Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Academy Award × 4
Rent/Purchase
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and still widely admired, Birdman draws its greatest praise for Emmanuel Lubezki's seamless long-take cinematography and Michael Keaton's performance as a fading star clawing for relevance. Where critics diverge is on the film's intellectual substance: the majority found its showbiz satire incisive and its formal audacity genuinely thrilling, while a vocal minority at the highbrow end argued the screenplay coasts on surface-level dichotomies and that the film's ambitions outpace its ideas.
“a triumph on every creative level”
Peter Debruge·Variety
“it's not a good idea for a filmmaker to get in the ring with Mr. Godard”
Richard Brody·The New Yorker
“an amalgam of technical prowess, hypnotising visuals and pragmatically perceptive dialogue”
Ollie Cochran·The Cinemania
“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.”
Anthony Lane·The New Yorker
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorAlejandro G. Iñárritu
StarringMichael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough
ComposerAntonio Sánchez
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Academy Award × 4
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
What critics thought
Broadly celebrated on release and still widely admired, Birdman draws its greatest praise for Emmanuel Lubezki's seamless long-take cinematography and Michael Keaton's performance as a fading star clawing for relevance. Where critics diverge is on the film's intellectual substance: the majority found its showbiz satire incisive and its formal audacity genuinely thrilling, while a vocal minority at the highbrow end argued the screenplay coasts on surface-level dichotomies and that the film's ambitions outpace its ideas.
“a triumph on every creative level”
Peter Debruge·Variety
“it's not a good idea for a filmmaker to get in the ring with Mr. Godard”
Richard Brody·The New Yorker
“an amalgam of technical prowess, hypnotising visuals and pragmatically perceptive dialogue”
Ollie Cochran·The Cinemania
“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.”
Anthony Lane·The New Yorker
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Cast & Crew
DirectorAlejandro G. Iñárritu
StarringMichael Keaton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough
ComposerAntonio Sánchez
Rent/Purchase