The texture of the age: Digital construction of unbounded Space in Birdman (Iñárritu 2014)

Abstract

Like some of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s previous films, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Iñárritu 2014) is an exploration of the place of individuals in the midst of various global forces, in this case, technological, social and cultural globalization. The film’s most relevant formal feature, the digitally created ‘long take’, also partakes of the director’s well-known penchant for technological and formal experimentation when telling a story. In Birdman, cinematic form is closely related to its thematic concerns, particularly the impact of technology on global processes. This article explores the confluence between form – digital cinema – and content in Birdman. It looks at the global virtual space created by the internet and social networks and how they affect our sense of being in the world. To this end, the film exploits the possibilities and connotations of the apparently uninterrupted single take that comprises most of the duration of the film and of the composited, digital-realistic space thus created.