What is Birdman about? In terms of characters: it is about the inner struggle of an out-of-date actor; in terms of plot: it depicts the front and back of a Broadway play. The core of the story of the play coincides with the film itself, and films with this kind of plot (similar to Charlie Kaufman's "Adapted Script") are called "metanarrative" works. "Birdman" is a film with a small structure but a very dense number of lines and conflicts, and the story level has achieved "crested head, pork belly, leopard tail", the author will choose this head and tail to analyze.
figure:
At the beginning of the story, a comet streaked across the sky, as if it had already hinted at the end of the story: the falling of the stars. Along with a restless and restless piano sound and drum beat, we were attracted by a surreal scene, a few The near-naked man suspended cross-legged in mid-air meditating on life. The unrealistic nature of this shot is obvious. Whether it is the protagonist’s own thoughts and reverie or the director’s positioning of the film, we can all feel the protagonist’s sense of emptiness towards the outside world (later The plot really confirms this), looking at his wrinkled face and unshaven shape, it shows that he has been depressed for a long time. In the next shot, we saw the appearance of the protagonist from the reflection of the mirror. He was muttering to the mirror. The disappointment of life was completely engraved on the old cheek. The audience also found in the mirror image that the background wall There's a poster on it - that's right, Batman! The out-of-date actor is the well-known "Batman" series actor: Michael Keaton. And what is he now? Just a mediocre Broadway actor, yeah! Life is far more exciting than drama, and it's in this form that our "Batman" returns to the public eye. At this moment, a voice-over makes the audience play - the Batman in the poster, who constantly mocks the old man with his arrogant tone, after talking to the cynical "addict" daughter, he The sense of idleness in his heart became stronger and stronger, and he felt that he had to do a big thing to prove that he had not become a walking dead, so this "planning" began...
The former "Batman", Mr. Thomson, was scolded by his manager, beaten by a young and vigorous crew boy Mike (Norton's character), forced to pay for an abortion by the actress on the crew, and accidentally locked in Running naked on the street outside the theater, being slandered by his ex-wife, being accused by his daughter, and most importantly, there is still no strong feedback on the business he has worked hard to manage-a few spit words from the venomous drama critics beat him back to the original state, everything seems to be the same. In implying him: You are already in the past tense. However, when he shot himself to death in a public performance, he accidentally injured his nose a little. He didn't die, but what is even more ironic is that the critics praised him for such a real performance. The father-daughter relationship was also healed, his ex-wife began to talk sweetly around him again, the manager laughed, but he himself was completely desperate - the little bit of actor's professional ethics that remained in his heart was finally washed away by the materialistic world It fell, and the bat in his heart couldn't hold back. In the last part of the film, Thomson jumped from the window, and her daughter (Sister Stone's character) immediately rushed to the window. She looked down for a few seconds, then raised her head and looked into the distance. The male protagonist has passed away, and here is a poetic sublimation - Birdman - "Batman" flew to another world. The film came to an end with another round of drum beats.
From the plot
point of view, although Thomson's role as the main line leads the story of the whole film, if it is just his one-man show, it is impossible for this film to win the Golden Man of the Best Picture, in other words, "Birdman". There are many bright spots in the story. This play is the everyday life on Broadway. The rivalry between Norton and Watts is very charming. Before, the two had a very unpleasant relationship behind the scenes because of their emotional entanglement. On the stage, the two have to continue to work together to complete the performance. It is they who are joking. In the play, the play is actually a pair of cheating mistresses. What's more, the self-confessed Mike is used as an excuse to get inspiration, and the fake play is actually done. She was frightened and guilty, but she couldn't complain. The sheets were lifted, Watts' perfunctory smile, and the emotional contrast after she ended the scene all increased the dramatic tension. The unreal in the play and the coldness outside the play, the gorgeous in front of the stage and the bleak behind the scenes, there are many similar conflicts in this film.
photography
There is no doubt that for all audiences who have seen this film, whether they are professional film critics or ordinary audiences, complex and novel long shots with some dazzling colors have become a topic that everyone talks about, even if it is only composed of Several pseudo-long shots are synthesized in post-production, which is enough to give Hollywood, who is immersed in bombing popcorn (Marvel series), a different feeling. In the world of Hollywood, where the masters are like clouds, the various operations of transparent film cameras are only the basic requirements of a photographer. Only by creating new shooting methods or developing a brand-new photography technology can they sit on the top of the industry. , and the film's photographer Emmanuel Lubezki is such a great figure. This year's challenging use of natural light in "The Revenant" has made him the first photographer in history to be the photographer of Sanlianzhuang, a golden statuette. ("Gravity", "Birdman", "The Revenant"), so that there are recent rumors that advertisers have asked him to be an endorsement (just imagine when there were photographers in the world before), which shows its influence. So where is the long shot in "Birdman"? First of all, the objective conditions brought a lot of challenges to the shooting. The whole film was almost shot inside and outside a theater. During this time, the camera positions were constantly shuttled between the narrow corridors upstairs and downstairs. It was necessary to stabilize the camera for uninterrupted shooting, but also to Let all the character information be presented to the audience in the right way at the right time; the most important and the most difficult to be surpassed is: all its shots are working for the story or emotion, so on the basis of "showing skills" Further sublimation: The lens almost becomes the character's eyes, and sometimes a quick 180° rotation of the lens replaces the character's sudden look back, which is very subtle. Such a pseudo-long mirror is enough to turn the fake into the real.
Since the performance
is about photography, we have to talk about the tacit understanding of the actors. It can be said that in this film, except for Sister Stone, who is still in the rising stage of her acting skills, all the other characters are acting, otherwise they would not be able to control such a high-intensity performance. Positioning, dialogue, expressions, and movements can all be said to be textbook-level. That kind of irritability and twisting of the crowd, acting in a play and acting in a fake play, etc., is like a group of divers who have chosen a high degree of difficulty to do their movements in turn, and they are different from each other and must be accurate and accurate. Watts and Norton's acting is still as tacit as in "The Veil", and Keaton's introspection is not too strong, there is no trace.
director
The film is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarido (AGI), a Mexican director who is famous all over the world for "Love is a bitch", and is also one of the screenwriters of the film. This year, with his new film "The Revenant", he won the Oscar for best director, which is rare in the entire Oscar history. AGI is actually a director who loves to play with structure. His works "Love is a Bitch", "Babel Tower" and "21 Grams" are representative works of multi-perspective non-linear narrative; from the perspective of content, his works are very fond of exploring human nature , probably because he is a fan of Ingmar Bergman, so AGI's works are keen to develop topics around redemption and interpersonal communication. This time is different. He has no intention of moving the structure. It can even be said that he has given up the sense of time of the whole story. However, the director's cleverness lies in the use of drums, poetry, and surrealism. It makes the whole story chaotic, both real and fantasy, the soundtrack is so frivolous, and the camera lens is so realistic. The phantom of the show once again, unique!
Value orientation
has analyzed the film so much, and the key question is: where is the original intention of the director to make this film? I think it is obvious that it is a mockery of the current entertainment industry: being scolded by mindless audiences, and being scolded by mean film critics, it can be said that most entertainers are nameless or fail. Sometimes I question the hypocrisy of the drama, and sometimes I am tempted by fame and fortune. I keep wandering like this, as melancholy as all the characters in the film. When I get to the dressing table, I keep scolding my mother and complaining about the skinny reality. They play others all day, but rarely Time acquires ego, wives and ions are separated, and like the protagonist, pleasure can only be obtained from fantasy. Therefore, in my opinion, "Birdman" is not so much a use of magic realism to black Hollywood, but rather a description of modern human society with nihilism, as the saying goes: "Losers always love to talk about life." Isn't that so? One group of lunatics has been singing to another group of lunatics for so many years, it is time to recite a few lines of poetry to themselves. When we complain about life, what are we complaining about, nothing, as long as the heart is still there, it is art.
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