What is the significance of the movie Birdman?

Birdman film review "Please love me, but once is not enough"

Some English in this article is an internal joke. If you don't understand it, please ignore it.

More than 20 years ago, Riggan Thomson became famous for his role in the comic book hero trilogy Birdman, but when he was very popular, he refused to participate in the filming of the fourth film of Birdman. Twenty years later, Reagan, who has reached middle age, is out of breath, and the public still labels him as a "bird man". Due to the entanglement of vanity and conceit, time did not help Regan adapt to and accept his gap in popularity and existence. He wants to prove that he is a real artist. He personally adapted a drama script, and personally acted as the director and protagonist, which will be staged on Broadway. The film shows us Reagan's experience from the initial production to the premiere. Do you think things will go well?

This movie is wonderful, even jazz (I just watched Whiplash), and it is one of my favorite movies I have seen this year. As usual, list why it's good:

The first is casting and performance.

It was michael keaton who played the leading role in Regan Thomson and Batman Return many years ago. Seth rogen told Zac Efron in Neighborhood, "Your generation thinks the real Batman is Christian Bale, but for our generation, the real Batman is michael keaton." Experience cannot be copied. It's hard for us who are spoiled by Nolan to buy tim burton's account. The name michael keaton gradually faded out of people's conversation after the 1990s (it seems that his latest movie abroad was Jackie Brown in 1997 because of Talentino). An actor who played the classic Batman but nobody cares about him now, to play an actor who once played Birdman but nobody cares about him now. Keaton is what he is. But we didn't think about one thing-director Alejandro gonzalez I? From "Aritu" to "Edward Harrison Norton" on the same stage, it is said that michael keaton himself and Regan played by him are completely opposite in character and mentality. Reagan in the movie is insecure, but Keaton knows exactly where he is and where he is going. In that case, Keaton's performance is actually a breakthrough to those scenes that are flustered, desperate and have no clue.

In addition to the protagonist, other casting is also perfect. There are several supporting roles that I really want to talk about.

This film is not particularly challenging for naomi watts. Compared with Keaton's exaggerated and deformed self, Watts seems to be playing herself, or one of her best "roles": an actress who constantly doubts her career is uneven. First of all, let's go back to the classic of 200 1, Mulholland Road (the David Lynch who got involved with our dreams, right? ) In that play, Naomi played Diane as an actor with good acting skills but insufficient self-confidence. She wanted to be red, but she just wasn't. In an interview with Inside actors studio, Naomi said that she is more like Diane (why "more"? ), she said that director david lynch "brought out the dark side of my heart, and I found that I didn't need to hide it." She also said that self-doubt is a good thing for her. I like naomi watts as an actress, firstly because of her excellent acting skills, and secondly because she showed me that she was insecure. I don't know why this will give her extra points in my heart.

Edward Harrison Norton plays naomi watts's bed partner. The role he plays is an actor with superb acting skills but very conceited. I guess Watts can realize that she is very similar to her role when reading a book, but Norton may not realize it when reading a script, because Norton himself is such an actor, and he may be too conceited to see what others say about him. Director Alejandro gonzalez I? Aritu said in an interview that when Norton came, he read the script and began to suggest to the director, "Hey, why don't we shoot this?" "How about this!" Yun Yun. The director immediately smiled and asked him, "Do you know what you are doing now?" Norton said, "I don't know." "You are doing what your character is going to do." For a long time, people have said that it is difficult for Edward Harrison Norton to cooperate on the set. He's not playing big cards. He just takes his work and art very seriously and is unwilling to compromise. The following is just a "version" found on the Internet: when he was filming The Incredible Hulk, he got the script and added a 70-minute dialogue to highlight the character depth of the Hulk Bruce Banner. After Marvel Comics cut all these things off, he resigned immediately. Later, Mark Ruffalo played the Hulk in Reunion, which is also the favorite of most people. The two actors are good friends in private. The reason why we should emphasize the "online search version" is because "The Lost Girl" reminds us that it is too easy to make up hearsay. And that "version" of Norton is exactly the same as his role in Birdman. However, no matter how talented the role is, he is still not confident in himself. He can only be the best on the stage, and we can still feel his unconfident side behind the scenes. I don't know what the real Norton is like. Norton stole the film from everyone when he left the country. Fortunately, he said this film was his favorite creative experience.

Knowing the relationship between these three main characters and the realistic characteristics of actors, I prefer watching movies. There is a line at the beginning of the movie (I forget who it is) that someone shot himself in the mouth, but he is not dead yet. My first reaction was Tyler Durden. But we don't support talking about it.

I also want to briefly talk about two actors.

Emma Stone plays Regan's daughter. She is a soul with a heavy past, but now she has not lost her burden. Emma Stone's personality is very "relaxed A", similar to that of jennifer lawrence, and she is also careless, telling the story of "going to the toilet in the Forbidden City" on the talk show. In Regan's Daughter, I can see Si Tong's freedom, like flying a kite, but Si Tong's plays are more about interaction with Keaton and Norton. In these interactions, I can see a tough kite line, which is also where her acting skills lie. The camera took many close-ups of her big eyes, and the feelings captured were real enough.

Zach Galifianakis (oh, yes, spelled correctly once) also gave the agent/lawyer an excellent performance. Mention him because you don't usually expect him to behave like this. He is a fool playing between two ferns, and this time he is serious. Of course, he also provided some humorous dialogues. Seeing that he is hairy, I can't help but expect him to follow robin williams's example and perform more plays.

Second, scripts, photography, directing and editing.

The photographer of this film is emmanuel lubezki, who just won the Golden Award for Gravity last year. One of the directors and screenwriters is Alejandro gonzalez I, who directed 2 1 gram and Babel? Yarritu. With their cooperation, this movie seems to be a two-hour long shot from beginning to end.

This effect is set in advance by the script, which originally requires actors to perform a long play. The film was shot for 30 days, which really proved the high intensity and pressure of the studio. This kind of shooting needs not only the reliability of every actor (especially the actor who speaks last, because once he screws up, everyone has to start all over again), but also the tacit understanding of photographer, actor and director. The latter is a major factor in the success of the film, because each scene is not only long, but also the actors in the play have a lot of walking and interaction. In order to capture the most expressive picture and produce the effect of tracking the lens, the camera can't always take a panoramic view in the distance, it needs to always follow the actors, and sometimes it needs to take close-ups and constantly change angles. At the same time, the camera can't interfere with the actors. In order to highlight the theme, there are many mirrors in the film, and the film is also very good for scenes with mirrors.

I'm very familiar with many long shots in aaron sorkin's plays, so after watching this movie, I'm glad to find that I didn't spend a second thinking about aaron sorkin at all, and the shooting has its own style. The result of this close-up not only let us fully understand the role, but also let us see the excitement behind Broadway and color the atmosphere of the film (when it comes to coloring, the lighting design is also ingenious). Due to the long lens tracking, the rhythm and tension of the film are simply suffocating. I was quickly attracted by the dialogue and the plot and forgot to think about the "long shot". Because of this, this technical feature has not become a diversion trick (this is a subjective conclusion). What's more, when I watched it, I could clearly see that they must have shouted "cut" somewhere, but I couldn't see where it was cut. It's amazing.

Third, there is a profound theme.

After talking about "XX highlights" and "YY departure" for a long time, it's time to talk about the theme in detail. But here, most of them are personal understandings.

In fact, after reading this, you should have guessed that a major theme of the film is the actors' extremely thin sense of security and their "addiction" to acceptance and affirmation. I have given some examples by talking about Keaton, Watts and Norton. These actors all have different forms of self-obsession. Keaton has been bickering with his dark side. On the one hand, he wants to care about the quality of his plays and worry about what others think of him as an artist. On the other hand, he sighed angrily, "how brilliant I am, you are nothing!" " I can shoot Birdman 4 and get rich! "However, it is obvious that he has started to play, but his good performance is not enough to complete the task. He is particularly vulnerable to outside interference with his confidence. So he has been fantasizing about putting on the bird man's costume again and getting people's love again through commercial movies. Watts and another actress are in desperate need of recognition. They need praise to feel relaxed. Although Norton has no doubt about his acting skills, he is probably the most obsessed. He only has confidence in the role, but has no confidence in himself, so all his experiences are devoted to the performance, and nothing else matters. Life off stage is a mess, and no one likes him. Everyone's subtext is "Look at me! Lieb Mich! "As soon as I get a little light, I want more light. This is not addiction. What is this? The mirror in the picture in the movie is a symbol of this self-obsession.

This passage is very short, like a spoiler:

Emma Stone's roll of paper helped her give up her addiction to alcohol (or drugs). In the long history of the earth, human beings have only that small piece. And she told her father the purpose of this roll of paper, just to help him quit. Lieb Mich! "Addiction.

Spoiler end

However, we should not judge others too early. Amy in "The Lost Girl" is also obsessed, and Andrew in "Whip Tip" is also obsessed. I think we are all like this now. Actors just happen to be celebrities, representatives of vain people represented by the media. It is no exaggeration to say that they are "things". Who really knows actors? How many times have we given them their roles? How much do we like to over-interpret one of their expressions? "We" is a very common pronoun. Personally, I feel that Asian girls should be the most seriously ill people, but everyone is really not much different. Compared with Regan, who can't post Weibo in middle age, we are probably better at saying new things every day on Weibo WeChat, and we expect to kidnap others' attention when replying. Those who don't know Reagan at all, call him a bird man when they come up, and ask him to take a picture and sign it. They just want to fill their vanity by doing so. "I saw a birdman the other day!" This will be a speech, and that photo will have a lot of hits.

This reminds me of the second theme, that is, comments on "celebrities" and "fame". However, it should be noted that the expectations and pursuits of actors for praise are different from those of some people for "celebrity" status. Both have vanity at work, but the former is obviously necessary for any artist, while the latter is extremely unhealthy from the beginning, and I think most actors think it is ridiculous and sad to be a "public figure". The above paragraph is about how we treat celebrities. We put our hearts on them, imagine their thoughts, and then talk to them. We use them to make ourselves feel better when they are good, and laugh at them when they are bad, so that we are less dissatisfied with life. On the other hand, a "celebrity" must work like a normal person while maintaining his image and public beliefs, otherwise they will be dissatisfied again. In addition, from time to time, people say that they are old, have plastic surgery, are dating, have quarreled, have been photographed by paparazzi, and have been scrutinized by the public. How strange this pressure is. The film can vividly show this, and people can't help but sigh.

In addition, I want to talk about the society's views on "comic hero" movies. Comic book movies have caused an unprecedented sensation in the United States, at least in the fan circle. In michael keaton's time, this kind of film was not credible and people didn't take it seriously, but it was understandable. Today, Marvel Comics and DC are fighting for quality and content. Marvel Comics has won the full trust of the industry through several high-level films such as The Avengers, Team USA 2 and Galaxy, and the trailer of the new Reunion 2 is also very exciting. But many people who like movies still scoff at this kind of movies, thinking that they are all for fun and can only watch them casually. I must think that Team USA 2 and Galaxy are my favorite movies this year, but even I dare not put them on the Oscar nomination list. Because no matter how real and serious you make a movie, you can't hide the absurdity of comedy elements. In this respect, is it too much to pay attention to cartoons now? Making this kind of film seems to really reduce your sense of security. People will really say, "You are not a real artist". The more money you earn, the lower your status may be. And this attitude, anyone who really loves comics will tell you, is wrong (that Transformers 4 is nothing).

That's why Robert Downey Jr. wants to film the judge. Now it has been shown for so long, he obviously didn't get the box office harvest he wanted, and the rotten tomato score was fixed below 50%. I wonder what Donnie is thinking at the moment. The whole movie amazed me from technology to content, made me feel a little strange, and the ending made me a little confused. After watching it all day, I'm still thinking. This is art.