Birdman - Best Picture and Eight More

I saw Birdman last night and I liked a lot of it. I was also perplexed by a lot of it. My husband often asks me as the credits roll how I liked a film and I often tell him I don't have the complete answer yet. (Unless I hate a movie, that I usually know right away!)

So we came home and paid the babysitter and went to bed and I woke up and took a shower, where so much of my best thinking occurs, and by the time I was clean and smelling good and ready to begin my day I knew that I loved the movie Birdman with an intense kind of passion! It is an absolute amazing creation on so many levels.

The movie is about ego and risk and commitment. It's about soaring high and crashing and burning and finding a balance, it's about finding yourself and losing yourself. It is so layered and symbolic and truthful and funny!

Let me take a moment to talk about the theme of ego, because my own ego played a big factor in my initial reaction to the film. My first big hurdle was that Inarritu* essentially took editing out of the equation in Birdman. If you hadn't heard, the bulk of that movie is made to look like one long continuous shot. By blending long takes and hiding the cuts you appear to follow the action non-stop as it unfolds. As a film editor, I was initially a little ruffled by this. I like cuts. The language of a film is communicated to me through the cuts. I subscribe to the philosophy that cuts are where you blink and I swear to you my eyes were hurting because Inarritu would NOT let me blink! It was really frustrating for me and at the same time a completely brilliant choice to make.

On the other side of that equation, I have also worked as a Director in the Theatre. Sometimes it bugs me when film directors hide behind the post production process too much. I've always felt that if you are going to direct a movie you should make a genuine effort to get it right when you shoot it. Just capture what you want on the film (or data card, whatever, you get my point)! Let the editor worry about pace, build and performance, not covering all of your mistakes! Well, Inarritu has got me there. Because of this style of storytelling he really had to nail every aspect of the film as he shot it. Can you imagine that? He had to get the pacing of every shot right on set! He couldn't lose a scene that just wasn't working when he got to post production. He just had to get it right. What a beautiful challenge to set for yourself! An argument can be made that he should win best director for that feat alone.

So now I have answered my husband. I loved Birdman. I imagine the more symbolic aspects of the film are going to be a challenge for some viewers, but I figured it all out to my satisfaction in the shower. If any of you sees it and wants to talk about how the heck you decide to interpret some of it, I'd be happy to chat with you and hear what you have to say!

[*I fully understand that there are two accent marks on his name but I'm too lazy to figure out how to type them in and my breakfast is getting cold.]