I shall begin with the one I have most recently seen-Birdman. Alejandro González Iñárritu has crafted a film that manages to be both extremely interesting in its themes and subject matter and also thoroughly entertaining. Michael Keaton has gone meta and garnered much praise for his role as washed-up former blockbuster star Riggan Thompson. In a desperate bid to salvage his career and his belief that he is still relevant in the modern world, he is writing, directing and starring in a Raymond Carver adaptation on Broadway. Whilst doing this he must also deal with an irritating co-star, his just-out-of-rehab daughter, a potential lawsuit and most importantly, his own psyche. In particular he must battle the voice of his former alter-ego (the Birdman of the title), every now and then letting him now he could have it so much better. He is a fascinating character, well-played by Keaton and he is surrounded by more interesting characters, played by a strong ensemble cast. This includes Amy Ryan as his ex-wife, Naomi Watts as his co-star, Andrea Riseborough as his co-star and girlfriend, Lindsay Duncan as a theatre critic and Zach Galifianakis as Riggan's attorney. However chief among them are Emma Stone as his tech-savvy slightly unstable daughter and Ed Norton as Riggan's co-star Mike Shiner. It is perhaps he who is the most interesting character here; to some he will be an insufferable and pretentious arse. Yet if you look closer, he is a person who can bear his soul on stage but appears dishonest and false when off the stage. His opinions are also not wholly detestable, just the way he voices them.
There is plenty going on here and the film prompts us to consider a great many themes throughout a funny and slightly tragic ride. Much has been made of how Iñárritu and his DP Emmanuel Lubezki shot this in "one take". Some have said it takes you out of the film however I see its fluid style as perfect for seamlessly connecting the multiple strands of the plot together. Combined with a fantastic jazz score, the single-shot technique gives the film a relentless feel, thoroughly absorbing and a bit exhausting, much Whiplash. Yet unlike Whiplash, Birdman breaks this somewhat. The last twenty minutes feel as if they don't quite flow on from the rest of the film. It's also a bit overlong and it felt to me as if Iñárritu and co. were trying a little too hard towards the end. Having said that, this is a minor fault and there's much to like even in this less successful section. As for the rest of it-sublime.
Managing to keep up its exhausting pace and intensity whilst also avoiding being over-long, Whiplash is free of the things that one might pick on Birdman for. Having said that, it is a much simpler film than Birdman. Where Iñárritu's movie is bursting with ideas and may suffer from too many things going on, Whiplash has a much narrower focus, leaving it as a more consistent cinematic experience, with a touch less substance to discuss after viewing. Having said that, you could spend a long time just debating the one central issue of Damien Chazelle's debut feature.
The $3.3 million indie has been accurately described as a "character thriller". It focuses on the relationship between Miles Teller's aspiring jazz drummer and his teacher, played by J.K. Simmons. Said teacher is aggressive, bullying, sporadically violent and unjust. But does he get results? If he does, is it worth it? These are the film's key questions-and it's not giving you an easy answer. J.K. Simmons is electrifying here and he deserves all the plaudits he's getting. Both him and Teller succeed in portraying their characters as morally questionable but not without merits. Aptly for a film about a drummer, this contains a great many drum solos. Potentially not the most interesting things in the world, Chazelle consistently makes them enthralling through multiple camera angles and through showing us the sheer physical brutality of the drumming. There are moments and shots here that will stay with you-much like the film itself.
This brings us to the final film of the three. They say every great film-maker has a masterpiece in them. Richard Linklater's Boyhood may be one such thing for the Texan writer-director. For those of you who haven't heard already, he filmed this coming-of-age tale over an ambitious 12 year period, with Ellar Coltrane growing from 6 to 18 in front of our eyes as the boy of the title. Quite different from the relentless, jazz-infused Birdman and Whiplash, Boyhood is quite simply about ordinary life and all the joy and pain that comes with it, taking 3 hours to show us this at what feels like a perfect pace.
Some critics have been keen to point out that this is a film about memory and parenthood too. Indeed, the way Linklater chooses to show small, mundane moments in young Mason Jr.'s life as well as the larger events, mirrors the parts of our lives we remember. Linklater regular Ethan Hawke and the BAFTA-winning, Oscar-nominated Patricia Arquette are both excellent as Coltrane's separated parents. Boyhood is a film that is simultaneously a big deal in its innovative technique and award-winning praise and also a low-key film with a simple plot, full of simple emotion-exemplified by Arquette's line as her son prepares to leave home-"I just thought there would be more".
Boyhood, Birdman and Whiplash are three truly superb films that I hope will get the recognition they deserve, one way or another. They are quite different, united by existing as the seemingly uninterrupted visions of their makers. They all absorb us, entertain us and present us with challenges. Birdman is perhaps the more flawed of the three, whilst Whiplash is the least complex. If forced to pick between them, I would go for Boyhood (as I'm sure the academy will agree). Whiplash is a film about ambition, motivation and teaching methods. Birdman is a film about artistic integrity, acting, the theatre, parenthood, critics and ego. Meanwhile Boyhood lets us reflect on memory, growing up, family and the passing of time. Yet above all, Boyhood manages to simply be a film about life-and it is superb.
