Birdman

Alejandro González Iñárritu made his directorial debut with Amores Perros, a universally acclaimed tale of love and dog-fighting. Since then he’s gone on to release three more full-length features, and has made his name as one of Mexico’s foremost directors. Next January sees the release of his fifth film: the enticingly named Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).

The film tells the peculiar story of Riggan Thomson, an actor famous for his portrayal of a superhero named Birdman. In a desperate bid to save an ailing career, Thomson stages a Broadway adaptation of the Raymond Carver story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, all the while conversing with the ghostly voice of the superhero he once played. As premises go, this surely ranks amongst the strangest of the year.

Michael Keaton, who is himself famous for playing Batman, is appropriately cast as Thomson, and is accompanied by an impressive supporting cast, which includes Edward Norton (Fight Club), Emma Stone (Superbad), and Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive.) The film has already been screened at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and has been warmly received, attracting praise for its creativity and ambition, as well as for the quality of its cinematography.