Biutiful

A father's love for his children amidst the everyday life of crime in Barcelona. This encapsulates pretty much the basic premise of this movie, and has said nothing about the content or merit.

I'm sure quite a few reviews about this disturbing but nevertheless transcendent film will be written here. Next to the praise, a lot of people will be appalled, others indifferent, then there will be the ones who complain that Biutiful is nothing more than showing our bad world being bad.

It may be that, but it is also full of promise and dare one say it, love. And it would be foolish to ignore the hope that can be seen amidst the pain and chaos. Iñárritu shows us that we as human are able to care, for ourselves and each other.

And if nothing else, "Biutiful" proves, now officially, that Javier Bardem is one of the greatest contemporary actors.

Felicidades y gracias

"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light" – Dylan Thomas

Nominated for an Oscar for both Best Foreign Film and Best Actor (Javier Bardem), Alejandro Inarritu's Biutiful is a story about those who live on the margins: Sengalese immigrants, Chinese sweatshop workers, small-time criminals, and corrupt cops who feed at the trough. Set in the seedy back streets of Barcelona, Spain, Biutiful (copying a child's spelling of the word) is not only about fear and degradation but also about faith in the possibility of redemption. The film not only explores the pain caused by globalization and human trafficking but also delves into the mystery and contradictions of life in which beauty and misery can exist side by side. It is not always pleasant to watch but it is an honest and often poetic film in which there are no stock characters. Even the worst of them are three-dimensional human beings caught in a tangled web of circumstances.

Magnificently performed by Bardem, Uxbal works as a middle man, finding jobs on construction sites for undocumented aliens from China and Africa, and supplying goods to illegal street vendors. He must deal not only with the illegal activities he has chosen to be a part of, but with his own torments - a wife (Maricel Alvarez) who is a prostitute and suffers from bi-polar disease, his two small children, Ana and Mateo (Hanaa Bouchaib and Guillermo Estrella) who long for stability and love, and a diagnosis of cancer that gives him only a few months to live. Uxbal is a character of contradictions, caught between his willingness to do what it takes to survive, even if it means going outside the law, and his love for his family and concern for the immigrants. These contradictions do not always make sense but lend his character a lifelike reality. He is also a spiritual medium who speaks with the dead or dying who are crossing over and provides comforting messages to those left behind (characteristically for a fee).

The film is shot by Rodrigo Prieto with a hand-held camera that enhances a feeling of intimacy. In the opening scene, Uxbal is seen in a snowy forest with his grandfather who left Spain for Mexico, another connection between Uxbal and the spirit world. This scene takes on more meaning by the end of the film. Inarritu throws many people and many situations into the mix, perhaps too many and the subplots do not always gel. There is Uxbal's brother Tito (Eduard Fernandez) who is involved with drugs and strip joints and sleeps with Uxbal's wife Marambra, a Sengalese family Ekweme and Ige (Cheijh Ndiave and Diaryatou Daff) living in Spain illegally, and the relationship of two gay Chinese criminals Hai and Liwei (Cheng Tai Shen and Luo Jin).

When the police arrest his friend, Ekweme, Uxbal promises to look after his wife Ige and their infant son Samuel and Ige takes on the role of his nanny, much to the delight of the children. As Uxbal's health begins to fail, his ties to the crime bosses come asunder, and his relationship with his family reaches a breaking point, he turns to the shaman Bea (Ana Wagener) to seek guidance, ask for forgiveness, and strengthen his connection to the other side. While Uxbal is not the reincarnation of St. Francis of Assisi and has contributed to human suffering, he seeks redemption in the love that he provides for his children, his patience with his wife's condition, and his attempts to reach out and protect the exploited.

As Inarritu has said, "Even if darkness seems to be everywhere, Biutiful offers many touches of hope. I'd even say it's my most optimistic film. Uxbal's character is full of light. He puts a lot into organizing his life, helping his children, loving other people." To paraphrase Walt Whitman, "If you have patience and indulgence towards people, reexamine all you have done, dismiss what insults your very soul, your flesh shall become a great poem." With whatever dignity he has left and after much resistance, Uxbal comes to terms with his own mortality, helping him to move beyond guilt and despair to confirm the beauty and preciousness of life.

"Biutiful" is a sublime and intense epic - and possibly the best film of the year. Even though its setting is very different, the film shares themes with "American Beauty", and succeeds in creating something close to a modern myth. It tells the story of Uxbal, the tough but loving single father of two young children, separated from his self-destructive bi-polar wife. He scrapes a living in the backstreet black economy of Barcelona, where he operates as a middleman for those who exploit illegal immigrant labor. Uxbal possesses the psychic ability to convey messages from the recently deceased - and sometimes he compromises his principles by accepting payment for this gift.

Uxbal's conflicted way of life reflects the essential human condition - trapped between the spiritual and material worlds. When he learns that he's terminally ill with cancer, his body seems to be manifesting his inner discord. After learning his fate, Uxbal begins searching for a trustworthy person to raise his two children after his death - and "Biutiful" tells of his struggle to accomplish this task while dark forces throw obstacles in his path. Those who have seen Inarritu's previous film "Amores Perros" will find themselves in familiar territory as Uxbal weaves his way through multitudes of desperate souls battling for survival. On the surface there's only the brutality of a dog-eat-dog world, alleviated by brief moments of tenderness and self-sacrifice. Hidden amidst the chaos, one can see the age-old journey of the immortal hero towards liberation.

"Biutiful" is devastating. Not only isn't it a comfortable and audience-pleasing film but in this case the story's really shocking, well acted and directed and, overall, terribly sad. The film is basically about good and evil, death and life and similar topics. These themes are very effectively expressed in its atmospheric and innovative photography. Iñarritu's camera gets to detect images of fierce and brilliance in the squalor. Javier's face is painted with light and shadows, as well as with a sinister appearance suggesting strong contrition and redemption. Uxbal's efforts to make some generous deeds before his death are rendered in a terrific performance, which manages to elevate the bleak subject to a sublime level. "Biutiful" is a work of extraordinary vitality and humanity, with figures of untarnished quality (Uxbal's children and the Senegalese immigrant who'll raise them after his death). On a personal level Uxbal comes to terms with the close death but eventually shows a vision of reconciliation with the life he must leave behind. Watching the film is a really a must.

What would you do if you knew that you have a few months to live and a life full of problems and unresolved issues? That's what happened to the central character of this film, a production made halfway between Spain and Mexico, skillfully directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu. The film is set in Barcelona and the main character, Uxbal, is a dubious individual who has a close relationship with organized crime and is far from the likable type that we easily like. In addition to his illegal business, which goes relatively poorly due to various problems and setbacks, Uxbal has an alcoholic, bipolar wife from whom he is, in effect, estranged, and two beloved children who are the real joy he has in life.

The film is interesting and tackles difficult, indigestible and complex topics. I can't say that it's the type of film I would recommend to a friend, because I think it's a film that lacks a certain disposition, on the part of the public, to be properly appreciated. It is not an easy film, nor does it seek to capture our sympathy, although it ends up doing so because of the way we see that man suffering. We see beyond what he does and says, we see that deep down he is not a bad man. Still, it's a depressing film and one that leaves us with a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction at the end.

With this film, Javier Bardem had a character and material tailored to what the actor knows and is capable of doing. It's no secret that Iñarritu wanted him to be the protagonist from the start, and Bardem rewarded him by giving him a dose of commitment, experience and professionalism that anyone who wants to see the film can see. The actor is excellent and does a truly impeccable, deep, emotional job here. The film also has good performances from other actors, such as Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella and Maricel Álvarez, but it is Bardem's overwhelming performance that delights us and sustains the entire film.

Technically, what caught my attention the most was the excellence of the resources and sound effects and their dexterous and competent use. It is in the details that the best qualities are found, such as the absence of echo, the sound clarity, the good sound effects used or even situations like the sound of the heartbeats of two actors, when they embrace. In addition, the visual features, cinematography and editing also deserve praise.