why does birdman shoot himself

If the answer to the complex questions about ego, fame, and celebrityhood that director Alejandro G. Inarritu raises during the course of the film was a perfectly happy ending then I don’t think he would have chosen this ending in the first place. — During the last scene, one can clearly hear ambulance sirens in the background. It tackles questions of love, truth, and identity, but perhaps the most looming theme involves the issue of success versus integrity, or to put that in cinematic terms, blockbuster fame versus authentic artistry. Obviously, this could only happen in a dream and not reality. In this case, it suggests that he did survive the suicide attempt, and in the process earned the respect of family, fans, and critics as shown in the final hospital scene. Up until the hospital scene, Birdman could have served as a decent movie about mental illness and an artist’s psychotic break while trying to achieve “true art”. Due to frustration with the … “On opening night, the performances are better than ever. 0 0 1. Because of its cinematic beauty? ", So that's Dinelaris' perspective. Theory 1: Riggan dies on-stage. They told me he shot himself, but I did not see him. On July 15, prosecutors allege Birdman and Young Thug conspired to murder Lil Wayne and were involved in the April 26 shooting. The continuous take effect was not a gimmick, it was a dramatic device. On opening night, the performances are better than ever. ‘Birdman’ won the Oscar for Best Picture after beating ‘Boyhood’ in a close race. It is quite possible that she hasn’t recovered fully and still takes drugs (remember she was caught smoking pot by her dad). It's the basis of the entire film, him producing a vanity Broadway show to convince his fans, family, friends and most importantly, his critics that he's more than a Hollywood fad. Do let us know in the comments below, which theory you support? Why Not Escape? So, here is how this 2nd theory works. Theory 2: Riggan survives the gunshot, but dies in the final scene. Everyone was rushing around and there were no more boats. Sort of depressing and also sort of uplifting: Raymond Carver's quote used to open the movie can also be found on his tombstone. Director Alejandro Gozalez Iñárritu has remained mum when it comes to clearing up confusion around the ambiguous ending, seeming to prefer to leave conclusions up to the audience. It had a different ending but in the middle of shooting, I knew it was a piece of shit. The whole sequence feels like a transition from a world of reality to a world of fantasy. "I guess my thing is, if you can silence the voice of mediocrity, then what is possible? Here's why Birdman didn't deserve to win the Best Picture Oscar — and why it did. Throughout the film, he is haunted by his most famous character — Birdman — as he experiences a number of surreal events, including stepping off a rooftop and flying over the streets of New York. And at the end of the actual premiere Riggan choses to use a real gun instead of a fake one and actually shoots himself in … Is he still miserable? No dice, because he's filming "the prequel to the X-Men prequel." They would play strongly into this theory. Is he famous because he shot himself? "The camera prowled like it did the whole film, [and] went backstage through the halls we've seen the whole time, and we'd get to the dressing room where literally Johnny Depp would be sitting looking in the mirror and putting on his Riggan Thomson wig, and then the poster of Pirates of the Caribbean 5 would be in the back," Dinelaris revealed in a 2015 interview. When Riggan sees the nose and realizes that he'll never escape his connection to Birdman, he finds this deathly depressing. This is a glaring reminder of the fact that no matter how hard he tries, Birdman will always be a part of him. I was up to my knees in water at the time. There is also a likelihood of her suffering similar mental issues just like her dad, and therefore, she, too, starts hallucinating under extreme mental pressure (in this case the shock of seeing her father dead would have triggered the hallucinations). The docuseries didn’t dive deep into why Travis killed himself, but in the reunion, Josh explained that he thinks Travis’ death was accidental. Trivia. Why Did Hitler Kill Himself? Which one out the two is actually the correct interpretation depends on what you, as a viewer, want to take away from the film. "At the ending of the film," he shrugged, "(it) can be interpreted as many ways as there are seats in the theater.". Riggan Thomson is an actor who played the famous and iconic superhero "Birdman" over 20 years ago. Hitler’s officers warned him that the Russians were on their way and that it would only take them a day or two to take the chancellery. I saw the officer shoot two men dead because they tried to get into the boat. This implies that all of the magical realism portrayed in the film — the hovering and flying, the telekinesis, and the voice of Birdman — was all a series of hallucinations. And we're going to be talking about the ending in detail, so if it wasn't already obvious, there are spoilers aplenty ahead. Questions like these have plagued fans since the movie's release. It is Sam who hallucinates. It could be because when she see her father dead, it triggers a mental breakdown that leads her to hallucinate that her father is actually Birdman and can fly. Birdman: Director Alejandro González Iñárritu discusses the style of the dark comedy and why he chose to film it in one continuous take. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), or simply Birdman, is a 2014 American black comedy-drama film directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.It was written by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Armando Bó.The film stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, a faded Hollywood actor best known for playing the superhero "Birdman", as he struggles to … So in the end, after taking all these theories and possibilities into account, how are we to interpret the final scene of Birdman? Another possible interpretation is that Riggan actually does have the power to fly, and in fact could even be Birdman — or at least some variety of superhero. This theoretical interpretation would be the most fundamentally happy ending, proving to his antagonists in the movie as well as the audience that he's more than some mere actor struggling to dig his way out of a rut, but is instead a dedicated artist willing to commit an act of self-mutilation in pursuit of a great performance, as well as a superhero imbued with the power to fly. Neither of the theories is without blemishes, but then, they are also the best explanations to how ‘Birdman’ ends. critics and audiences alike were impressed. Because of its stellar performances? Or do you have a theory of your own? In this theory, whether he is genuinely trying to kill himself or he thinks he can fly, the outcome is the same — he plunges to the ground and presumably his death. —Maybe. Birdman’s director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu has explored the value of a meaningful life in another one of his award-winning films Biutiful. This is evident with the deliberate casting of Michael Keaton, who himself is best known for his portrayal of Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and the follow up, Batman Returns (1992). The Birdman character haunting him flies to symbolize his power over Riggan, or in other words, the power that blockbuster fame holds over his more passionate creative endeavors. "In Jack Sparrow's voice [Depp would say], 'What the f*** are we doing here, mate?' So maybe most or all of the weirdness was just a dream? Under this theory, Riggan has — knowingly or unknowingly — had superpowers all along, and has either been trying to come to terms with these powers himself, or get the world to recognize them. Before undertaking Birdman, the pair also collaborated on the script for The Last Elvis, which was also Bo’s directorial debut and premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Nope, he's busy with The Hunger Games. We know it is reality, a meta-reality in fact, because we see both the fantasy in his head, and the rational real world debunking of it. Now, in his middle-age, he is directing his debut on Broadway, a drama called "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love", an adaptation from a Raymond Carver story. Over last few months, I have watched ‘Birdman’ a couple of times more and got enough time to ponder upon its interestingly complex ending. He was telling me about his gun. The story Riggan relates to his ex-wife about attempting to drown himself in the ocean mirrors an incident from A Star Is Born (1937) and A Star Is Born (1954). Then when he sees the birds flying, he decides that his only way to be free is to fly away — whether that means flying out the window to his death, or actually taking flight and escaping into the sky. The shoot took place well past midnight, when Times Square is still buzzing but empty enough to parade around a movie star in his underwear without the scene descending into pure insanity. That's small. Birdman falls into the ‘meta’ category of comedy, meaning the film is self-aware and it is not afraid to embrace it. The sudden change of fortunes of Riggan is not only too good to be true but also, goes against the theme and dark nature of the film itself. Did Michael Keaton's Riggan Thomson die... or did he fly away into fame and glory? There are several strong arguments to be made in support of this ending theory. At the end of the film, the stress becomes too much and Riggan tries to kill himself with a gun during a performance of the play. But as it turns out, Riggan is so depressed (or possibly mentally ill, as his hallucinations and schizophrenic-like voices suggest), that he jumps out of the window either attempting suicide again or having some kind of psychotic break from reality. It is hard to imagine that director would have made that choice unless he wanted to convey that it is a reality and not some fantasy-land. Riggan uses a real gun for the final scene, shooting himself in the head in front of the audience, and earns a … Afterwards there was another shot, and I saw the officer himself lying on the deck. According to the writers, they considered an alternate ending that might have provided a clue. Birdman is rich with symbols that are intended to support the movie's various themes, but for our purposes of unlocking the secret of the end, two stand out: flight and Riggan's reconstructed nose. Or is she just relieved that her father is finally at peace? Leveraging an experimental storytelling structure that leaned heavily into magical realism, the experiment paid off, garnering the movie four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, as well as nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, and technical noms for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. While talking with his wife backstage, he reveals he was trying to kill himself the time he walked into the ocean only to flee after being stung repeatedly by jellyfish. It seems that in the end, it really is up to you. He looked more like a member of the television show “Ink Master” than an NBA player. His action of shooting himself onstage,even the unfortunate exposure in Times Square has created birdman reborn. Jonathan Romney: From Hitchcock’s Rope to Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie Birdman, directors have used the tracking shot to create the sense of a seamless one-shot film. Weird new look aside, it seems as if everything is finally turning Riggan's way. He really dies, as is evidenced by the jump cuts and scenes from his life, ending with jellyfish on the beach from his last suicide attempt. He is down in the hospital, alive, because he had only managed to shoot off his nose during the play. But beneath the bandages, there he finds the beak-like proboscis. The point being that Hollywood seems to have snatched up all the talent and crammed it into high-budget, low-art blockbusters. At the end of the film, the stress becomes too much and Riggan tries to kill himself with a gun during a performance of the play. What does he have to say about it? So that's all real. Even though the plot of the film itself is not difficult to follow, it is the magical realism elements in the film — especially the ending — that twists your head. In this case, in the end he would have survived the gunshot just as the movie shows, earning the respect of critics, fans, and his family in the process. When Riggan shoots himself for the ultimate pleasure of his audience and the “soulless” critic, the film has a pretty powerful message on its hands. See Answer. Although he was more of a fan favorite for his personality than for his on-court abilities, Andersen was beloved by most of his teammates throughout his … Top Answer. If so, what was with his daughter's reaction? No, I think the most significant detail in that scene is the mask covering his nose. Due to the wing tattoos he has on each arm. © 2021 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Not only did the director wait an extremely long time to actually reveal it, but it also very obviously resembled birdman. Everything seemed small. ", In Dinelaris' view, the way the story ends is all about maintaining a sense of circularity and consistency. Most telling is a scene in which Riggan discusses casting options with his producer, played by Zach Galifianakis. Michael Fassbender? In those movies, the character of Norman Maine (a washed up actor) succeeds in drowning himself, while Riggan's attempt was thwarted by a jellyfish encounter. Or did he die after all? But any time a filmmaker decides to get experimental or surreal, the audience is going to be left with a few questions. The cut after shooting himself at the end of the play is a cut in the timeline, a pseudo-continuous timeline that symbolized reality. Remember those symbols we mentioned earlier? When Riggan goes on that stage and more or less commits suicide, he does so with the intention of proving Tabitha wrong and, more importantly, “Birdman” wrong. The audience breaks out in laughter ruining the gravity of the moment and Riggan's chance to show himself as a true artist. (Steinbeck, 31) Candy regrets allowing Carlson to kill his dog and feels like he should have been the person to put it out of its misery. Now, which out the two theories is more logical, I will leave up to you. One possible interpretation is that the ending is some kind of dream that Riggan is experiencing in the moment of his death. Joe kills himself at the end of All My Sons because he finally accepts responsibility for the faulty cylinder heads after Chris reads him Larry's letter. By now, I am assuming most of you have seen ‘Birdman’ and, like me loved the film. Why does birdman call himself that? So, in spite of an ending that might leave you slightly befuddled — I found it interestingly complex  – I highly recommend this once-in-decades cinematic experience.”. Riggan flies to escape his own sense of low self-esteem and lack of control. Birdman, with its weird, ambiguous ending, is no exception. Could it be that he intended to kill himself, only to find that he actually could fly? We're here to explain the ending of Birdman and clear things up. Cookies help us deliver our Services. They run through a series of names: Woody Harrelson? Waking in the hospital, he discovers that the suicide attempt was misinterpreted as some innovative form of shock theater, and suddenly it appears that he will be thrust into success again. A lot of viewers walked out of the theater wondering what was real and what was imagined. "That's inexplicable. Waking in the hospital, he … During the final scene, however, he leaps from a window — presumably to his death. Flight and the nose? There are several major themes at play in Birdman. [citation needed] On July 16, Birdman filed a $50-million lawsuit against Jay Z's Tidal streaming service over Lil Wayne's Free Weezy Album, alleging that Cash Money Records exclusively owned the rights to Lil Wayne's music. Birdman is obssessed with acting, or rather, his ability to convince others he's good at acting. They urged him to escape to the Bavarian Alps, to a small town in Berchtesgarden, but he chose suicide. Wiki User Answered 2009-12-07 18:51:00. However, if the ending is actually Riggan hallucinating during his death, then it further emphasizes on the fact that how deeply affected Riggan was, so much so that even as he was dying, he imagines himself to be at the center of attention of everyone, and once he gets that gratification he further imagines himself to be free and flying (which his daughter presumably sees in the final shot of the film). “We were talking. At that moment, it's inexplicable. This theory is also supported by several clues in the film: — First of all, the film doesn’t appear to have a single cut till the time after Riggan shoots himself; then the scene cuts to images of meteor and jellyfishes before finally cutting to a hospital bed, where Riggan is lying with bandaged nose. Riggan uses a real gun for the final scene, shooting himself in the head in front of the audience, and earns a standing ovation from all but Tabitha, who walks out during the applause. See Featured Authors Answering Questions Learn more He lands himself in a hospital and even though he receives wide support and love from his fans, critics and family, he still is suffering from the mental issues that plagued him before. The Broadway play that ex- Birdman Riggan Thomson is about to stage ends with the protagonist, played by Thomson, shooting himself in the head with a gun. Flight shows up again and again. Or did he actually turn out to have his Birdman-like powers, and fly away? If you've been hoping the filmmaking team behind Birdman would help clear things up, well, you're out of luck. The sight of Birdman in the bathroom made him realize that no amount of fame or acceptance can cure his demented mind and ego, and in that frustration, he jumps out of the window to commit suicide. He is an artist, dammit! Chris Anderson played 16 years in the NBA, but he might be more well known for his nickname “Birdman,” his mohawk, and his colorful tattoos. He's out too, because "he's an Avenger." But having closely analyzed the film’s themes and motives, and after reading screenwriter’s interpretation of the ending, I have zeroed down on two theories that perfectly explain what happened at the end of ‘Birdman’. What about director Alejandro Gozalez Iñárritu? Jeremy Renner? The movie shows the highs and lows of a particularly difficult day of rehearsals and performances as Riggan is forced to wrangle a challenging new addition to the cast (played by Edward Norton), all the while confronting problems with his daughter (played by Emma Stone). — Finally, when Sam (Emma Stone) looks out of the window, from which Riggan had jumped, she looks up in sheer amazement, implying his father didn’t die but is rather flying. Not much, unfortunately. ()Riggan's third Birdman movie came out in 1992, the same year that Michael Keaton's second and last Batman movie was released. I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog. As I wrote in my review “Whether it be the innovative use of camera and music, or the stupendous performance of its actors, or just as a completely different movie-viewing experience, ‘Birdman’ gives you several reasons to not miss it. There are clues that support this theory too: — Sam herself is a recovering addict who has just come out of rehabilitation. In Birdman, protagonist Riggan Thompson a.k.a. It was going to be the satire of the endless loop of that.". The symbol of truth was also that stage light that the camera appeoaches to here, this light was first introduced at Mike's entrance as the resemblance of truth or knowledge. Download PDF Print Now he's trying to make his big comeback by starring in and directing a Broadway play, although it isn't working out as well as he'd hoped. Asked by Wiki User. 3. —Somewhat. — Another thing to note is that when Riggan takes off his bandage we don’t see a mutilated nose, but rather a nose that has taken shape of a bird’s beak. One final interpretation of the ending would be something of a blend of the first two. In short, he has won over everyone: audiences, critics, and his family. Prior to Birdman's big night at the Academy Awards, Iñárritu was asked about the film's ending, revealing that it wasn't the original ending he had scripted:. As for his new nose, when Riggan peels off the bandages covering the nose, this is his symbolic peeling away of his old self, and therefore his need for superstardom and Birdman. [That] is good enough for me. That's small. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. He lands himself in a hospital and even though he receives wide support and love from his fans, critics and family, he still is suffering from the mental issues that plagued him before. But most important of them all has to be the fact that everything that happens after Riggan (Michael Keaton) shoots himself are just too good to be true: He gets his recognition and fame as an artist; his ex-wife is supportive of him; his daughter idolizes him; even the New York Times critic has only good things to write about him. "It goes back to Alejandro because he starts the movie on ... this character Riggan Thomson floating in his underwear three feet above the ground," he added. In any case, each of these theories still leaves wiggle room for interpretation. In other words, this theory means that he's dreaming of a happy ending in which he finally gets the critical acclaim he so desired, is reconciled with his ex-wife and daughter, regains the adoration of fans, and proves he's an actor to be taken seriously and not some Hollywood "hack.". Riggan was not a Hollywood hack, he was a dedicated performer - so dedicated that he was literally willing to die for his craft (creating "super-realism" in the process). I felt it and the film began to breathe by itself, and the characters began to grow. Ask and answer questions about books! Suffice to say that critics and audiences alike were impressed. Or was the whole thing a fantasy all the way through? These represent freedom. The first time is when he shoots himself in the head onstage. Birdman spans a day in the life of Riggan Thomson, a down on his luck actor (played by Michael Keaton) who once enjoyed worldwide fame portraying a popular comic book hero (much like Keaton did himself in his turn as Batman) before his career started to wane. So did Riggan fall to his death? This theory, however, is muddled by his daughter's smiling reaction at the window. But we thought if we answered that question at the end, it would seem very, very small. You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author. When Birdman reached theaters in 2014, it was an instant sensation due to a combination of its engaging visuals, thrilling performances, and all-around surreal viewing experience. To really get at what the ending is all about, we have to start by asking what the movie is trying to say in general. By using our Services, you agree to our use of cookies. We're not sure, because when his daughter goes to the window to look at where he should have plummeted to the ground, she turns her gaze up and seems to smile in delight at what we can only guess is her father flying as he had in his previous hallucinations. And at the very end, just before Riggan disappears through the window, he sees a flock of birds take flight. Just like Riggan refuses doing more Birdman movies, Keaton chose not to continue his Batman career. They have to be, because in a way that's Alejandro just trying to express that sense of confusion about what he is in his own life. The theory brings full-circle thematic through-lines where, after proving he is worthy of esteem and love, Riggan is finally able to silence Birdman's abusive voice. Veteran playwright Dinelaris was a new addition to the partnership for Birdman, though he did contribute some early uncredited work on Biutiful. Birdman's final shot has become one of the most talked about scenes this year. This further adds to the theory that what we are seeing is nothing but a world of fantasy occurring inside the head of Riggan Thompson. And therefore, it hardly surprises me that fans have come up with several theories on the twisted ending of Birdman.

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