Finally got round to seeing Birdman tonight. Really really enjoyed it, a great story with brilliant characters you cared about (or were interested in getting to know more) and all told in such a seamless style, with hidden cuts and steadicam making it flow like theatre. (Which I think was the intention). It carries you through at a constant steady pace and does bring this documentary feel to it. Sounds like it was fun to make with this style of long takes and free flowing steadicam weaving its way around the theatre and other locations:
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."
Via Wikipedia
The music was brilliant too, I've seen Whiplash already, and it did remind me of that - which I guess is a shame in some small way as it paints it with that brush. But the effect was brilliant, really kept you on edge and kept this constant pace going on and on, driving you through each scene and never really knowing what the hell was going to happen next.
When I left the cinema at night (Odeon Covent Garden), it was like walking out in a scene from the film, so I put the soundtrack on my phone and wandered through a bustling Soho with drizzle in the night sky. Walking past the various theatre's, with those drums pounding was cool - it's the big kid in me, but it was quite a buzz. Ha!
Ultimately there was a really interesting point I took away from the film, that feeling of wanting to leave an impression, or dare I say a legacy or doing something that feels important in this short time we have. His need to create something meaningful to make amends for how he lived his life was mirrored with his daughter showing him how humans have spent so little time on earth with tissue paper (which he went on to wipe his nose with!). This quote sums up the absurdity of it all though:
Riggan: The last time I flew here from LA, George Clooney was sitting two seats in front of me. With those cuff links, and that... ridiculous chin. We ended up flying through this really bad storm. The plane started to rattle and shake, and everyone on board was crying, and praying. And I just sat there. Sat there thinking that when Sam opened that paper it was going to be Clooney's face on the front page. Not mine. Did you know that Farrah Fawcett died on the same day as Michael Jackson?
Via IMDB
It also had some really striking posters created for the marketing of the film.
