Birdman (film)

Birdman

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Antonio Sánchez
Cinematography Emmanuel Lubezki
Edited by
Production
companies
Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • August 27, 2014 (Venice Film Festival)
  • October 17, 2014 (United States)
Running time
 119 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $16.5 million[2]
Box office $103.2 million[3]

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), commonly referred to as simply Birdman, is a 2014 American black comedy film film co-written, produced, and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It stars Michael Keaton with a supporting cast of Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts. The story follows Riggan Thomson (Keaton), a faded Hollywood actor famous for his role as superhero Birdman, as he struggles to mount a Broadway adaptation of a short story by Raymond Carver.

Most of Birdman appears filmed in a single shot, an idea the director had from the film's conception. Such a technique required an atypical production approach, with many elements of post-production requiring consideration before principal photography; the script took two years to write, the cast went through several weeks of meticulous rehearsals, and during shooting takes were cut for the slightest mishaps. The film was shot in New York City during the spring of 2013 with a budget of $16.5 million jointly financed by New Regency and Fox Searchlight Pictures. It premiered the following year in August where it opened the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Birdman had a limited theatrical release in the United States on October 17, 2014, followed by a wide release on November 14 which has grossed more than $103 million worldwide. The film garnered wide acclaim from critics, some of whom considered it to be one of the best films released in 2014, with praise particularly directed to its direction, acting, cinematography, and screenplay. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, along with Best Director for González Iñárritu, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography from a total of nine nominations, tying it with The Grand Budapest Hotel for being the most nominated film of the Academy's 87th annual awards ceremony. It also won the Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards,[4] as well as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for Keaton and Best Screenplay at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.

Plot

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a washed-up Hollywood actor famous for playing the superhero Birdman in blockbuster movies decades earlier. He is tormented by the voice of Birdman, which mocks and criticizes him, and he sees himself performing feats of levitation and telekinesis.

Riggan hopes to reinvent his career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". The play is produced by Riggan's best friend and lawyer, Jake (Zach Galifianakis), and also stars Riggan's girlfriend, Laura (Andrea Riseborough), and first-time Broadway actress, Lesley (Naomi Watts). Riggan's daughter, Samantha (Emma Stone), a recovering addict, serves as his assistant.

During rehearsals, a light fixture falls onto Riggan's co-star, Ralph; Riggan tells Jake he caused the light to fall so he could replace him. At Lesley's suggestion, Riggan replaces Ralph with the brilliant but volatile method actor Mike Shiner (Edward Norton), refinancing his house to fund his contract. The first previews are disastrous: Mike breaks character over the replacement of his gin with water and attempts to rape Lesley during a sex scene. Riggan reads early press coverage and is incensed that Mike has stolen the show, but Jake encourages him to continue. When Riggan catches Samantha using marijuana, she tells him he is expendable and that his play is a vanity project.

Backstage during the final preview, Riggan sees Samantha and Mike flirting. He accidentally locks himself out of the theater and walks in his underwear through Times Square to get back inside; amateur videos of the incident go viral online. After the preview, Riggan runs into influential critic Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan), who tells him she hates Hollywood celebrities who "pretend" to be actors and promises to "kill" his play with a negative review once she sees it. Riggan gets drunk and passes out in the street. The next day, he hallucinates a conversation with Birdman, who tries to convince him to make another Birdman film, and sees himself flying through New York City back to the theatre.

On opening night, Riggan uses a real gun for the final scene in which his character kills himself, and shoots himself in the head onstage, shooting his nose off. He earns a standing ovation from all but Tabitha, who leaves during the applause. In the hospital the next day, Jake tells Riggan that Tabitha gave the play a rave review, dubbing his suicide attempt "super-realism", a new form of method acting. After Samantha visits Riggan, he dismisses Birdman, and seeing birds outside, climbs onto the window ledge. When Samantha returns, Riggan has disappeared. She looks down at the street, then up at the sky and smiles.

Cast

Production

Conception and writing

Birdman was conceived when director González Iñárritu had an idea to make a comedy set in the theatre appearing to be filmed in a single shot. The choice behind the film's genre came from the director wanting a change. All his previous films were dramas, and after directing the Biutiful, he did not want to make another tragic film.[5] The decision to make the film appear as a single shot came from his realization that "we live our lives with no editing". By presenting the film as a continuous shot he could "submerge the protagonist in an 'inescapable reality' and take the audience with him."[6] González Iñárritu shared his idea with Argentine writers/filmmakers Armando Bó and Nicolás Giacobone, as well as playwright Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., who had all worked with him on his previous film.[7][lower-alpha 1] Their first reaction was to tell him the continuous-shot idea could not work.[5] According to Dinelaris and Giacobone "huge" and "important" people told him to not even try the project for the same reason,[7] and González Iñárritu himself described it as "almost suicidal", worrying that the technique would be distracting instead of immersive.[9] Dinelaris later said that had they truly paused and considered the idea, they might have talked González Iñárritu out of it.[5]

The project began nonetheless. With González Iñárritu in Los Angeles, Giacobone and Bo in Buenos Aires, and Dinelaris in New York, the script was mainly written through Skype calls and emails.[5] Although this complicated the writing process, Dinelaris said he believed the best ideas in Birdman came from Skype sessions at two in the morning where he and Giacobone were "cracking each other up." Incorporating the one-shot feature also affected the writing process. Bo said "We wrote everything thinking of this one shot, and a lot of decisions that would mostly be taken in the editing room were taken before shooting." The one-shot approach meant the scenes could not be removed or re-ordered in post-production, so the writers needed to be "very, very sure about what was on the page."[7] As a result, it took about a year and a half to complete the final draft.[10]

"You have to be an idiot to do it all in one shot. You have to be an idiot to attempt it. It takes a great, great deal of ignorance to not pay attention to the difficulties and to think you’re going to do this. Birdman looks like a good idea now, but a year and a half ago we did not know how we would land."

— Alexander Dinelaris[7]

While some aspects of the film – the first frame with Riggan, for instance – went unchanged from Birdman's conception to release,[5] others went through several iterations. One of these was the sequence in which alter ego Birdman takes complete control over Riggan's thoughts. The writers knew it would occur at Riggan's lowest point, so at one stage planned for it to happen after Riggan hears the initial negative press coverage and destroys his dressing room. In another discarded version, Riggan tries to drown himself in Central Park and flies out to save himself.[7] The film's ending also changed; the ending was written halfway through filming. González Iñárritu grew to strongly dislike the original ending, calling it "so embarrassing", and rewrote it with Dinelaris and Giacobone after a new ending came to him in a dream.[11][12] González Iñárritu was reluctant to describe the original ending but it was leaked by Dinelaris. He said the original ending was set in the theatre instead of the hospital, and involved Johnny Depp sitting in Riggan's dressing room.[13]

The personal experiences of the writers informed the script. Dinelaris' exposure to Broadway shaped the depictions of rehearsals and events backstage, though he admitted exaggerating these. He also felt his background writing long scenes of dialog helped since scenes in the film "were really more like play scenes."[7] González Iñárritu's own experiences influenced many of Birdman's themes, and said "What this film talks about, I have been through. I have seen and experienced all of it; it's what I have been living through the last years of my life."[5] Dinelaris described this aspect as "a laughing look at oneself", but said it had to be done in a comedic way otherwise "it would have been the most unbelievably self-absorbed look at the subject."[5] Themes from Raymond Carver's short story "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", which Riggan adapts for stage in the story, also influenced the script. González Iñárritu wanted to find the connection between the themes in Riggan's story and those of Carver's.[7] Because of this it was important to the director that Carver's story be the subject of the play, so found using his work "terrifying" in case the rights to it were rejected, but no issues arose. Carver's widow, writer Tess Gallagher, loved the script and permitted the adaptation, saying that Carver would be laughing about the film.[5]

Casting

Michael Keaton was González's first choice to play Riggan Thomson.

González cast several of the leading roles before the film was financed.[2] Among these was the lead role. Early in script development, González did not have Keaton in mind,[6] but he had changed his mind by the end: "When I finished the script, I knew that Michael was not the choice or option, he was the guy".[14] González cast Keaton for his depth in a variety of acting styles: he could handle the demands of the stage, up-close work, and comedy and empathy "with a profound depth to both."[15]

Keaton knew about Birdman before González contacted him. He was in the middle of production of another project when he learned that González was making another film. Keaton, a fan of his work, flew home to find out more.[16] González sent him the script and they discussed it over dinner. The first thing Keaton asked the director was whether he was making fun of him (regarding his role in Tim Burton's Batman films), but after González explained the role, its technicalities and the film's production, Keaton agreed to play Riggan.[6]

Casting the actor to play Lesley was easier. Naomi Watts had already worked with González before on 21 Grams and quickly accepted his offer. She was able to work on the movie since she was living in New York at the time.[17]

González called his decision behind casting Galifianakis as Jake "a bet". Galifianakis met the director's criteria of being lovable and funny, but González also considered him sensitive, which scored him the role.[17] Emma Stone already knew she wanted to work with González before she was offered the role of Sam. The script that González gave her and the rest of the cast came with the photo Man on Wire, which featured Philippe Petit crossing the Twin Towers on a tightrope. González told the cast, "We are doing that".[11][18]

Once these actors were committed, González sought funding. He first invited Fox Searchlight Pictures to finance the project, but they turned his offer down because they felt his asking budget was too high.[2] At one stage Megan Ellison of Annapurna Pictures wanted to be involved in the project, but decided against it because, unlike her other films, she had not been involved since the beginning.[19] González approached Brad Weston, president of New Regency, who accepted the offer.[20] When executive Claudia Lewis of Searchlight heard about the deal, she reconsidered and asked to be included in the deal. Searchlight and New Regency had previously worked together to finance 12 Years a Slave, and they decided to join together for Birdman, financing a budget of $16.5 million.[2]

Weston and Lewis developed a close relationship with González, editing the script with him and switching some of the actors. When they joined production, Josh Brolin was set to play the role of Mike Shiner, but the financiers decided to switch him for Norton because of scheduling conflicts.[2] González found casting Mike Shiner difficult because he wanted his actors to give "a quality of reality in each of them that really projects to the film."

He said Norton's experience as a theatre actor combined with his self-confidence meant that "in a way there was some kind of mental reality to Edward",[17] but Norton believes he was the one who convinced González to take him on. Norton was a fan of the director's work and impressed with his ability to push outside film-making boundaries.[21] Norton heard about González' project from a friend. Once he got the script, he read it straight through until 3:00 am. Norton said, "I laughed so hard I woke people up."[22] Norton wanted to meet González the next day, and once they met, Norton told him he couldn't cast someone who was the "embodiment" of what the script was taking aim at. Instead, the director needed to cast someone "who has at least a little bit of authentic depth of experience, in this world." González agreed.[23] Norton was not the only member of the cast who had acted on stage.

Ryan, one of the last actors to be cast,[24] was invited because González Iñárritu had seen her in the play Detroit.[25] Lindsay Duncan had vast experience in the theatre world too, and decided to accept the offer to play the critic because of the quality of the script. "It's delicious because of the writing."[26] But like Shiner's character, González Iñárritu found casting Laura difficult. Riseborough met him on a street corner for a cup of tea, and recalling the event, said "I told him that I would crawl across hot coals to work with him".[27] González Iñárritu described Laura as "a very wacky, quirky role," but said "when [Andrea Riseborough] did it I knew that it was her, because she did it right in the tone, and she understood who she was – she was not judging."[17]

Rehearsal and filming

Michael Keaton (Riggan) rehearsing an action-sequence of the film.

Once the writing was finished, González Iñárritu contacted friend and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki to discuss his idea for the film.[28] After reading the script, Lubezki was worried that González Iñárritu would offer him the job since "[Birdman] had all of the elements of a movie that I did not want to do at all" – comedy, studio work and long takes – but changed his mind after further discussion with the director.[29] The pair had worked together on commercials and a short film in the anthology To Each His Own Cinema,[30] but not on any feature films. Lubezki wanted to be sure that this was a decision Rodrigo Prieto, cinematographer of all four of González Iñárritu's feature films, was comfortable with, but after receiving his blessing, the two headed into pre-production.[29]

Lubezki was concerned that no film had been shot in the way González Iñárritu envisioned, meaning there would be no reference material to look up. The two decided the only way to learn how to shoot it would be to shoot it themselves, so they hired a warehouse in Sony Studios, Los Angeles, and built a proxy stage.[28][31] The setup was minimal, with canvas and C-stands for walls, tape and a few pieces of furniture to mark out areas.[28][32] Using a camera and some stand-ins, the duo worked through the movie to see if it was possible. Having realized no theater had all the backstage areas they required, they hired Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York.[33] Still, González Iñárritu wanted to shoot at a Broadway theater, but would have to wait until several weeks into rehearsals before securing St. James Theatre.[34] They then went about having the stand-ins read and walk through the script to see how large the set needed to be.[34] Afterwards, they designed and made "blueprints" of the shots and the blocking of the scenes.[29] The planning was precise. González Iñárritu said "There was no room to improvise at all. Every movement, every line, every door opening, absolutely everything was rehearsed."[31] The actors started rehearsing once this preliminary work was completed: according to Lubezki, they did the scenes with the actors "once we kind of knew what the rhythm of the scenes were." He described the atypical approach "like an upside down movie where you do post-production before the production."[28]

"I know Alejandro is very adamant about kind of keeping the rabbit in the hat and not being super specific about how it was shot, but I will say it took a lot of rehearsal and it was very specific... There was no luxury of cutting away or editing around anything. You knew that every scene was staying in the movie, and like theater, this was it, this was your chance to live this scene."

— Emma Stone[35]

During the blocking of the scenes and rehearsals, González Iñárritu gathered his long-time editors Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione onto the proxy set, so they could discuss where to remove edits.[36] Production designer Kevin Thompson was on hand too, since many of the shots González Iñárritu desired required the set to be built in a certain way. For example, Riggan's makeup mirror and desk were constructed so that the camera would see his reflection.[32] Thompson also took into consideration the needs of the crew, for instance designing the stairs a little wider for Steadicam operator Chris Haarhoff's footsize.[37] The writers were also involved at this stage, fine-tuning the script to "make sure the film was fluid and never stopped.[10]

St. James Theatre and Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York were used to film the stage and backstage scenes of Birdman respectively.

Once the logistics of the scenes were worked out and they had the timing down, the team headed to Kaufman Studios for more rehearsals, followed by principal photography based exclusively in New York during the spring of 2013.[38] The studios were used to film the backstage areas of the film, including Riggan's dressing room and the theatre corridors. St. James Theatre was used for two weeks; it was the location for the stage scenes.[39] The bar segments were shot in The Rum House on 47th Street,[40] and 43rd Street was used for the action-sequence.[41] Throughout the locations, including the studio, the scenes were lit with natural light,[lower-alpha 2] since Lubezki wanted the movie "to look as naturalistic as possible." The night-time scenes were possible to film in this way due to the brightness of New York.[29]

Throughout shooting, Arri Alexa cameras were used, with an Alexa M for handheld sequences and an Alexa XT attached to the Steadicam. Neither used matteboxes, however. Steadicam operator Chris Haarhoff explained this decision: "We didn’t want this big black thing gliding into their eyeline. This way we could get very close and get the light past the lens and onto the actor’s face."[37] Lubezki – who did all the handheld camerawork[28] – had chosen the Alexa M because the camera was very small and allowed him to get into tiny spaces and close to the actors,[29] sometimes filming two inches away from Keaton's face.[32] The camera also allowed recording for such a long period – necessary for the long takes of the movie – that Lubezki went so far as to say the movie would have been impossible to do years before.[29] The cameras were lensed with Leica Summilux-C or Zeiss Master Primes.[37] Lubezki stated that these gave clean images, saying "You can have all these lights in the frame and they are not really causing bad flare or things like that."[29] In terms of sizes, they initially trialled a 21mm, but this didn't give González Iñárritu the "intimacy" he wanted. The crew instead went to a 18mm Leica, which was used for the majority of the film. Only when emphasis was needed did they switch the lens to a 14mm, but this was rare.[37]

The meticulous timing for the scenes meant that takes were cancelled because of the slightest mishaps. Emma Stone, in an interview with Jimmy Fallon, recalled how a six-minute take of the scene where Riggan first meets Mike was ruined after she walked around a corner too quickly.[42] Because of this, the number of takes for a given scene was high, usually twenty for the shorter scenes,[28] the takes running smoothly around the fifteenth.[37] Chris Haarhoff described it as "a type of dance where everyone would hopefully try to peak all at the same moment." The locations sometimes placed restrictions on the takes too; the live Times Square sequence was shot only twice since they didn't want to attract the attention of tourists.[28]

Whenever shooting was taking place however, there was pressure on everyone involved, but the cast had a positive experience. Edward Norton said that normally in movie production half the people can "check out" due to repetitive aspects, but during the shooting of Birdman "everybody's on, the whole thing, and you're all on pins and needles because you're all relying on forty other people not to drop the ball." Because of this, Stone said the director was able to get the best out of the cast, saying "[González Iñárritu's process] creates this sort of fury in you, and then you end up realizing that he just got so much out of you that you didn’t even know you had."[18] Naomi Watts commented that the atmosphere "felt emblematic of how it feels onstage – at least my long-time memories from long ago."[43] Andrea Riseborough, meanwhile, described the process as "wonderful", mentioning how it was possible to hear the filming of a sequence from far away before the camera arrived and then "the magic happens with you, and then everything leaves you, and everything's silent."[35] Once they successfully completed a take though, it was obvious to everybody involved. Norton said "I’ve never, ever been on a set where every day ended with an enormous, authentic sort of cheer at having made it. You’re waiting for the scream from [González Iñárritu] and everybody was genuinely excited."[21]

Visual effects

Rodeo FX worked on the visual effects in Birdman, including Riggan's flying sequences, Riggan with his alter ego Birdman following him while strolling down the street, and the attack on the city featuring a strange winged creature, helicopters and stray missiles.[44]

Music

The film's music consists entirely of drums and classical pieces. With Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky among others, most of the classical composers featured are well known, but González Iñárritu did not regard the choice of pieces as important, saying "I think all those classical pieces are, in a way, great, but honestly if I would have put another good classical piece it would be the same film."[45] González Iñárritu stated that the classical components come from the world of the play, citing the radio in Riggan's room and the show itself as two sources of the music.[46] The drum sections comprise the majority of the score however, and were composed by Antonio Sánchez. González Iñárritu explained the choice by saying they helped to structure scenes, and that "The drums, for me, was a great way to find the rhythm of the film... In comedy, rhythm is king, and not having the tools of editing to determine time and space, I knew I needed something to help me find the internal rhythm of the film."[47] He also wanted a score that "wouldn’t cater to an audience’s expectations", which the drums, being more abstract, provided.[48] The official soundtrack was released in October 14, 2014.[49]

Jazz drummer Antonio Sánchez composed and recorded the score for the film.

González Iñárritu contacted friend and jazz drummer Antonio Sánchez in January 2013, inviting him to compose the score for the film.[50] His reaction to writing a soundtrack using only drums was similar to Lubezki's thoughts of shooting the movie like a single shot: "It was a scary proposition because I had no point of reference of how to achieve this. There’s no other movie I know that has a score like this."[51] Sánchez had also not worked on a film before,[50] nevertheless, after receiving the script, composed "rhythmic themes" for each of the characters.[52] González Iñárritu was looking for the opposite approach however, preferring spontaneity and improvisation.[53] Sánchez then waited until production moved to New York before composing more,[52] where he visited the set for a couple of days to get a better idea of the film.[53] Following this, a week before principal photography, he and González Iñárritu went to a studio to record some demos.[46][54] During these sessions the director would first talk him through the scene, then while Sánchez was improvising guide him by raising his hand to indicate an event – such as a character opening a door – or by describing the rhythm with verbal sounds.[54][55] They recorded around seventy demos,[52] which González Iñárritu used to inform the pacing of the scenes on set,[28] and once filming was complete, spliced them into the rough cut.[54] Sánchez summarized the process by saying "The movie fed on the drums and the drums fed on the imagery."[53]

His next work on Birdman was in September, where he traveled to Los Angeles to re-record the soundtrack.[50] By this stage the film was assembled, so during the two days of recording Sánchez would watch a scene to see what González Iñárritu had done with the demos, then redo the track.[56] This was a new experience for Sánchez who until this point, had guided his improvisations in response to "the sound and energy" around him. Here, he was using a scene to guide him, and said the biggest challenge of the soundtrack was "adapting what I do to a moving image, a story line, and dialogue."[57] As in New York, González Iñárritu supervised these recordings, but this time would give specific directions. For example, instructing Sánchez to stop or start when Riggan uttered certain words.[53] González Iñárritu also shaped the overall feel of the soundtrack. He wanted it to grow crazier throughout the film, so for the end tracks Sánchez would overdub up to four drum tracks on top of each other.[54][55] Additionally, González Iñárritu was not satisfied with the quality of the sound from the previous recordings: it was too good. Instead, he wanted an instrument that sounded like it hadn't been played in years, to tie in with state of the theatre in the film.[53] To achieve this, Sánchez adjusted his setup; detuning the drums and stacking different kinds of cymbals on top of one another were among the techniques he used.[52][56] Amusingly, this process was included in the film – the first sound in Birdman is in fact Sánchez asking González Iñárritu a question in Spanish, followed by his detuning of the drums.[52]

In between the two studio recordings, Sánchez was away touring with the Pat Metheny Group, which created a complication.[58] González Iñárritu wanted to include a drummer in the film from the very beginning,[51] saying "I wanted [Sánchez] to become a character in his own film, and have the play become a play of a play."[46] The drummer recommended his friend Nate Smith, but didn't decide on the music to play beforehand, resulting in Smith improvising during the shoots. This meant Sánchez had to learn and match him exactly during the recordings in Los Angeles,[51] noting "Alejandro was very specific and he would watch the clip over and over again to make sure that you could not tell that it was not him that was actually producing the sound. Never in my life have I had to do that."[55] The process was not aided by a different method of recording for the scene outside of St. James Theatre featuring Smith. The drums were moved out onto the street, and people carrying mics a block away would walk towards and past Sánchez as he was playing, to coordinate the sound and image of the film without the need for post-production effects.[54]

Best Original Score disqualification

On December 12, 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their longlist for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, from which Birdman was absent. Sánchez had received a note from the award committee the previous day explaining the decision, quoting rule fifteen of the 87th Academy Award Rules and writing they felt "the fact that the film also contains over a half an hour of non-original (mostly classical) music cues that are featured very prominently in numerous pivotal moments in the film made it difficult for the committee to accept your submission." Sánchez decided to launch an appeal, and along with González Iñárritu and the executive vice-president of Fox Music, sent letters to the chair of the Academy's music branch executive committee, Charles Fox, asking that the committee reconsider their decision.[59] One of the points they raised was that the committee had incorrectly calculated the ratio of classical to original music, which after being clarified Sánchez thought he was "on really solid ground."[60] A response from Fox on December 19 however, explained that a special meeting of the music committee was held, and although its members had "great respect" for the score and considered it "superb", thought that the classical music "was also used as scoring", "equally contributes to the effectiveness of the film", and that the musical identity of the film was created by both the drums and classical music. Ultimately, they did not overturn their decision.[59] Sánchez said that he and González Iñárritu were not satisfied with the explanation, and that "to not be able to even participate, to not be on the list, that's what's so disappointing."[60]

Release

On July 10, 2014, it was announced that Birdman had been selected as the opening film of the 71st Venice International Film Festival along with Mohsen Makhmalbaf's new film.[61] The film got a limited release on October 17, 2014, with a theatre count of 4 in North America,[62][63] and on November 14, 2014, it was released nationwide in 857 theatres.[64]

Box office

As of March 20, 2015, Birdman has grossed $42.1 million in North America and $56 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $98.1 million, against a budget of $16.5 million.[3]

The film earned $424,397 during its limited North America opening in four theatres in New York and Los Angeles on the weekend of October 17, 2014, a per-theater average of $106,099, making it the 18th all-time earner (eighth among live-action movies) and ranking #20.[65] In the second weekend of October 24, 2014, Birdman expanded to 50 theaters and earned $1.38 million, which translates to a $27,593 per-theater average.[66] The film expanded nationwide to 857 theaters in the weekend of November 14, 2014, grossing $2,471,471 with a per theatre average of $2,884 and ranking #10. In the same weekend, Birdman grossed $11.6 million.[67]

The film opened in Mexico in November 13, 2014, grossing $628,915 in its opening weekend, and opened in the United Kingdom on January 2, 2015, grossing $2,337,407 over the weekend.[68] In the United Kingdom, Australia and Italy, the film grossed $7.6 million, $3.97 million, $1.97 million respectively.[69]

Critical response

Birdman received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for Keaton, Norton, and Stone's performances; the screenplay; and Lubezki's cinematography. Rotten Tomatoes reports 93% approval based on 258 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5 out of 10. The site's critical consensus states: "A thrilling leap forward for director Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman is an ambitious technical showcase powered by a layered story and outstanding performances from Michael Keaton and Edward Norton."[70] Metacritic gave the film a score of 88 out of 100, based on reviews from 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."[71]

The camerawork, which depicts most of the film as one continuous take, was met with extensive acclaim for its execution and usage. The acting was widely praised, particularly Keaton,[72][73] with Peter Debruge of Variety calling the performance the "comeback of the century."[74] Debruge described the film as "a self aware showbiz satire" and called it "a triumph on every creative level."[75] Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 5/5, with particular praise for the use of long takes by Emmanuel Lubezki, director of photography.[76] Richard Roeper gave the film an "A", and wrote that Keaton made a serious case for an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination (which Keaton later achieved).[72]

Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton from At the Movies praised the film’s writing, direction, performances and cinematography. David also described the implementation of the percussion score as "really exciting", while Margaret summarised "it's just really beautifully written and stunningly performed and beautifully made." The pair both gave the film five stars, making Birdman the only film to receive such a rating from the hosts in 2014.[77][78]

Writing for The New Yorker, Richard Brody called the film "Godardian," comparing it to Pierrot le fou, Every Man for Himself, Alphaville, and Germany Year 90 Nine Zero, four classic films by French director Jean-Luc Godard.[79] However, he suggested the film fell short of reaching the same cinematic mastery, adding, "it’s not a good idea for a filmmaker to get in the ring with Mr. Godard."[79] Thematically, he also compared it to Opening Night by John Cassavetes.[79] He added that the actors played in "the sort of modern naturalism, without eccentricity of gesture, excess of expression, or heightened and formalistic precision, that is the business-casual of contemporary cinema."[79] He concluded that the film "trade[d] on facile, casual dichotomies of theatre versus cinema and art versus commerce" and "deliver[ed] a work of utterly familiar and unoriginal drama."[79] Also in The New Yorker, Anthony Lane rejected the film's suggestion that film critics are out to destroy films, explaining, "Someone could have told Iñárritu that critics, though often mean, are not preemptively so, and that anybody who'd say, as Tabitha does, “I’m going to destroy your play,” before actually seeing it, would not stay long in the job."[80]

In The New York Times, Manohla Dargis compared the main character to Icarus.[81] She also noted a reference to Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation in the dressing-room mirror.[81]

Noting the thematic pull between Riggan's insanity or actual superpowers, Travis LaCouter of First Things writes that "the importance of these powers—real or imagined—is apparent: They are for Riggan the thing beyond the labels, the kernel of his genius and, because he sees drawing upon them as selling out, the source of his great angst." LaCouter concludes that "the quirky profundity of this film is in how it dares the viewer to consider the everyday magic that we tend to ignore, repress, or resent."[82]

A minority of critics, however, provided negative reviews. Reviewing it for Vanity Fair, Richard Lawson called the film "hoary" and "deceptively simple."[83] Scott Tobias, writing for The Dissolve, gave the film 1.5 stars. He commends Lubezki's cinematography as succeeding at "trapping viewers in a pressure-cooker atmosphere as Riggan and his players struggle to keep it together", but suggests that González Iñárritu is "incapable of modulation" and that there exists "a sourness to Birdman that Iñárritu can’t turn into wit."[84]

Accolades

At the 87th Academy Awards, Birdman won 4 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Original Screenplay, and Cinematography. Michael Keaton was nominated for Best Actor, Emma Stone and Edward Norton were nominated in Best Supporting Acting categories, and it received nominations for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Going into the award ceremony, Birdman was tied with The Grand Budapest Hotel for the highest number of nominations (9) which also won 4.[85]

Michael Keaton received his first Golden Globe award, winning for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. The film also won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay.

Year-end lists

Birdman appeared on over 100 critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2014, with a few dozen publications ranking the film first in their lists.[86][87][88]

Notes

  1. ↑ Dinelaris contributed some of the first drafts,[8] Bo and Giacobone co-wrote the film.
  2. ↑ There was one exception, a 20K used to simulate daylight outside a window.

References

  1. ↑ "Birdman". British Board of Film Classification. September 11, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Thompson, Anne (October 21, 2014). "How 'Birdman' Got Made: Fox Searchlight and New Regency Partners Tell All (Keaton, Norton, Stone VIDEOS)". Thompson on Hollywood. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Birdman (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ "21st SAG Awards:Full List of Nominees". Screen Actors Guild Awards. 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.-
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Fleming Jr, Mike (15 October 2014). "Alejandro G. Iñárritu And ‘Birdman’ Scribes On Hollywood’s Superhero Fixation: 'Poison, Cultural Genocide' – Q&A". Deadline. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Foundas, Scott (27 August 2014). "Interview: ‘Birdman’ Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu on His First Comedy". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 McKittrick, Christopher (26 November 2014). "Birdman: "Completely one shot? Don’t even try it"". Creative Screenwriting Magazine. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Sauer, Patrick (23 October 2014). "The Bookish World of ‘Birdman:’ A Q&A with Writer Alex Dinelaris". Biographile. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Hammond, Pete (6 January 2015). "Daring Do". Deadline.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Milly, Jenna (5 December 2014). "BIRDMAN Writers Thought No One Would "Get It"". ScreenwritingU. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Mitchell, Elvis. "Alejandro González Iñárritu". Interview Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Taylor, Drew (8 January 2015). "Interview: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Talks 'Birdman,' The Film's "Bad" Original Ending, Critics, 'True Detective' & More". Indiewire.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Miller, Julie (10 February 2015). "Here’s How Johnny Depp Could Have Appeared in Birdman". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 12 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Ryzik, Melena (8 October 2014). "Everyman Returns". NYT. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Chiarella, Tom (28 January 2014). "A Normal Day in the Unusual Life of Michael Keaton". Esquire. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Acuna, Kirsten (18 October 2014). "It Took Michael Keaton About 27 Seconds To Decide To Be In 'Birdman'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 "Interview: 'Birdman' director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu". Rappler. Rappler.com. 17 January 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 D'Alessandro, Alessandro (22 December 2014). "Bold Statement". Deadline. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Drew (8 January 2015). "Interview: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Talks 'Birdman,' The Film's "Bad" Original Ending, Critics, 'True Detective' & More". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  20. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (8 January 2015). "Making of 'Birdman': Alejandro G. Inarritu Recounts Harrowing Experience Behind His First Comedy". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Thompson, Anne (24 October 2014). "Edward Norton and Andrea Riseborough Dig Into Actors' Egos and 'Birdman'". Thompson on Hollywood. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  22. ↑ Sarkar, Samit (15 October 2014). "Michael Keaton and Edward Norton take a trip through the weird world of 'Birdman'". Polygon. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  23. ↑ Goyal, Samarth (11 February 2015). "When Norton convinced González to cast him in his film". desimartini.com. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  24. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike (13 March 2014). "Amy Ryan Joins Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu Comedy ‘Birdman’". Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  25. ↑ Rathe, Adam. "Birdman’s Woman". DuJour. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
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  27. ↑ Tapley, Kristopher (18 October 2014). "Andrea Riseborough says 'Birdman' was like working with a theater company of actors". HitFix. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 Tapley, Kristopher (20 December 2014). "Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki details the 'dance' of filming 'Birdman'". HitFix. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 29.4 29.5 29.6 "Emmanuel Lubezki ASC, AMC on BIRDMAN". Arri News. Arri. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  30. ↑ Barta, Preston (23 October 2014). "Interview: Director Alejandro González Iñárritu unmasks the ‘Birdman’". NT Daily. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 Clarke, Cath (15 October 2014). "Alejandro González Iñárritu interview: 'Everyone’s terrified of being mediocre'". Time Out. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Desowitz, Bill (19 December 2014). "Emmanuel Lubezki on Achieving the One-Take Illusion of 'Birdman,' What's Next for Iñárritu". Thompson on Hollywood. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  33. ↑ Murphy, Mekado (31 December 2014). "Below the Line: ‘Birdman’ Production Design". NYT. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Jacobs, Matthew (3 December 2014). "How 'Birdman' Made A Frenzied Theater Production And Naked Times Square Trek Soar". Huff Post. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
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  40. ↑ Ng, David (November 10, 2014). "In 'Birdman,' Broadway's St. James Theatre plays itself". L.A. Times. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
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  47. ↑ Thompson, Anne (13 October 2014). "Watch: How 'Birdman' Composer Antonio Sanchez Drummed the Score". Thompson on Hollywood. Archived from the original on 9 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
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External links

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