So, Birdman won the big prize last night. And frankly, I was
not expecting it. I was rooting for Boyhood and my heart sobbed when it did not
win.
So I decided to do my own comparative analysis:
The Bird -
I watched Birdman with awe at the technical brilliance of
its roving camera, the continuously beating drum in the back-ground like the
very heart and soul of the movie, the brilliant performances by Michael Keaton,
Emma Stone and my favorite, Ed Norton.
Birdman is the story of a man who was once famous and successful,
but in today’s fast-paced world he is no longer “relevant” (as noted by one of
the characters in the movie). He is trying to find his place and his lost glory
and is trying to connect with his audience one last time, while handling other
issues like insecurity about himself, his daughter and a “mad birdman” conscience
continuously blabbering into his brain.
It is a brilliant premise flawlessly executed, but at the
end of the day it was the story of Hollywood and of one actor trying to find
his place.
Somehow, I could not relate to it. In spite of all its path-breaking
brilliance, I could not connect to the Bird.
The Boy -
Boyhood on the other hand starts with that haunting Coldplay
song – “Yellow”, with 6-year old Mason looking into the sky, thinking (as we
know later) about how Wasps are born. In that one scene, you are instantly
bonded to the movie, its premise, its story and its protagonist – Mason.
Because you as a child have also done similar things.
Over the next 2.5 hours, you watch as Mason grows from that
6-year old quiet, shy boy to a young adult gone to college and on the verge of
finding an identify for himself.
On the way, he has struggled with his mother’s multiple divorces,
his strict step-fathers, the break-up with his girlfriend, experimenting with drugs
and alcohol and finally finding his calling.
It’s a story that all of us have gone through and could easily
relate to. It’s a story that is inspiring, awesome, brilliant and at the same
time, commonplace.
While Mason is the focus of the movie, we also watch all the other characters grow old not just on screen, but in real life. We watch with fascination,
as Mason’s real father (Ethan Hawke) grows older and
matures as an individual. We watch as Patricia Arquette, Mason’s mother in the
movie, grows from a single-mother with two small kids trying to make ends meet
to an older lady who cries her heart out, when Mason is preparing to leave for
college.
Boyhood is a film about the sweep of time, that relentless
presence in human life which is constantly changing all of us, one micro-second at a time.
The film is about the fact that nothing remains the same
over the course of a life-time. People change, situations change, circumstances
change and the change is always for the better.
And the final scene where Mason goes hiking in a park with his friends and they talk about how the moment seizes you, instead of you seizing the moment. That’s is the scene which stays with you
far after the movie is over and the lights are turned out.
The Bird vs. the Boy
So, yes, Birdman won the Oscars, but years from now, when I
grow older, I know I will be watching Boyhood for the umpteenth time.
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