Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

5/5

Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman is a cinematic masterpiece. The movie follows a washed-up actor (Keaton)--made famous by gaudy superhero movies--as he prepares for opening night of his Broadway debut after years of ignominy. He must hire an abrasive but extraordinary actor (Norton) at the last minute, ingratiate himself to a prejudiced theatre critic (Duncan), and combat his own personal neuroses and psychoses in the form of his Lycra-suited alter ego, the titular Birdman.

Sometimes a movie has all the right elements for success but they just don't fit together right. That is not the case with this movie. Here every spinning plate makes every other spinning plate that much more impressive, all building together to create an unforgettable experience. The screenplay is filled with smart observations, textured discussions on the differences between movies and theatre, performance and criticism, art and entertainment. The actors take that sharp and incisive writing to the next level with equally dynamic range--subtlety and loudness, introspection and histrionics--whenever the script calls for it. And it has one of the most genuinely ambiguous endings I can recall in years.

But Birdman will be remembered most for its inspired cinematography. The entire movie is filmed as if in one long camera take thanks to advanced CGI and unerring, excruciatingly detailed pre-planning. Not only is it visually mesmerizing and logistically jaw-dropping, it enriches the film by adding an element of claustrophobia to Keaton's mental deterioration. Movies like this are why movies exist, why creativity cannot survive in the world of books and music alone. It is a wholly fulfilling work of artistic genius. Birdman is a cinematic masterpiece.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2562232/

Biutiful (2010)

4/5

Iñárritu's Biutiful is a powerful, moving film about a single father dying of cancer. Uxbal (Bardem) has custody of his two kids, Mateo (Estrella) and Ana (Bouchaib), because of his bipolar wife's erratic behavior. He also runs a fake handbag business, managing Chinese sweatshop workers (Shen) and Senegalese street vendors (Ndiaye). After learning of his diagnosis, he tries to reconcile with his wife (Álvarez) for his children's sake, but all his attempts to do the right thing for everyone he cares about spiral out of control.

Iñárritu is a master of multiple story lines. Although they all stem from the same root (instead of intersecting randomly as they have in the past), we still enjoy vast, diverse, sprawling epics. Iñárritu does not shy away from tough topics, tackling illegal immigration, parenting with mental illness, and coming to grips with death. He brings these into sharp focus with an ear for incisive dialogue and an eye for evocative shots. For being such a dark, depressing movie, it contains extremely colorful shots that somehow still maintain a gritty blackness. The acting by Bardem is absolutely incredible. His silent looks, his flashes of anger, holding emotions in and letting rage out, all come together to give us a crystal clear picture of the chaos behind his passing life.

Despite my praise for the thematics and tone of the film, Biutiful can be a little slow. It's about thirty minutes longer than it needs to be. Despite its pace, it is steady in its progression and sure in its footing. The cinematography is too handheld for me, unnecessarily so. I wished the camera would just stop moving every once in a while. They invented tripods for a reason. Also, the nudity in this film seems superfluous and over-the-top. By the end of it, you're just tired of all the breasts. Still, this is a terrific movie. It is refreshing to see that Iñárritu still has important things to say and the talent to say it in prolific ways.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1164999/

Babel (2006)

4.9/5

This is one of the most richly tapestried movies to show up in theaters this year, in plot, acting, and theme. The emotions, as in every Iñárritu movie, are explosive. Iñárritu really lets his actors give it their all. Layers upon layers of themes run rampant throughout, the main one being: miscommunication causes tragedy (à la Camus's famous Le Malentendu). But when that tragedy strikes, sadness is universal, heard loud and clear through silence. The story of the Japanese girl seems particularly out of place given the rest of the movie's plot, but it is only superficially so. Not only does it fit the main theme to a T, it also generates so many other themes (baring body vs. soul, being unable to hear vs. being unable to understand, distance and proximity, family and strangers, redemption and forgiveness, and many more) that I can see why Iñárritu decided to use it. By the way, the music is phenomenal. Its companion use with silence is so utterly devastating and haunting.

This movie is definitely not for everyone. It's an intense viewing experience and difficult to dissect; but such analysis is utterly necessary after watching this movie. Many will forgo trying to understand some parts and simply discard what made them uncomfortable because it's easier that way. Scenes often extend past their utility, forcing the viewer to question its meaning. That is not, however, an excuse for bad editing and overlong scenes, which Babel is not without. The coincidences and chain reactions sometime seem too constructed and planned for, a guilt similarly structured movies (like Crash) share. A lot of people are going to come into this movie expecting something similar to Crash; they are going to be very disappointed. Babel is hard to digest; its message isn't cookie-cutter simple and superficial or obvious. But for those it reaches, it's magnificent.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0449467/

The Hire: Powder Keg (2001)

5/5

My favorite short film of all time. Iñárritu, always a master of emotions and tensions, shines in this short. The script is mind-blowing, and the actors delivering the lines are equally spectacular. Every word that is uttered is essential, every sentence integral, growing more depth the further into the film you go. It seems as if every extraneous word was stripped from the script and put on the film as an image, which is exactly the point of cinema.

--"So why are you a photographer?"
--"I don't know, I don't know. Because my mother taught me to see."

When you reach the end, the words have taken on a new meaning completely. The film covers so many topics in so little time so flawlessly that we feel so fulfilled when the credits roll after only ten minutes. The choice of cinematography, editing, and music was precise and necessary to evoke the proper mood; and they were carried out with just as much precision.
IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0285930/