Just making this rundown of the year’s best films – it was released on January 1st, 2015 in the UK - is the Academy award winning Birdman.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s fifth feature film follows washed-up actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), the star of a film franchise revolving around the eponymous superhero Birdman. After leaving Hollywood, Riggan is now attempting to jump start his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play based on the work of Raymond Carver.
As well as the numerous challenges that arise from putting on a Broadway play, Riggan must also contend with an embittered daughter (Emma Stone), an all too serious method actor (Edward Norton), and hallucinations in which he has superpowers.
Birdman is a film with both style and substance: shot and edited so as to appear as one continuous shot, the film seamlessly pulls the viewer down winding theatre corridors into claustrophobic dressing rooms and then out onto the dark streets of New York . It’s an entrancing experience for anyone used to watching films shot and edited in a more conventional manner.
In regards to substance, the film has themes many of us can relate to: wanting to be recognised for our achievements, wanting to feel like we’ve done something worthwhile with our lives, these are things many of us experience every day.
If this isn’t enough to convince you of the merits of Birdman then, please be assured, the film is also tremendously funny. A scene where Edward Norton’s character gets a little too ‘excited’ after an intimate scene during a preview of Riggan’s play is a highlight.
In its examination of the world of theatre and the egos of actors, Birdman stands as a unique film. It also makes for a witty, visually fascinating, and wonderfully engaging introduction to the work of its director, whose next film The Revenant – out in January – is already generating a fair amount of critical praise.
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