Review of Todd McCarthy's review on Birdman

by Eszter Farkas

17/03/2015

The review was written by Todd McCarthy who is clearly a professional in his field as he was working for the Variety for 31 years as its chief film critic, directed four documentaries about film and nowadays is working for the Hollywood Reporter, where this very piece was published on 27 August 2014, long before the film’s official wide release in the United States on 14 November 2014. The occasion of the review was the film’s screening on the Venice Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival. Not only was it screened, but it was the opening film of the Venice Film Festival, after which the film very soon received near unanimous praise from the international press. As we know now, Birdman won multiple awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography and also two Golden Globe Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actor.

McCarthy begins his article with the clever sentence “Birdman flies very, very high”. He doesn’t leave this pun out of the title, either, as it says “Michael Keaton soars in Alejandro G. Inarritu’s brilliantly directed dark comedy about celebrity and creation.” Reading these sentences, we can already draw the conclusion that it’s going to be another praise of the movie Birdman. Nevertheless, it is a very professional and in much detail explained praise. McCarthy claims that this movie is “one of the most sustained examples of visually fluid tour de force cinema”, and that it is basically flawless and in every respect original. He supports his thesis with emphasizing the genre which is the rare dramatic- or dark comedy, the tone that is “at once empathetic and acidic”; the stunning job of the Spanish director, Inarritu (also directed 21 Grams) and his indispensable cinematographer, Emmanuel Lubeczki, the brilliant performance of Michael Keaton, the original and symbolic soundtrack; and the job of the screenwriting quartet.

After his introductory paragraph, the writer describes the set, location and plot of the movie. He also lets us in some details of the shooting and talks about the deeper issues that are unfolding during the film as ambition, vanity, popularity versus creative achievement; spontaneity versus careful planning and several others. The argument he further develops is the exceptional cinematography of the movie. He compares the effect creating the illusion of having been filmed all in one take to Alfred Hitchock’s Rope from 1948. The unique soundtrack that is nothing but monotone drumming only supports this visual continuum of time unbroken (McCarthy compares it to the legendary opening of Gravity which was also shot by Lubeczki).

McCarthy also mentions a weakness of the film to balance his undiminished praise for it, which is in the dramaturgy. He describes the scene where Riggan meets the powerful drama critic as unrealistic and unbelievable and emphasizes the lack of development in case of the supporting characters.

The review’s style is mainly informal as McCarthy uses several abbreviations and parenthetic remarks ­ – e.g. “quite the jerk, actually” or “don’t ask” – intended to create a friendly and intimate tone with the audience. However, at the same time the review is full of professional terms (e.g. “tour de force cinema”) and unexplained references (as why is Michael Keaton’s role of a former superhero film star is highly self- referential; “it could fill a Feydeau farce”) that show it was clearly addressed to an adept audience.

What I think is really missing from the review is emphasizing the interesting relationship between Riggan and his ex-role alter-ego Birdman. In my opinion, it is a hugely important theme of the film; the ambiguous existence of Birdman in real life, the main character’s mental state, and the obscurity of how specific things happen if they happened at all. Apart from this, all in all, the review is very professional, precisely organized slowly building up to the conclusion that Birdman “goes beyond the normal destinations of mainstream films - managing to make it quite an exciting place”. It touches every single practical and theoretical aspect of a film, uses only relevant information and isn’t only leaning on personal opinion. If I hadn’t already seen this exceptional movie, I for sure would watch it now.

Source:

Todd McCarthy (27 Aug. 2014). ‘Michael Keaton soars in Alejandro G. Inarritu’s brilliantly directed dark comedy about celebrity and creation.’ Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/birdman/review/727190