Biutiful

Genre: personal drama

With: Javier Bardem (Uxbal), Maricel Alvarez (his ex-wife Marambra), Hanna Bouchaib (his daughter Ana), Guillermo Estrella (his son Mateo), Eduardo Fernández (his brother Tito), Cheikh Ndiaye (Ekweme), Diaryatou Daff (Ige, Ekweme’s wife). Cheng Tai Shen (Hai), Luo Jin (Liwei, Hai’s associate)

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Screenplay: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Armando Bo and Nicolas Giacobone

Release: 2010

Studio: Mod Producciones, Ikiru Films et al.

Rating: 14A

MBiS score: 8.5/10

The Mess You Leave Behind

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Story-line: when his life takes an unexpected turn, a Barcelonian wheeler-dealer tries to do things right for the sake of his family and associates.

Pluses: a fine cast led by a driven and brooding Javier Bardem, a complex and original screenplay featuring multi-faceted characters, genuinely touching moments and startling visual transitions, masterly direction, superb photography by Rodrigo Prieto (note the dominant Sagrada Família church), adept editing and appropriate production values.

Minuses: some scenes remain cryptic even after attentive viewing… but they contribute to the film’s unusual, almost mystical charm. 

Comments: BIUTIFUL is a lyrical and hard-edged redemption movie whose European feel reminded me of LES AMANTS DU PONT-NEUF and several works by the great Krzysztof Kieslowski. I was especially impressed by Javier Bardem as a character entirely different from his cold-blooded killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. As this film eloquently shows, no life is ever a complete success nor an outright failure. It’s the effort you put into it that really counts.

MBiS

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