Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Movie poster

This week on MC's Film Critique I watched Birdman. There was a lot of hype about it and it did really well at Oscars so I thought I would check it out.

Many films try to be different by trying out different camera shots. I'm not a fan of change, usually because it is for the worst when messing with different camera shots. However, the way that Birdman is shot, it seems as if it was done all in one take. I thought it was pretty cool. I tried to play a game of where I thought the shots ended and started back up again.


Lets talk about the film. It's an interesting story, we follow around an actor/director of a play who is trying to distinguish himself from his former Hollywood super hero role BIRDMAN. Does he succeed? Spoilers. 


I think the film reflects how actors take playing a role to an extreme. It's basically a self critique of the industry. I think that's why it won so many awards.

The music was interestingly done. It's basically a drum kit and small jazz band that play for most of the film. At points it is even shown and looks organic. The transitions are organic feeling as well, like I said earlier it was interesting.

Things I didn't like about the film. There was a sound issue for me at least, sometimes it was super quite, sometimes  it was really loud. I kept having to adjust the volume accordingly. At times the film was in my opinion boring. We are faced with these long shots going down hallways as if we are walking through Broadway, which was cool but added to the length of this film while not adding much in the way of plot. It also made Broadway seem very unappealing.

The ending is quite strong but filled with this boring dream like transition before we reach the conclusion of the film.

Overall see the film. It's different from the rest and worth your time. Just keep your remote handy to adjust the volume.

Badge: None

Rating: 7.5/10