Biutiful Review
By Beth McCabe
Life is "Biutiful"
Alejandro González Iñárritu is ambitious. The director of "21 Grams" and "
Babel," his standard brand of narrative weaves together fractured storylines, often in multiple languages. He's not afraid of making his audience work. The fully subtitled "Biutiful," which he also co-wrote (with Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone), is no exception. For the first time, though, he tries a new tactic: stepping back, he examines one man, one life, one story and brings us a film with a linear arc - with great success.
Javier Bardem plays Uxbal, who is many things. He's a father: estranged from his mentally ill wife, whom he still deeply loves, he raises his children alone. He's a criminal: always hustling, he makes his living exploiting immigrants even as he helps them out and shields them from the law. He's a medium: a connection to the afterlife lets him assist the recently dead in their passages away from this world. Both directly and indirectly, he is responsible for the lives and fates of many people. So it's understandable that when he learns he's dying his life goes into disarray.
"Biutiful" is a tragedy in the classic sense, with our protagonist's tragic flaw his desire to provide for his children in any way he can before he dies. Uxbal does misstep at times - his hands are certainly not clean - and the consequences of his foibles are felt as intensely by himself as by anyone. That there's no way to fix the horror he leaves in his wake is something haunts him to his death. Even his death itself is haunting: the audience is allowed to interpret the closing scene for themselves, choosing between an ending that is uneasily comfortable and one that is truly heartbreaking.
As award season approaches, there's a lot about this movie that's Oscar-worthy. A score that is often more aptly described as ambient noise complements the story perfectly. Truly, Iñárritu has found his match in Gustavo Santaolalla, who also provided the music for his other films. Maricel Alvarez brings volatility and vulnerability to the bi-polar Marambra - who truly wants her children in her life, but is far too ill to handle being a mother - without making her unrelatable.
It's Javier Bardem, though, that really stands out. As he did in "
No Country for Old Men" he makes this role his own. He prowls around the streets of a seedy Barcelona so comfortably that it's hard to imagine him anywhere else. The role was written for him, and it shows. He carries the movie.
In some ways, this film is the opposite of "Babel," which followed four stories across multiple continents, languages and cultures. While the stories surrounding Uxbal intertwine in a similar way, the focus is always clear. Iñárritu is often criticized for not bringing enough cohesion to his movies, but that's definitely not a problem here. And while it's not a happy story, in the end, "Biutiful" is... well... beautiful.
