Cinephiles talk about long takes the way 20 year olds talk about magnums in the condom aisle: something a gifted few try to get, and fewer still can use. The phallic obsession, as jokingly noted in sitcoms, romantic comedies, and, slightly more credibly, healthcare professionals, doesn’t make sense. After all, size doesn’t matter—it’s how you use it. This is an apt metaphor because the key to uninterrupted shots lies entirely in their application and not merely in their presence. It’s about context. Martin Scorsese’s classic Goodfellas features one of the most famous tracking shots in the history of movies, but it amazes not only because of the aesthetic oomph of the shot itself, but because it’s perfectly placed in the movie. If movies are about pacing and if pacing is about rhythm, then a long take has an uncanny ability to disrupt, intrude on, and distract from the film overall.

Babel and Biutiful filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu is out with a new feature, Birdman, and it, along with a select few films in the history of movies and moviemaking, appears to be one sprawling, epic uninterrupted take for the duration of the entire film. It’s a wildly, mind-numbingly complex undertaking that automatically launches Birdman into the pantheon of the most ambitious films ever, something that’s refreshing to say without an ounce of hyperbole. The same can’t be said for Riggan Thompson’s (Michael Keaton) stage adaptation of Raymond Carver’s short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, which is resolutely not the most ambitious play in the history of theatre. Riggan is an aging star, a former superhero icon that is a Batman stand in named Birdman. His history and on-screen persona, like all of the chief characters in the film, meta-resemble the real life history of the actors portraying them. Riggan stopped playing Birdman in 1992, refusing to continue the franchise. Keatan said no to Batman Forever in the same year. To make himself credible him as “serious” Artist (capital A!), he’s producing, writing, directing, and starring in his adaptation. The huge and amazing cast is almost as much of a special effect as the single take, including Edward Norton as a dickish perfectionist actor in an award worthy performance.



