Review of Biutiful (2010) by Aidan H — 08 May 2011

Those of you visiting Barcelona next year should spare a thought for the city's poorer inhabitants for underneath the city's trendy and cosmopolitan facade lurks Third World poverty and writer/director Alejandro González Iñárritu paints it in the darkest hues imaginable.

His tale of a desperate cancer- and poverty-stricken single parent up to his neck in Barcelona's seedy underworld is about as bleak, harrowing and depressing as it gets and I was tempted more than once to thumb the 'stop' button during the first half.

But, despite its tragic circumstances, Biutiful is one of the most poignant and heartfelt movies I have seen in quite a while. Bardem's superb portrayal of a man under almost unbearable circumstances is subtle but overwhelming and his gloomy magnetism elicits maximum sympathy as he scrambles to save his children with his life crumbling around him.

Rodrigo Prieto's hallucinatory camerawork vividly captures Uxbal's pain and torment as the disease and guilt eat into him while enhancing intimacy in the film's more tender moments. Vivid and dramatic at times, editor Stephen Mirrione keeps a brisk pace and the grisly scenes are more effective for his judicious clipping.

This is not a film for everyone: it's bleakly downbeat themes won't have them flocking to the multiplexes any time soon. However, don't be put off: Biutiful is a rare and important movie about family, love, death and humanity which is daring and vital and deserves a wider audience.

Excellent. Stars also for the soundtrack.