Review of Biutiful (2010) by Maksim B — 15 May 2011

Biutiful is an incredibly depressing, agonizing and intimate drama, which explores questions of morality, fatherhood and redemption in a painfully realistic and almost unbearable way.

Alejandro González Iñárritu is well-known for his gripping dramas, but this one is probably his most depressing and devastating delivery. It evokes only feelings of hopelessness which accompany the story of a terminally ill father and his final realistic struggle to make things right. The more than two hours long story is a painful study on morality, fatherhood and justifying despicable acts of exploitation. It is a study on guilt and personal tragedy. Personal in the most intimate way.

Biutiful's hopelessness and Bardem's loneliness in his suffering and death are Iñárritu's tool to remind the audience of the famous German philosopher Martin Heidegger's saying that a man is completely lonely in his suffering, sorrow and death. That all this, is an extremely personal and intimate experience.

Javier Bardem delivers probably his strongest and most influential performance ever, outshining even his Oscar-winning role in No Country For Old Men. His strength when facing reality and his fierce determination to take care of his family,combined with the guilt eating him from the inside result in a remarkably complex character, which most deservedly received an Oscar nod.

Iñárritu's Biutiful is an unpleasant, ultimately depressing and extremely demanding drama, which is definitely not everyone's cup of tea.