Biutiful (2010)

If Mr. Iñárritu went to 3 continents to film the great story of BABEL, his latest film, BIUTIFUL is bringing people from 3 continents to one amazing place; the underworld of Barcelona. I saw this well crafted art film a few days ago in Los Angeles (Mr.Iñárritu and Bradem were present) and wanted to share with you my take on this important, agonizing and remarkable picture. It will take you to places seldom explored by others, it will set in motion untapped feelings, it will make you hate or love it, it will make you talk about it.

Mr. Bardem is masterfully playing Uxbal and with him we slowly and painfully descend into Hades, human misery and his personal hell. The complex character of Uxbal is central for the film and through his journey we meet some of the most unusual characters, places and situations. There is an action/high energy scene of police chasing drug dealers in center of Barcelona, remarkably filmed by the very talented Rodrigo Prieto; it will stay with me for a long time.

Many call BIUTIFUL "a love story between a father and his children", but it is much much more than that. Maybe this line will sell a few extra tickets, but it is more about a extremely dysfunctional modern "accidental" family. The mother, Marambra is superbly played by newcomer Maricel Álvarez, and the children are ever so patient, innocent and understanding.

Kindness, hope, goodwill and humanity is not missing in Biutiful, it is ever-present in the daily dealings of Uxbal who's psyche we enter from the very beautiful and poetic beginning of the film.

See BIUTIFUL with an open heart and mind, let yourself go places you never wanted to go, places you only watch on the evening news.

My tag line for BIUTIFUL: "You don't choose your family. We all belong to somebody, but to belong to Uxbal and Marambra, is both a blessing and a curse."

Adam

It's all about death and dying. We can't get away from that, nor avoid it.

Most European directors take much longer to develop character in films than American directors. There are scenes in this film that wordlessly drag on, with panning shots that are longer than what American film directors recommend. But there is nothing wrong with that. This just means it takes longer to watch a European movie and this artpiece is no different.

Uxbal (Javier Bardem) plays the middleman for a counterfeit operation in Barcelona. He works for a few crooked Chinese who manipulate Africans and Chinese who come into the country illegally to work for pennies a day. Uxbal takes his share of the money but he also has a soft heart for the people who live in dark, musty cold basements.

His wife is a drug-dependent, bi-polar prostitute who only thinks about the next trick. Her goal in life is to have fun, despite her two children that love her very much. Unfortunately, Uxbal lovers her, too, and this uneven chemistry gleams throughout this movie.

We learn right away there is something wrong with Uxbal. He is in the late stages of prostate cancer, and his life is flashing him by throughout this movie. He lives what time he has left to redeem himself among the people he also took advantage of earlier, realizing there are many victims left behind doing the work that he does.

Shot in and around Barcelona's slums, there's a lot of touching cinematography in this movie. Smoggy city panoramas, gushing ocean waves, whispering cold mountain pines and loud street scenes that want to take over your auditory nerves. Take all that out and you have a more American-style movie with action and romp but less story and plot.

This is not a movie to watch when depressed, or while grieving the loss of a loved one. There is more to this movie than what I have just posted, but in the end of this 2:18 hour movie (not including the ten minutes of credits in the end), this is one movie that will haunt your senses for a while.

Crashing waves, whispering pines, dying owls that spit up hairballs. This is life in the real sense.

I rented this via the Amazon Instant Video. I had so many problems watching this movie without it constantly stopping to reload. This may be the last time I rent a movie this way. Great movie, horrible presentation.

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Alejandro Innaritu has directed 4 movies so far, Biutiful being the latest, and all 4 of them are solid. There is great substance in them all. Every film of his has several complex, interknit storylines, each with detailed narratives, and nuances. Innaritu potrays his astounding skill and capability of interlinking several of these, cumulating into an exhilarating panoramic vision, which is a feast to watch.

Innaritu has always casted great actors for his films, such as Gael Garcia in Babel & Amores Perros, Sean Penn & Benicio Del Toro in 21 Grams and Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett & Rinko Kikuchi in Babel. Here, there has been much praise for Javier Bardem's potrayal of the low-life criminal, trying to make ends meet for his family, and nearing his death very soon, and it is all very well deserved. Javier Bardem is a remarkable actor, portraying his characters with simplicity, yet with layers of complexity.

*Might contain spoilers below*

The most interesting characteristic of his films, is the use of regional languages & characters to a very natural degree. Cheng Tai Shen, playing the role of the Chinese syndicate businessman, uses spanish and chinese with much fluency and ease, which I found remarkable. Just as captivating is the role played by Diaryatou Daff, of an african immigrant woman, who is caught in the disturbance of her husband's involvement in the underground drug racket, and his deportation.

The journey for Uxbal (Bardem) is devastating, and tragic, yet fulfilling in a way, since his transition into the afterlife is shown to be one of serene, his departure from his family implying painful repercussions, nonetheless, which is what the viewer is left to come to terms with, in the end.

Another element or tool which the director uses, concurrent to his previous films, is the use of the strong background score and music. Babel had excellent score from the maestro Gustavo Santaolalla, and so does Biutiful. The use of progressive dance tracks such as The Joker (ATFC Remix) by Fatboy Slim in Babel, and Shudder/King of Snake by Underworld in Biutiful, intensify the mood and atmosphere of the films, combined with remarkable camera-work and cinematography, reveal the underbelly of cities such as Japan, and Barcelona, where city-life is portrayed near perfectly, and contrasted with varying emotions that the characters feel.

This film, is as successful as it's predecessors, thanks to the gifted Innaritu, and his muse Bardem this time around, who have both wonderfully captured the nuances and depth of the characters and the intricate story that is the driving force behind this masterfully complex & captivating movie.

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Aunque sí es una película triste, creo que "Biutiful" es una película importante para ver. La película nos enseña las partes de la vida que no queremos ver. Es exactamente por esa razón que creo que es tan importante para ver. Viendo "Biutiful", no puedes evitar las temas incómodas como la depresión de Marambra, la desesperación de los niños, y las repercusiones graves del comercio ilegal. Estoy de acuerdo con la revisión de Mariela Perez-Simons, porque yo también creo que es importante que Uxbal es un héroe complicado. No estoy de acuerdo con Chris Pandolfi y su revisión de la película porque no creo yo que la película hubiera sido mejor por no tener un personaje cerca de morir. Presentado con la historia de un hombre trágicamente desafortunado y enfermo, el público puede entender mejor que la vida puede ser muy injusto. Creo que la mensaje más importante de la película es que no importa lo mal que sea la vida, uno debe vivir lo mejor que pueda para los que ama.

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A beautiful, moving film about the devotion of a father to his children through thick and thin. I was impressed by the actor's range. After all this is the same actor who portrayed a ruthless psycho in No Country For Old Men.

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