Birdman: or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance (2014)

"Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige, my friend." -Mike Shiner

"You are not IMPORTANT!, get used to it." -Sam Riggan

Ït feels wrong to give a score to Birdman with any kind of scale or using any kind of metrics. (I'm not going to.) The entire thesis of the film is that art is art is art and should not be judged except in its authenticity. If it has substance and courage it is good.  If you like it is not an acceptable measurement. People like explosions, sex, magic powers, dragons, pretty people, outrage, and cats. Fish in a barrel.  Art does not require an audience or the approval of one.

Then we get into the heart of the film and its not subtle allegory: All of that is wrong. Art requires financing, marketing, star power, critiques, comparisons, measurements, and above all an audience that appreciates it.  Without those things art does not exist.  Art is there for an elusive cat in a box: both particle and wave: neither, either, or both.

My soul falls into the category of pure art. I write this blog.  It has meaning for me. I don't care who reads it, and it turns out that basically no one in the vastness of the internets does. (appx 5000 page views in 5 years.) -That said, this space is for reviewing others' art with measurements, and the hypocrisy of that is not lost on me.

My head tells me I am an idiot. So, here are some cats and explosions to drive up my popularity.   

I short, I think Birdman; and its pretentious after title that I assume was meant to make critical audiences think about Birdman and Dr. Stranglove in the same sentence, is quality. However, I don't understand the how or why of its own existence.  If there are two sides to this philosophical argument. Birdman cannot be both.  Therefore, it cannot exist.  But, it does.  My mind is warped. I like that it exists.

On technical elements, Birdman is a modern day aberration; few cuts, shots that are 5+ minutes, actors that have to time their re-entrances perfectly theater style (complete with costume changes), and a fully realized multi-layer set. My hunch is that this is all a deliberate choice by the film makers to run the opposite direction of everything else recently put on film.  I find this to be refreshing and of quality.  I am sure others with lower attention spans didn't even make it to the bottom this review to disagree with me. Here's some pretty people and dragons.