Birdman: long subtitle I don’t recall is one of my all-time favorite movies. The Revenant while stunning to look at, is not. With Bardo: another longish subtitle it looks like Iñárritu is returning to his societal examination / criticism vibes from Birdman in electric fashion.
Watching the trailer I get a bit of Terry Gilliam (in his most wild and fisheyed lens self) meets Federico Fellini (well 8 1/2 is the only Fellini film I’ve seen…) vibes.
The 8 1/2 comparisons are quite apt and obvious given both films have a semi-autobiographical tilt to them.
There has been some hoopla, mostly negative, around the film based on some interviews Iñárritu has given and then 22 minutes were cut to get the film down to a slim two hours and 32 minutes since debuting on the film festival circuit. None of that deters me though. Bring on the three hour cut, I say!
The synopsis from IMDb:
Follows a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories.
Bardo: False Chronicles of a Handful of Truths will be available for your eyeballs through Netflix on December 16.