Zaki-Birdman

Film Research

First scene. Riggan Thomson is floating and Birdman is talking to him.

Riggan wrote his own play and is directing and starring in it.

The first live rehearsal night. Mike is drunk. They stop the show. It was a disaster.

Riggan struggles to keep his play going. Every night, something goes wrong.

Riggan struggles to keep birdman out of his head. He keeps coming out of no where.

Its opening night. In the ending scene of his play, Riggan uses a real gun and shoots himself.

Riggan lives. He shot off his nose.

Riggan takes off his bandages and "leaves" Birdman behind.

Riggan feels complete. He takes in a deep breath, gets out of the window and jumps.

Sam comes in the room and doesn't see her father. She goes to the window and doesn't see to find his body on the ground. She instead starts to look up, does she see Riggan flying?

Essay

Riggan Thomson is a former cinema actor who played a superhero named Birdman. He decides to make a change in his career to write, direct, and act in his own broadway production. He hopes this production will put in motion his other wise stagnant career. Its a risk, but he wants the world to know that he is not another washed up movie star. He wants to be relevant in in the world. Throughout the film, Riggan struggles with his identity as Riggan Thomson and his alter ego—-Birdman.

Riggan and the casts obstacles to opening night are captured in one single take, without cuts. Meaning we move scene to scene with Riggan and his cast. There is simply something disturbing in the unending, relentless single view. As the restless action unfolds, you’ll hear strange passages of music, orchestral swells or insistent nerve-jangling jazz drumming. The music intensifies or speeds up as the characters in the scene move. There are blues that radiate in scenes from the back stage production’s screens and the lights on the stage. Reds and yellows play smaller roles in the movies color palette. The movie is dark and emotional, but uses dark comedy to lighten the mood. There is a lot of magical realism, which makes the viewers question what is considered real and what isn’t.

Words to Idea + Thesis Statement

A washed-up actor, who once played an iconic superhero, attempts to revive his career by writing and starring in his very own Broadway play.

Five words: intense, insecure, emotional, satire, delusional.