Homage to Raymond Carver in The Award-Winning Film
当我们谈论爱我们在谈论什么
Written by (作者): Agnes Tong 童安然
Photos by (图片来源): BigStock
Alejandro González I?árritu, the director and screenwriter of Birdman, must be a huge fan of Raymond Carver’s writing. His mark is everywhere in the film, from the opening monologue to the interactions, all leading up to the end of the film. Titles and quotes were adapted from one of Carver’s short stories. The whole story makes the viewer wonder, what does love got to do with it? Like the unprecedented revelations in Nymphomaniac, “the secret ingredient of sex is love.” I believe when it comes to Birdman, love is multifaceted in its bare mockery of the ego and self-obsessed isolation.
Birdman, or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) starring Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Risenborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, follows the exploits of washed-up Hollywood actor Riggan Thomson’s (Keaton) attempts at directing, producing and starring in a Broadway adaptation of Carver’s short-story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”
One of the more impressive features of the film is its incorporation of long-track shots, which work to show more veracity. The camera follows all the characters, trembling along with the drumming background music. It’s rough and it’s real. No close-ups, slow motion or other omniscient cinematography trying to imply anything. The audience gets a close-up observation of human interaction, with all the pretentiousness, apathy, greed and lack of love the characters exhibit.
There is something interesting about the methods the film uses to depict distance between people. They want to be heard but reject listening to others. Throughout the film, there is no shot of two people having a real conversation. They are either scolding or teasing one-another, or one character has their back turned while the other makes desperate claims. On the other hand, the film looks at the desperate attempts people to go to for recognition. Lesley (Watts) states in one scene “I’m still a little girl, waiting for someone to tell me I’ve made it.”
Perhaps the most important part of the film happens near the end. In the play, an old couple end up in the hospital after a car accident. The man, covered in bandages, is not upset because he broke his neck, but rather that he cannot turn to look at his wife. This is paralleled with Riggan’s attempt to smell some flowers after shooting his nose off in the final act. He tries in vain to get a whiff but nothing comes but overwhelming helplessness. I?árritu seems to be saying that you never know what you truly have until its gone, that you shouldn’t wait until you lose an arm, a leg or the boldness to love before aging with the spectre of regret.
There are many differing perspectives that can be taken from Birdman due to its sophisticated storytelling, but the look at the darker side of human interaction is one of the most, if not the most, important aspect of the film. It’s Dadaist satire and tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of pop culture is the backdrop for a story of individuals who don’t understand love, the deepest of human emotions.
鸟人的导演和编剧是同一个人，他一定是雷蒙卡佛的粉丝。卡佛的痕迹几乎遍布整个电影，从开始的独白到主体的舞台剧再到结尾。标题，引用，同名小说改编的戏剧，当我们谈论爱我们在谈论什么。这让观众不禁疑问，鸟人和爱有什么关系。其实就像那部惊世骇俗的《女性瘾者》所揭示的，爱是性最秘密的组成部分。对于鸟人来说，最为讽刺的是，被自负，自我迷恋层层包裹的，孤立的我们，还在爱着。
一镜到底的设置给人更诚恳的感觉，镜头跟着人物跑，随着背景音的鼓点颤抖，拍摄手法很粗糙有脾气却也更真实。没有大特写或一堆慢动作和其他充满全知视角的选择来暗示任何可能。观众仅仅在以最近的距离观察，虽然他们看到的只有一堆忙着装x，忙着冷漠，忙着贪婪，忙着说不爱就不爱的人。
描绘人们之间遥远距离的手法非常有趣。渴望被听到的同时拒绝倾听他人，影片中没有一个镜头是两个人进行深入交流，他们不是在责备嘲笑对方，就是其中一方背对，另一方孤独而绝望地宣称着什么，没有互动。而另一方面，人们所希望的肯定完全来自他人，就像其中的角色Lesley所说，“我还是那个小女孩，等着别人跟我说我成功了。”
小说里有这样一个情节，一对老夫妻在车祸之后住进了医院，丈夫很伤心，不是因为自己全身受伤，而是因为脖子被固定住不能扭头看自己的妻子。鸟人在鼻子被打掉了之后终于拿到了他之前一直想要的花，他以一种直击人心的无力感徒劳地嗅着那束花。生活是这样，你不会想要自己已有的东西，你只会在失去之后过分地自怨自艾。所以，不要等，去爱，在有手有脚够莽撞的时候。
人们可能希望看到关于这部电影其他角度的解读，但它表达的东西太多页面又太有限，所以这只是我想谈的“鸟人”。也许那些理想丰满现实骨感的好莱坞梦破碎是更多人选择的解读方向，或者是对于半开玩笑的流行文化达达主义的嘲讽，对我而言，书中和电影中共有的无能为爱更恣肆丰满，就这样吧。