, I hear ya, they’re not in the coal mines and they earn far too much money – I agree - but unless and until you’ve put your heart and soul on the line for all the world to see like they do, then get back to me.

The casting is impeccable. There are no small parts in Birdman. Everyone is interconnected, relevant and gives a magnificent performance.

I could go on and on singing the praises of Birdman - a worthy winner of the Best Picture Academy Award. I still think Michael Keaton should have won for Best Actor. It’s Keaton’s life story. It’s autobiographical. He needed a comeback, and this is it. He is so watchable and every vulnerable crack is written all over his face. He's lived through the trauma and come out the other side. No one will be writing him off anymore. And if Birdman doesn’t resurrect his career, then nothing will.

When I watch a film as good as Birdman I start dreaming again of what could be and how wonderful it would be to be involved with an ensemble like this, but the stars would all have to line up. And then I remember the trauma! 

Birdman is absolutely brilliant. A MUST SEE.