BIRDMAN OR [THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE]: A cinematic bliss! Extremely Heartwarming!![4.5/5]

A Critic from The Times is all geared up to knock down one’s first tryout at theatre-production with a bad bad review. She hasn’t even been to any of the previews yet. The actor-director gives her back a hard time for being impolite, uninformed and ruthless about one’s massive efforts behind it. And then, comes the concluding line of the heated conversation, “you aren’t an actor. You are a movie-star.” The man at the receiving end is a washed-up actor famed & framed in typecast for playing a superhero all his life and now, his next move is to make a thriving comeback with a Broadway adaptation of a seasoned short-story. The invited struggle was supposed to be for breaking one’s comfort zone and making him easily placed in mainstream but it turns out to be a clash of ego, self-centric image and mental baggage of past riding on head.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s BIRDMAN OR [THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE] is a smart, witty, sharp and awesomely entertaining journey of a faded superstar trying to search for a new identity in the changing times. Riggan [Michael Keaton] was the most popular in 90s. His movies where he would lock up himself in a bird suit to create Birdman- the superhero have been in the list of all time top-grossers but today, he’s hardly there. He holds no Facebook page. He doesn’t know how to handle a Twitter account. His last hope to survive the struggle to exist is the Broadway production he’s acting in and directing.

BIRDMAN OR [THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE] is filled with dark humor coming from left, right and center. Smartly written dialogues are performed with such ease and with barely any hint of pre-conceived realization that you need to be on your toes all the time to not miss any of the punches. Film is edited sharply and astutely in such manner that the whole film looks like a one continuous shot film. It amazes you with the kind of precision one could only imagine while writing, shooting, acting and editing such flawless film. Film has a certain mysterious outlook with added surreal elements of a fantasy flick and the grasping music by the celebrated drummer Antonio Sanchez perfectly adds complementing flavors to that.

As an overtly enthusiast and an actor craving for perfection in his performance till the levels of madness, Edward Norton gives us the most unpredictable yet reliably most entertaining character in the film. Beware! As to make it look more real, he has just tried to have real sex with his on-stage co-actor [Naomi Watts] in a full-house theatre. Emma Stone plays the rehabbed daughter to Riggan efficiently. Zach Galifianakis’ role of the play-producer is a controlled performance with its own share of giggling moments. Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan and Andrea Riseborough too mark their presence felt but the one who gives it all is unquestionably Michael Keaton. As an actor torn and tattered between his successful past and almost non-existing present, Keaton wears the pain and the pun both on his expressive muscles with a powerful performance. This is my pick at the Oscars for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.

With invariable mentions of Hollywood celebrities, cleverly witty remarks on them, settings of stage-rehearsals, inter-personal conflicts between actors sharing the same platform, inhibitions, insecurities, identity-crisis and the undying urge to be on the front page and not on the third, BIRDMAN OR [THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE] is a perfect Hollywood film, set in Hollywood and about Hollywood. DO NOT MISS IT as Inarritu gives his best shot, so does Keaton! A Masterstroke, extremely heartwarming!! [4.5/5]

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: Year’s most beautiful Film! A Masterstroke on screen…literally! [4/5]

‘The former Republic of Zubrowka’; now I don’t have any clue even in its most blurred vision that where on earth this breathtakingly mystical state of God’ own artwork is located at but it definitely finds a place in your heart with its most charming narrative, simply unbelievable picturesque visuals and most sophisticated yet chaotically hilarious characters I have ever come across. Wes Anderson’s THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a magic-box full of color-decorated candies that not only appear the most fascinating objects of desire at the nearest confectionary store but also put assorted, surprising and tickling flavors on your taste-buds.

Inspired by the writings of Austrian novelist Stefen Zweig, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL transports you to a magnificently painted world where every sight is a visual treat with colors flowing all over; even under the skin-tissues of its highly adorable characters. The writer of a memoir [Jude Law] recalls his widely treasured stay in the most celebrated establishment of its times and manages to discover interesting incidents happened between the present owner Zero Moustafa [F. Murray Abraham] who had once started as a lobby boy  there and its then caretaker-cum-supervisor Monsieur Gustave [Ralph Fiennes]. Monsieur Gustave is an adequately dressed charming man who certainly knows how to make his guests’ day and that doesn’t make him any uncertain to go under sheets with rich women much older than him.

The ride begins when one of Gustave’s devoted patrons Madam ‘D’ [played by Tilda Swinton] takes her last breath in mysterious circumstances and Monsieur Gustave has to take part in her last ceremonies including reading of the will. Inheriting one of the most valuable paintings she possessed, Gustave is now on the top in the ‘hate-list’ of family members and the ‘Hit-list’ of a cold-blooded assassin [Willem Dafoe in his most surprising avatar] they have hired. The younger version of Zero Moustafa as the lobby boy [Tony Rivolori in his impressive debut] accompanying Gustave is the prime and constant witness to the story.

Two key fronts on which THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL scores highest, are the technical brilliance and the smartest of wit in the writing! This is probably the finest example of putting writer’s imagination perfectly right on the bigger canvas of cinema. The eyes of the viewers are always found in conflict with the mind if the frames on screen are of a motion picture or a painting on wall? If detailed and the most scrupulous production design or excellent camerawork from tranquil track shots to crisp zoom-ins does wonders for the look, subtle humor-sophisticated wit and very reasoned  smartness in the writing fills you with utter joy. The performer-brigade helmed by Ralph Fiennes is outstanding. Ralph’s Monsieur Gustave will charm you with a flawless and delightful performance. In rest, Willem Dafoe amazes you as Jopling-the assassin. Edward Norton and Bill Murray’s special appearances are enjoyable.

But one thing that can’t be missed out in this whole 100 minute stay at THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is the signature stamp of Wes Anderson all over it. The characters having more colors than its vivacious backgrounds and the frames with more characters to them! This is a cinematic experience that will leave you ‘Gespannt wie ein Flitzebogen’; on the edge of your seat, it means. DO NOT MISS IT! [4/5]