Movies
The Unexpected Virtue of WHAT?
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Don’t let the word ‘ignorance’ in the title of the movie fool you. Because every scene of this movie proves what a genius director Alejandro González Iñárritu is. I used to think that the most important thing for a movie was the script, but this movie taught me that if you use the camera and the light well and don’t spare your creativity, you can deliver a thousand-word narrative without speaking.
The character of ‘Birdman’ is a masterful metaphor for an actor whose career is coming to an end, confronting his past. Michael Keaton, whose career is not over and never will be, proves with every second of the movie that he is the best fit for the role and the best person to empathize with the character.
Edward Norton, who has always been very picky and a perfectionist throughout his career, shows what a great supporting actor he can be when he learns to work well with people and doesn’t interfere with directors’ visions and make their lives miserable.
If you don’t have time to do a little Googling, you can read this Reddit link where people are chatting about what Edward Norton is like on set
In the last scene of the movie, Sam (Emma Stone) enters her father’s room in the hospital and realizes that he is not there. She notices that the window of the room is open and she slowly makes her way to the window in an agitated state. In these moments, we all get the idea that her father (Michael Keaton) is trying his luck again after his failed suicide attempt and we get uneasy.
But when Sam finally looks out the window, she sees her father flying in the sky. This is a metaphor for the dissipation of the dark clouds over Riggan’s (Michael Keaton) career.
For Emma Stone, a familiar face in cheap comedies until 2014, this movie would be the beginning of the best days of her career that would last until today, when she won an Oscar.
Result
Birdman utilizes all of the gifts of the cinematic art, hiding its genius and mastery behind an intimate veil of ‘awkwardness’, while dragging the audience into the opening night of a play that the audience will experience as if they were in it. When the lights go down and the curtain opens, your ego, overshadowed by the mastery of actors like Michael Keaton, Edward Norton and Emma Stone, has no choice but to give a standing ovation.
