Review of Biutiful (2010) by Leighton T — 29 Mar 2011

Innaritu describes this as his full blow tragedy. His other films (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel) were all just melodramas. And this makes sense. Biutiful is a story of a man coming to terms with who he is as he is dying; trying to set things straight, make things right, amidst a disease that is killing him.

The complexity of the character Uxbal is fascinating, a man haunted by the fact that he never saw his father alive and fears that his children will lose their sense of him when he dies. He is a man conflicted, working with street sellers and as a go-between man for Chinese sweatshops in order to pay the rent and feed his children. But, he is a good man. He loves his wife, even though she has problems, he cares for his children with nothing but love. Even in those jobs, he still tries to do things right, such as helping one of the street sellers' wife and son, as well buying heaters for the sweatshop workers who sleep there at night and are cold. That is one problem I saw: I think we see too much good in him to believe in the outward appearance of a confliction (we dont' really believe he's a bad man, he's just in a bad world filled with only bad circumstances, thus he has to make decisions) with the character, but I do believe in the character's internal confliction of what he is doing. He believes he is doing wrong and thus must set things right. Of course, he can't, and the integral scene when he realizes this is a staggeringly painful moment astonishingly laid bare by Javier Bardem.

Bardem elevates this film, I believe, from the mire and grime it forces on us at times (poetical heavy-handedness) to being a complex character study that reaches for ethereality and a lot of the time hits home - and it's almost strictly because of his performance. The camera follows his every move. Glued to him, he is like a light, a beacon of some good in this Barcelona hell we are set in. This is a troubled man, though. He is a shuffling, lumbering man, one who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. We feel that weight. It is a part of him and it becomes a part of us throughout the film. We see it in his face, his eyes. What he conveys strictly from there is a world of pain, both physical and psychological, he can't seem to shake, and never will.

I think there is supposed to be a deliberate irony in the title with the way the film plays out, but it is too appropriate because there is nothing more beautiful than a life well-lived, or so Uxbal believes. Even though Uxbal doesn't feel he like he achieves that, that is the beauty Innaritu is getting at. Death is around the corner at every moment of our lives, always haunting us and living hard, living the best way we possibly can, with the decisions we're faced with and the circumstances around us, is all we can do. That's all that's asked of us. There's no beauty in perfection, setting things right so-to-speak, but doing the best you possibly can in the cruel world set around you.

This passionate work from Innaritu here is something I love to see. This is a film that forces you into an uncomfortable place and proceeds to ask quesitons of its audience. It's a daring, haunting work, but an extremely painful ride. I think it is a rewarding watch (probably made better on a second viewing), but I warn you, you may not be able to handle it.