Birdman

This is Alejandro Iñárritu's fifth film after Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Bable and Biutiful. He is without doubt a gifted film-maker.

It is the story of an actor, Riggan, who is directing his adaptation of a Raymond Carver short story, dealing with all the difficulties, including a star actor, Mike, played by Edward Norton, who has ideas of his own.

Twenty years previously Riggan was the star of a movie franchise called Birdman, in which he played a - birdman, but he refused to make Birdman 4. After years in the wilderness he has adapted a short story for the theatre and is producing it - his attempt at 'quality' after success in popular cinema. This film is an account of his frustrations and humiliations, and his insecurities as expressed by his inner voice in the shape of Birdman, who often taps him on the shoulder and makes remarks that express Riggan's doubts. Also he copes with the criticisms of his daughter, his ex-wife and his current partner. Throughout the film Riggan is harassed, in motion, busy, abstracted, and I felt that I had not had a chance to get to know him. I would have like a quiet scene for that. All this is a feast of cinema and cinematography with rich, characterful images and a very mobile camera.

This film is not constrained by realism, and the first scene had Riggan floating in mid-air in a room, as though on an invisible magic carpet. In other scenes he soars vertically into the sky, wearing his raincoat, and flies along the street, his arms outstretched as though he thinks he is a bird. One of the challenges of this film is to understand what happens and what is fantasy a bit like in Black Swan.

I participated in a discussion about this film and saw that many struggle to understand it, and so do I. There are scenes I could not explain. I think the film is ambitious and it struggles to embody and express its ideas, using scenes of supernatural events to do so, such as Riggan floating off the ground, flying down a street, and having his previous incarnation as Birdman appear to make remarks to him. I can only speak for myself and, maybe due to my limitations, these scenes did not work for me. I was reminded of Bob Fosse's All that Jazz, which is also about the frustrations of putting on a production and I suddenly realised that has a supernatural eIement - Death in the shape of a beautiful woman, and seemed natural and seemless to me. When Riggan suddenly rose vertically into the air, wearing his raincoat it was abrupt and bizarre. I did not struggle to understand IIñárritu's previous four films.

I am reminded of Wim Wenders who made several good films culminating in Paris, Texas, and then he made Wings of Desire, with poor Bruno Ganz standing on top of buildings with angles wings stuck on his back, looking down at the people. Then we didn't hear much from Wenders after that until he stormed out of an awards ceremony for not getting an award for Buena Vista Social club. It has happened many times that film makers find success and access to larger budgets, with fewer people who can tap them on the shoulder, and they become over-ambitions and less disciplined. I hope Birdman is not Iñárritu's Wings of Desire.

Whiplash

Whiplash is a horrible story about horrible people, but of course this does not make it a bad film; other things do that.

It is the story of a drum student, Andrew, and his teacher, Fletcher. Fletcher insults and humiliates Andrew, calling him names and using cheap humour and foul language while the rest of the class cower in silence. This is the army transposed to a music school. We have seen those scenes where the sargent humiliates his troops. Music has never been so joyless and filled with fear. Later Fletcher justifies his behaviour expressing the belief that musicians achieve their best only when they are pushed, and it was all to make Andrew a better drummer

There is a romance story who's only function is to show us that Andrew is only a little less unpleasant than his teacher.

There is the scene where Andrew is on a bus late for an important session and the bus has a puncture (sigh....), so he hires a car and has a crash (sigh again....). he crawls out from the inverted car, his face covered in blood and goes to the session and performs. I was not sighing then, I was rejecting this overcooked rubbish. This may be dramatic for those who buy all this schtick.

It is easy to imagine this scene:-

"This is an important drumming scene and we need to something to make it really dramatic."

"How about he's drumming so hard that his hands bleed and the blood splatters all over the drums?"

"Wow! That's great! Let's do that."

And, my God, they did.

In a quieter scene Fletcher explains his belief that great artists are capable of performing beyond their expectations when they are encouraged and pushed, but I know that that is not how Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra rose to prominence. No-one drove them to the limit of endurance in a rehearsal room. I don't like the idea that art is like athletics, where effort is so important. Technical facility is not all: think of Miles Davis.

This is a film that does not entertain, it does not please us with its music or the wit and truth of its dialogue, and who's most profound ideas are false.

As one critic wrote "this is a film about jazz for people who don't know much about jazz,"