Biutiful (2010) User Reviews

Biutiful (2010)

[chunky_lover_68 · 8/10 · 4 October 2010]

Biutiful is a rather complex and interesting film, one that I have to admit is still sinking in as I'm still piecing together the dots of a rather sprawling storyline. Biutiful is a film that exists within the margins of society, it's everywhere we don't want to live, it's everyone we don't want to meet; it's all the struggles we'd rather not face and then some. As a result, the film is loud, violent, crazy, shameful, desperate, dirty and all other manner of words that describe the run down storefronts and apartments of the worst lived areas. Intelligently and bravely the films central idea is lost in the crowd, as obscured as the desires of its inhabitants, it's a confusing and chaotic place to be, but it works here where it wouldn't elsewhere. I would really like to watch this one again in hopes of better connecting the dots of a life lived on the fringe of society, entrenched in wrong doing, but not without its struggle with sensible moral. I think the idea behind Biutiful is that life, no matter how destitute and forgotten can be beautiful, it all depends on how you except and claim it.

Biutiful is the story of Uxbal, a shady man who's life is filled with turmoil, from admissions of an uncared for terminal illness, to unstable lovers, to unruly children, to spirits of which he can commune, to the lives of the underpaid migrant workers that he pimps out to whoever will employ them. It's easy for Uxbal to look back on his forty year existence and measure it in disappointments. But Uxbal is also a sensitive and caring man, who is able to make these admissions and in doing so take the steps to make his life it's own unique form of biutiful, but with a city more a crumbling metropolis and people who bar his progress with any step, can Uxbal truly bring some semblance of beauty to his life before it is painfully cut short, or will the darkness and depravity of the world around him swallow him and his desires whole, the answer is well worth discovering.

So I just can't say a whole lot with one viewing, but there are some things that stand out immediately. The film is several things, sad, funny, scary, creepy, intense, and as obvious as it seems, beautiful. Definitely some of the nicest camera work this year, yes it's sometimes shaky but you must consider the imagery it captures; some scenes are purely blissful for a film fan to witness. The editing is so great here that even though you know where the film is going its still exciting to get there. Javier Bardem gives a brilliant performance here, and it will take awhile for the viewer to except that Uxbal is an undesirable, but once you allow yourself to slip into his shoes, you begin to really get a sense of the man and his life. The seediness of the streets, and the strife and struggle of the humans in them are written all over this man, and Bardem really gives himself over to this character, warts and all, and gives us a brilliantly flawed person worthy of our attention. The rest of the cast is also well played, their stories contain their own levels of thoughtfulness and intrigue that both separates and connects to and from our protagonist intelligently. The script feels very human, there are no major verses of dialogue, people talk, feel and behave very naturally in this film, despite all coming from abnormal situations. Virtually no exposition on why this film exists, its meaning is wonderfully felt but not fully explained. The direction is so subtly smart that I was surprised to miss some of the most inventive and thought provoking foreshadowing I've seen in a film. Really just an all out creative and arresting affair, I'm trying hard not to use the word beautiful, but its fits every gritty frame of this film. The cinematography is awesome, really blown away thinking back to the brilliance of some of these shots, great work with the actors and the environments. My only complaint is that sound editing got a little to jarring, I get it's supposed to be an ugly film, but high pitched beeps and boops are annoying anyway you cut it (the 2001 monolith can suck it, thanks Kubrick), it drives home the madness of the setting, but I actually covered my ears at one point to muffle the noise. Other than that, the film is wildly challenging and rewarding for the viewer, I am blown away by the artistry here, it took this film to great heights, it made ugly pretty, which is no easy feat. If you don't like your films themes to be cut and dried, you're going to want to check out, pick apart and decipher the themes and mysteries of Biutiful, as it is more than deserving of such treatment.

So yes I liked this film quite a bit, but will hasten to rave until I've fully understood the motive of it. Thematically it's no straightforward story, there's something deep underneath all the grime, and I'm glad I dirtied my hands on it, and can't wait to do so again. A film for those who love long walks on the wild side and never choose the easy way out; a real decent thinking persons movie. A film in a class of it's own that breaks conventions in the best ways possible, and definitely among the years best films that I've seen thus far. Recommended.

great story, great location

[antoniotierno · 8/10 · 10 February 2011]

"Biutiful" is devastating. Not only isn't it a comfortable and audience-pleasing film but in this case the story's really shocking, well acted and directed and, overall, terribly sad. The film is basically about good and evil, death and life and similar topics. These themes are very effectively expressed in its atmospheric and innovative photography. Iñarritu's camera gets to detect images of fierce and brilliance in the squalor. Javier's face is painted with light and shadows, as well as with a sinister appearance suggesting strong contrition and redemption. Uxbal's efforts to make some generous deeds before his death are rendered in a terrific performance, which manages to elevate the bleak subject to a sublime level. "Biutiful" is a work of extraordinary vitality and humanity, with figures of untarnished quality (Uxbal's children and the Senegalese immigrant who'll raise them after his death). On a personal level Uxbal comes to terms with the close death but eventually shows a vision of reconciliation with the life he must leave behind. Watching the film is a really a must.

Interesting, but hardly biutiful...

[MaxBorg89 · 7/10 · 12 February 2011]

Biutiful is a departure and a confirmation for Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: on the one hand, it is another study of lives gone awry, with no punches pulled in regards to the misery experienced by the characters; on the other, it's the first film he's made he parted ways with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who preferred to move on to other projects after Babel. Biutiful proves two things: firstly, Inarritu remains very good at constructing memorable images; secondly, these aren't worth quite as much without Arriaga's words.

Set in Barcelona, the film ditches the filmmaker's traditional fragmented, multi-character narrative, focusing solely on one imposing figure: Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a man who has to deal with his own imminent death from cancer, a dire relationship with his family (wife, kids and brother), his ties to local criminal activities and, more generally, the ugliness he sees every day walking down the streets. Surely the (intentionally misspelled) title must be ironic.

Working on the script himself, Inarritu goes for a simpler story, but doesn't renounce his penchant for harrowing material. In fact, Biutiful is undoubtedly the least cheerful film he's directed to this day, and that's saying something. His depiction of a gray, ugly Barcelona is faultless, exposing the city's seedy underbelly and disease (both physical and spiritual) with genuine, relentless storytelling passion. However, this is also detrimental to the film's impact: without Arriaga's more experienced take on the subject, the director doesn't know when to stop, throwing in one tragedy after another for the best part of the movie's 148 minutes, with no pause for breathing. It's almost too bleak, too tragic, to fully convince as a drama.

Does this mean all the praise Inarritu has received in the past was premature? Not really. Even his detractors usually acknowledge his talent with actors, and in this case, perhaps being aware of the script's shortcomings, he has hit the jackpot: from start to finish, Bardem is a revelation, justly awarded with the Best Actor prize in Cannes. Sure, he's always been a gifted thespian, and no stranger to difficult parts (see The Sea Inside), but here he's really in a class of his own. Communicating with his sad, tired eyes rather than his broken voice, he carries the whole picture with a stoic dignity that is always gripping and heartbreaking.

While easy to mock and criticize, Biutiful, for all its flaws, warrants at least one viewing on the grounds that it proves beyond doubt that sometimes a truly astounding performance can save an otherwise mediocre film.

Biutiful offers many touches of hope

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 3 March 2011]

"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light" – Dylan Thomas

Nominated for an Oscar for both Best Foreign Film and Best Actor (Javier Bardem), Alejandro Inarritu's Biutiful is a story about those who live on the margins: Sengalese immigrants, Chinese sweatshop workers, small-time criminals, and corrupt cops who feed at the trough. Set in the seedy back streets of Barcelona, Spain, Biutiful (copying a child's spelling of the word) is not only about fear and degradation but also about faith in the possibility of redemption. The film not only explores the pain caused by globalization and human trafficking but also delves into the mystery and contradictions of life in which beauty and misery can exist side by side. It is not always pleasant to watch but it is an honest and often poetic film in which there are no stock characters. Even the worst of them are three-dimensional human beings caught in a tangled web of circumstances.

Magnificently performed by Bardem, Uxbal works as a middle man, finding jobs on construction sites for undocumented aliens from China and Africa, and supplying goods to illegal street vendors. He must deal not only with the illegal activities he has chosen to be a part of, but with his own torments - a wife (Maricel Alvarez) who is a prostitute and suffers from bi-polar disease, his two small children, Ana and Mateo (Hanaa Bouchaib and Guillermo Estrella) who long for stability and love, and a diagnosis of cancer that gives him only a few months to live. Uxbal is a character of contradictions, caught between his willingness to do what it takes to survive, even if it means going outside the law, and his love for his family and concern for the immigrants. These contradictions do not always make sense but lend his character a lifelike reality. He is also a spiritual medium who speaks with the dead or dying who are crossing over and provides comforting messages to those left behind (characteristically for a fee).

The film is shot by Rodrigo Prieto with a hand-held camera that enhances a feeling of intimacy. In the opening scene, Uxbal is seen in a snowy forest with his grandfather who left Spain for Mexico, another connection between Uxbal and the spirit world. This scene takes on more meaning by the end of the film. Inarritu throws many people and many situations into the mix, perhaps too many and the subplots do not always gel. There is Uxbal's brother Tito (Eduard Fernandez) who is involved with drugs and strip joints and sleeps with Uxbal's wife Marambra, a Sengalese family Ekweme and Ige (Cheijh Ndiave and Diaryatou Daff) living in Spain illegally, and the relationship of two gay Chinese criminals Hai and Liwei (Cheng Tai Shen and Luo Jin).

When the police arrest his friend, Ekweme, Uxbal promises to look after his wife Ige and their infant son Samuel and Ige takes on the role of his nanny, much to the delight of the children. As Uxbal's health begins to fail, his ties to the crime bosses come asunder, and his relationship with his family reaches a breaking point, he turns to the shaman Bea (Ana Wagener) to seek guidance, ask for forgiveness, and strengthen his connection to the other side. While Uxbal is not the reincarnation of St. Francis of Assisi and has contributed to human suffering, he seeks redemption in the love that he provides for his children, his patience with his wife's condition, and his attempts to reach out and protect the exploited.

As Inarritu has said, "Even if darkness seems to be everywhere, Biutiful offers many touches of hope. I'd even say it's my most optimistic film. Uxbal's character is full of light. He puts a lot into organizing his life, helping his children, loving other people." To paraphrase Walt Whitman, "If you have patience and indulgence towards people, reexamine all you have done, dismiss what insults your very soul, your flesh shall become a great poem." With whatever dignity he has left and after much resistance, Uxbal comes to terms with his own mortality, helping him to move beyond guilt and despair to confirm the beauty and preciousness of life.

Dare to Follow Uxbal's Many-Sided Journey

[jzappa · 10/10 · 5 May 2011]

Inarritu's three previous films---Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel---are classified together as the Death Trilogy, as they each depict the exponential impact of fatal or near-fatal occurrences in the interconnected existence of separate lives. They are each epic, punch-packing dramatic powerhouses. But now I see he still had much more to say on the literally infinite subject of death. And he says it with Biutiful, a purely experiential film that pierces through the heart with the acuity of a stingray barb.

The narrative here is a rail tunnel of raw, sprawling intimacy set in an overpopulated, decaying Barcelona ghetto. We follow Uxbal, and we're not entirely sure what he does. Neither does anybody, or him really. Much of the things he does are criminal, mainly mitigating between corrupt police and illegal aliens, with often catastrophic results. He is also a dedicated father to two young children whose mother, his ex-wife, is a wreck of alcohol, bipolarity and promiscuity, and worse, knows her inability to control herself and is in a quicksand of bettering herself. Uxbal also has prostate cancer, which is rapidly spreading. Also, he is internally connected with the afterlife. He doesn't see visions, he doesn't clutch shoulders and see the manner of one's impending death. He purely senses a recently deceased spirit in the room with him. He can do nothing about their situation. He just senses them.

Uxbal's ability to feel the presence of departed souls is portrayed like a sort of capacity to hear noise at the volume at which, say, a dog could only be expected to hear it. The film's setting and happenings are a jerky, spontaneous, lateral rush of urban business, like the sight, sound and fury made by the living to distract themselves from the silence of death. Each scene seems to be a concordance of extroverted behavior and internal behavior, both with equal fervor, yet both on either side of some two-way mirror. Only those characters, namely Uxbal, whose conflicts and dilemmas are constantly internalized, can hear that silence. Eventually, his daughter does as well, and becomes the closest to him, in what one might go as far as to consider the film's climax, a bear-like hug they both know is as fleeting as every other action in this desperate commotion of a life they lead.

Iñárritu intends to drain us. Physically, internally, emotionally. And he cleans out his total cinematic armory to do so. And like death, that is both a blessing and a curse. For however harrowing it is, Biutiful exalts us with the chance to see soul bare, through Javier Bardem's performance as Uxbal. Watching Bardem absorb, involve and ultimately possess a many-sided role like Uxbal's is a singular delicacy, and a complete wonder. His eyes speak agonizing tomes. He hauls from an unfathomably mysterious spring of passion, grief, and who knows what else.

One might be able to delineate that Bardem renders a tragic individual as a fading Barcelona forager who deals in illegal immigrants and connects with the deceased. But every now and then, a story materializes, conveyed in a way that is so sprawling, so comprehensive, that no one premise or implication can classify it. Attempting to definitely describe it limits something that offers the utmost magnitude of whatever an actor's, a filmmaker's, and viewer's, understanding. That is what makes Biutiful so precious.

Terrific Performance in Hard-Hitting Drama

[Michael_Elliott · 19 February 2011]

Biutiful (2010)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Depressing story about criminal Uxbal (Javier Bardem) who is told by his doctors that he has prostate cancer and only a few months to live. Uxbal works in the streets of Barcelona's ghetto where he sells Chinese people to sweatshops so that they have a place to work and tries to do the best he can in the situation. Before he faces death he tries to come to terms with the future of his young children and well as making sure he goes to the next life without any debts. BIUTIFUL is a rather interesting character study because we're given a sinful man who does a lot of bad things but at the same time the screenplay makes sure that we know that evil though he's bad deep down he is good. One of the most heartbreaking sections of the film deals with his relationship with one of the Chinese women and her young son. He sells them out for cheap labor because it's his job but at the same time this is putting money in their pockets. Uxbal wants to do something good for the Chinese folks so he goes to a store to buy them heaters so that they'll at least be a little more comfortable. The directions the screenplay takes this gesture is without question one of the most powerful and haunting images of any film this year. I found the screenplay to be extremely well-written and I really loved how they juggled this guys final few days on Earth. It certainly makes you think what you would do in the same situation and as the final moments get closer you can't help but be devastated because of everything that happens. Running 150-minutes the film doesn't take any sort cuts and instead it allows our main character to deal with everyone in his life and I enjoyed the extended running time because it makes you feel as if you really get to know Uxbal and those around him. It seems Bardem's Oscar-nomination really shocked people, myself included, but after you see the movie you'll see why he was honored and you'll also have a hard time coming up with a reason on why he shouldn't be one of the favorites to win. Bardem is in pretty much every second of this movie and it's impossible to take you eyes off of him. There are many times when you don't need words to tell you what's going on because the actor's face tells you everything. I'm really not sure how some actors use their eyes so well but the sadness and desperation that Bardem shows was rather amazing. He has quite a bit to do here as his relationships vary depending on who he is with. The way he deals with the children were incredibly touching. The Chinese people and their outcome. There's the stuff with the wife who is sleeping with his brother. There are a lot of situations that Bardem is put in but he handles all extremely well. As Roger Ebert pointed out in his review, Bardem can be beautiful, ugly, evil or a saint and he can do all of this on their own or wrapped up in one. The supporting players are all equally strong as is the terrific music score by Gustavo Santaolalla. The cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto is another visual beauty as it perfectly captures the ugliness and bleakness of the streets and the overall visual look reminded me of Scorsese's MEAN STREETS. You could also say the beauty of some of the lighter moments will remind some of the work by Bunuel. BIUTIFUL isn't an easy film to sit through as it's certainly depressing and at times many will probably be looking away from the screen. Technically it's perfect and Bardem's performance makes it something truly special and worth seeing.

A Film Where Nothing is Beautiful

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 28 December 2011]

In the dirty periphery of Barcelona, Uxbal (Javier Bardem) survives operating as middleman in business with illegal immigrant workers in the Chinese community, selling the slave labor and bribing the police and receiving a percentage of each business. Uxbal has also the ability to communicate with the dead and is the loving single father of the ten year-old Ana (Hanaa Bouchaib) and the little boy Mateo (Guillermo Estrella). Their mother Marambra (Maricel Álvarez) is a bipolar alcoholic prostitute with an unstable and self-destructive behavior.

When Uxbal learns that he is terminal with an advanced prostate cancer and metastasis and has only a couple of months, he saves all the possible money and seeks out a person to raise Ana and Mateo. Uxbal buys the cheapest heaters to use in the warehouse whether the Chinese workers sleep and the equipment leak gas and kill the twenty-five illegal immigrants. When Uxbal meets the African illegal immigrant Ige (Diaryatou Daff), he brings her home and after a few days, he believes he has found the appropriate person to raise his two children.

The first thing that calls the attention in "Beautiful" is the city of Barcelona, totally different from the post cards or the Internet messages of garbage collecting system and looking like a Third World city, with slums, dirtiness and outcast people. The characters are also ugly and only the love and dedication of Uxbal to his beloved children is beautiful.

The unpleasant story is gloomy and shows the reality of illegal African and Chinese immigrant and their poor conditions; the corruption of the police; and how people fight to survive, like Marambra says in a certain moment. Javier Bardem has a great performance in an ambiguous character. However I expected more from "Biutiful" considering the hype around it. Last but not the least, the optimistic believe that Ige has returned to raise Ana and Mateo. But the end is open to interpretations. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Biutiful"

One of the BEST PIX for 2010

[isotope434 · 10/10 · 28 December 2010]

I must say... I watched this movie twice. At first brush... I couldn't quite get past the pain and heaviness of the film... and at second screening, I really got to enjoy the (biutiful) visual metaphors that the director wanted to paint for us. It is indeed grim... and human. Like life, and perhaps a reflection of these days, not everything ends up happily ever after... we all are surviving each day in our own ways. This slice of family life, in a small quarter of Barcelona, is not glossed over and prettied up like most Hollywood films that we've slowly grown to despise (I know I don't speak for everyone). This is not the film that you go to to escape from reality... it's reality facing right back at you. It paints a perspective on the lives of those living on the frayed edges of our society, in every part of the world. For me, I think it is a pity that none of the Big Six picked it up for wider distribution. And that's the sad note for today's American cinema.

Biutiful is a rewarding film, and Bardem's emotional range is astonishing.

[dipesh-parmar · 7/10 · 27 January 2011]

In his short career, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has already made 2 great films. Amores Perros is a masterpiece, 21 Grams is not far behind. His third film, Babel on the other hand, was patchy by his standards.

So naturally, I couldn't wait to see his new film, Biutiful. Javier Bardem is the lead, an actor at the height of his powers and a personal favourite since I watched him in the outrageous 'Jamon Jamon'. Bardem is Uxbal, a middle-aged single father operating anonymously in Barcelona's underworld. Among many questionable practices, he buys fake handbags and trinkets from a Chinese-run sweatshop, and supplies the items to illegal African immigrants to sell to unsuspecting tourists.

Uxbal also has an unusual sideline; earning money for his supernatural gift – talking to the recently departed so they can pass on to the afterlife peacefully.

So far, so little to like about Uxbal. But there is a real sensitivity to him. He is devoted to his two children, and has custody of them due to his ex-wife (played by Marciel Alvarez) habitually wreaking havoc due to her bipolar condition.

Then Uxbal is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and given perhaps two months to live. He is forced to reflect on his life as he tries to make amends and prepare for his imminent death. But for all his efforts, his already grim existence just gets worse.

Biutiful certainly is gritty, and you wouldn't believe this is the same Barcelona that Bardem recently acted in Woody Allen's exuberant 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. For Uxbal and everyone in this film, Barcelona is a hollow, depressing place to live. Socio-political comparisons can be drawn with Stephen Frears fine film 'Dirty Pretty Things', showing the side of London most filmgoers wouldn't imagine, not least the abuse of illegal immigrants.

Javier Bardem is flawless, a deeply soulful, frail performance that carries the movie from the moment he appears on screen. Marciel Alvarez also excels as Uxbal's ex-wife, and stands out from a high quality cast. The ever dependable Gustavo Santaolalla's haunting music captures the essence of the film.

Biutiful is at times manipulative and contrived, and certainly over-reaches by the end. Uxbal's last few days were too much to handle; you actually wished for a quick death in order to relieve himself of the sheer number of problems and issues he has to deal with, many of which i haven't mentioned in this review.

Death has been a constant theme in all of Inarritu's films, Biutiful is no exception. By far his most intricate film, not least due to a mostly linear narrative compared to Inarritu's previous multi-layered outings. As uncomfortable viewing as it is, Biutiful is a rewarding film, and Bardem's emotional range is astonishing.

The Ugly Beauty of Life

[tigerfish50 · 9/10 · 27 October 2010]

"Biutiful" is a sublime and intense epic - and possibly the best film of the year. Even though its setting is very different, the film shares themes with "American Beauty", and succeeds in creating something close to a modern myth. It tells the story of Uxbal, the tough but loving single father of two young children, separated from his self-destructive bi-polar wife. He scrapes a living in the backstreet black economy of Barcelona, where he operates as a middleman for those who exploit illegal immigrant labor. Uxbal possesses the psychic ability to convey messages from the recently deceased - and sometimes he compromises his principles by accepting payment for this gift.

Uxbal's conflicted way of life reflects the essential human condition - trapped between the spiritual and material worlds. When he learns that he's terminally ill with cancer, his body seems to be manifesting his inner discord. After learning his fate, Uxbal begins searching for a trustworthy person to raise his two children after his death - and "Biutiful" tells of his struggle to accomplish this task while dark forces throw obstacles in his path. Those who have seen Inarritu's previous film "Amores Perros" will find themselves in familiar territory as Uxbal weaves his way through multitudes of desperate souls battling for survival. On the surface there's only the brutality of a dog-eat-dog world, alleviated by brief moments of tenderness and self-sacrifice. Hidden amidst the chaos, one can see the age-old journey of the immortal hero towards liberation.

Essay on the brevity of life.

[filipemanuelneto · 6/10 · 28 July 2022]

What would you do if you knew that you have a few months to live and a life full of problems and unresolved issues? That's what happened to the central character of this film, a production made halfway between Spain and Mexico, skillfully directed by Alejandro González Iñarritu. The film is set in Barcelona and the main character, Uxbal, is a dubious individual who has a close relationship with organized crime and is far from the likable type that we easily like. In addition to his illegal business, which goes relatively poorly due to various problems and setbacks, Uxbal has an alcoholic, bipolar wife from whom he is, in effect, estranged, and two beloved children who are the real joy he has in life.

The film is interesting and tackles difficult, indigestible and complex topics. I can't say that it's the type of film I would recommend to a friend, because I think it's a film that lacks a certain disposition, on the part of the public, to be properly appreciated. It is not an easy film, nor does it seek to capture our sympathy, although it ends up doing so because of the way we see that man suffering. We see beyond what he does and says, we see that deep down he is not a bad man. Still, it's a depressing film and one that leaves us with a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction at the end.

With this film, Javier Bardem had a character and material tailored to what the actor knows and is capable of doing. It's no secret that Iñarritu wanted him to be the protagonist from the start, and Bardem rewarded him by giving him a dose of commitment, experience and professionalism that anyone who wants to see the film can see. The actor is excellent and does a truly impeccable, deep, emotional job here. The film also has good performances from other actors, such as Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella and Maricel Álvarez, but it is Bardem's overwhelming performance that delights us and sustains the entire film.

Technically, what caught my attention the most was the excellence of the resources and sound effects and their dexterous and competent use. It is in the details that the best qualities are found, such as the absence of echo, the sound clarity, the good sound effects used or even situations like the sound of the heartbeats of two actors, when they embrace. In addition, the visual features, cinematography and editing also deserve praise.

Magnificently grim but also slightly metaphysical picture that is able to reveal hope out of the depths of despair for its main character

[sergevanduijnhoven · 10/10 · 15 October 2010]

Uxbal is a protagonist of the highest dramatical calibre not unlike Hamlet or Oedipus. This ailing father of two children and spouse of an unstable woman suffering from borderline syndrome and drug addiction, has departed on a calvary that seems to have no end. In ever more harsh and merciless ways Uxbal is undergoing every sort of torment and kickback thrown upon him by the demons of his gravely deseased Fortune. Indeed, Uxbal finds out that he is suffering from a terminal form of prostate cancer. Even though in essence Uxbal is a good man - fate seems to have chosen quite a different direction for him as where we usually believe our chance and luck to be. However, in this struggle from amidst the darkness of his daily existence in the messy streets of Barcelona Uxbal somehow is able to come to term with his fate without giving in to despair. In fact, through a gradual process of material disattachment he rises to a level of wise and unprecedented reconciliation with destiny as well as with the people he cares about and loves. After a long and painful journey of cancerous ordeals and unwanted horrors, at the end Uxbal is ready to make his last and necessary sacrifice before he can depart into the snowy landscape of his timetranscending visionary dream of a chanceful reunification with his grandfather killed by Franco's royalists during the Civil War.

At the press conference in Cannes last May 2010 Alejandro González Inárittu declared in his vehimently articulate manner: "Even if darkness seems to be everywhere, Biutiful offers many touches of hope. I'd even say it's my most optimistic film. Uxbal's character is full of light. He puts a lot into organising his life, helping his children, loving other people."

Biutiful is a truly emotional and even spiritual masterpiece of the most magnificent kind. For whomever is willing or able to follow the main characters throughout their dazzling daily struggles to survive on the shady side of life in Barcelona whilst persisting in their illusionary and mostly illegal follies that are the unfortunate demonstrations of their communal longing for some warmth and wealth and happiness, he or she will be rewarded with a discovery that might be as liberating and emotional for Uxbal as it will be for the viewer following his endeavours from so nearby it hurts. What Inárittu has tried throughout his ruthless, fastpaced, extremely honest, direct and intimate style of holding the camera as close to one's skin as possible, is to make us sense and realize that in the end their might indeed be something like a human soul after all. A discovery not unlike the one pursued by his tormented characters from that other masterpiece of his: 21 Grams. The viewer who is able to show sympathy for Uxbal, will be able to witness a most remarkable moral recovery in the inner self of our slowly but steadily vanishing hero. In a very humble but all the more remarkable way Uxbal somehow managed to keep some ray of light awake amidst the darkness that is closing in on him from the realms of his grim unfortunate reality. In the end, on the threshold of his toilet and bedroom and amidst the company of his daughter and a refugee he was so kind as to adopt in his house after her husband was deported back to Africa, Uxbal is able to finally reach the surface of his dignity again. This happens while he is literally dying and physially collapsing. But spiritually, his ascendance back upon the slippery slope of his generous but tested and tormented mind towards a state of peacefulness and grace, is a tour de force indeed. It is magical. Mysterious. Hopeful. Just like the entire encadrement of Inarritu's latest masterpiece. And just like Javier Bardem's amazing achievement to make us weep and at the same time feel happy for the faith that he was able to sustain out of the cold and unjust misery that chased him all along his final destiny.

Good but not great

[CBarreta · 6/10 · 11 June 2013]

Another good picture by Iñarritu. It describes a miserable Barcelona and the problems that poor people and emigrants have. The description, the photography and the pace of the movie are great, but in the end there are nothing you can hold on to, it's misery, misery, misery. Because of his raw portrait of slums in Barcelona, the movie looks pretty good, but in the end there are no catharsis to turn it into a great movie. As always, Javier Bardem is very good, it really convinces me of the character's suffering. The rest of the characters were pretty well cast, but they are overshadowed by the strong Bardem, a negative note for Hanaa Bouchaib, in any part of the movie she could transmit the feelings that were on the argument, in the other hand, I loved Guillermo Estrella and Maricel Álvarez, it's very hard to put a child acting as if doesn't look like it's acting, but Guillermo always look like very sincere doing the character, as for Maricel Álvarez I loved her bipolarity mood changes.

Biutiful is very guud

[leobardo · 5/10 · 11 March 2011]

Life is beautiful, but misspelled... This is the premise: a backwards world in the eyes of a good man, with beautiful intentions yet too ignorant, and too overwhelmed by the world he lives in, to rearrange it all the way it is supposed to be… At some point, however, the clever premise falls through, and unfortunately, a true lack of creative work gives way to a lackluster ending with drawn-out scenes that bring no tension or intention, and make one feel that there is nothing there to say in the first place. It was a shame, at some level, to have such a stale climax for such a confusing body of a story. It made the completely chaotic development within the movie, that had a true purpose and that I comprehend and applaud, a waste of time, including the trite beginning/ending that could have very well been left in the cutting room floor (apart from the haunting dead owl over the white snow). Iñarritu visibly lost track of his movie, giving half-assed importance to stories such as that of the gay Chinese couple or the fact that Bardem's character could speak with dead people, while ignoring others (such as the relationship with the "spiritual" guide, or with his boy and wife during his final days…), which could have really given him the key to open the window of this "enclosed room" of a movie; a possibility that at one point Bardem's spiritual guide enunciates (without much subtlety at all, mind you: "go fix things up"), keeping us expectant and eventually leading us to much disappointment when the movie fails to deliver. Yes, life is a complete mess, yet there is always that hint of hope… the theme gets old and Iñarritu, at some point in his own mess, finds himself in the need of resolving without finding the right leads to do so, and is forced to simplify (i.e. with the Senegalese woman not stealing after all, or him passing on his ring/stone to his daughter… quite a lame example of a symbolic moment). There is something to this story, but… is it misspelled? In plain words, it should have been better… and when good things can be better, many times they are only overly ambitious, which is synonymous to mediocre.

It's official, Javier Bardem is one of the greatest contemporary actors

[Serge_Zehnder · 9/10 · 20 October 2010]

A father's love for his children amidst the everyday life of crime in Barcelona. This encapsulates pretty much the basic premise of this movie, and has said nothing about the content or merit.

I'm sure quite a few reviews about this disturbing but nevertheless transcendent film will be written here. Next to the praise, a lot of people will be appalled, others indifferent, then there will be the ones who complain that Biutiful is nothing more than showing our bad world being bad.

It may be that, but it is also full of promise and dare one say it, love. And it would be foolish to ignore the hope that can be seen amidst the pain and chaos. Iñárritu shows us that we as human are able to care, for ourselves and each other.

And if nothing else, "Biutiful" proves, now officially, that Javier Bardem is one of the greatest contemporary actors.

Felicidades y gracias

Thought about giving it up

[macktan894 · 8/10 · 9 February 2011]

Ordinarily I like these kinds of films about people struggling to overcome the odds of a bad deal.But in this film, Uxbal, the protagonist, has to struggle against every bad thing can ever happen to a person and all in a very short window of time. Death would be a welcome relief. Javier Bardem plays his role extremely well though; I felt his anguish over his children and the immigrants he "managed." His story gets weighed down, unfortunately, by the number of tragedies he must endure and the tasks he must execute. The director could have eliminated/edited a few of the off-point character traits and side stories to streamline the story for impact, which would have helped the film deliver more of a meaningful punch, not less.

In addition, the summary of this movie says Uxbal must suffer a number of tragedies on the way to redemption. I'm not sure there is any redemption here. In Children of Men, the protagonist endures a lot and struggles through his own character defects to protect an black female fugee whose pregnancy provides hope for the human race. We feel joyful at the end of CofM because he has accomplished his task despite the odds. The ending of Biutiful, however, lacks a clear meaning and we're unsure of everyone's fate except for Uxbal's. The experience was depressing.

I gave the movie an 8 because it was beautifully produced and well acted; the story was original, an uncommon view of Barcelona and the immigrants who go there for work under terrible conditions. But I doubt if anyone would want to see this film more than once.

Bardem and Innaritu make fireworks.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 7/10 · 29 May 2011]

Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu directed three films before "Biutiful", and all three of them had essentially the same positives and negatives. On one hand, the man really knows how to create a scene. From the intensity that surrounded "Amores Perros" to the unique, riveting and eye-opening night club scene in "Babel", each of his films were filled with incredibly memorable moments. He also brings a lot of emotional heft to each work. Albeit sometimes in cheap, manipulative ways, the man has never failed at bringing some tears to my eyes in each of his pictures. "Biutiful" is no different in either of these aspects. However, it also succeeds where Innaritu's previous films had failed. His other films are far too bogged down with these silly, contrived stories of one event having a drastic impact on a slew of characters. "Biutiful" is his first film without Guillermo Arriaga writing the script and, as a result, there's none of those silly gimmicks that Arriaga flooded his previous pictures with. He keeps all of his strengths as a director and got rid of the flaws that hit his films from a screen writing standpoint.

What we end up with is a powerful picture that centers on one character, played phenomenally by Javier Bardem. Bardem's performance here is one of grace, bravery and pure authenticity. It's rare for a portrayal to not have a single false note in it, but this is one of those rarities in cinema. From the moment we are introduced to him, Bardem feels absolutely real. The entire film truly feels as though we are just experiencing this man's life with him and while sometimes that can be slightly dull, it never feels artificial. Along with this powerful driving performance at it's core, the film has some of the most beautiful images of the year, emotionally hitting relationships between Bardem's character and his two children and another stirring performance by non-actor Maricel Alvarez. Innaritu has created a film that is heartfelt and real, keeping the power and grittiness of his previous pictures and erasing those things that dragged them down.

One of the most "beautiful" films of 2010

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 27 September 2011]

I thought there were several very impressive movies, The King's Speech, Toy Story 3 and The Social Network being just three of them. Although Bardem and the idea appealed to me, I actually wasn't expecting Biutiful to be this good. In my opinion, it is one of the best and most beautiful movies of 2010. The scenery and cinematography are stunning, and the direction is exemplary, taking risks and not holding back and the script is both harrowing and poignant. Biutiful isn't always a very easy film to watch, due to the grim subject matter. However, the story is presented in a moving and thoughtful manner. And I thought the pace was fine, it is not a fast-paced movie but you can tell by what Biutiful is about that it is not that kind of movie. While languid, the pace adds to the grim, moving atmosphere, rather than detracting from it. Javier Bardem is superb, it is an altogether understated performance but his character is written in such a way you connect to him. I have no real criticism, apart from one or two scenes in the middle that went on a little too long, other than that it is a great film. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Faces

[RResende · 8 February 2011]

It's always a special night when you move to watch the newest film of one of the best directors working at the moment. Not only will you see something you'd never seen by someone whose work affects your soul, but you're also seeing something that may be the newest improvement in the still recent tradition of cinema, as an art of visual narrative. Iñarritu produces such a state in me. Some of his previous work changed me in ways i can't understand. I'll always want to see what he's got for me.

Here we had an important thing going on. He departed from his long time collaborator, Arriaga. Apparently, their previous collaborations took the best out of their personal relationship. I imagine the heaviness and pain of pulling out such dense rich narratives like the trilogy that came before this film was draining and emptied their relation. Arriaga's absence gets noticed here. We get to be less aware of the structure, we get less engaged by how the film develops. There is no apparent higher structure to frame the lives we follow. Arriaga provided the films with a noir sense of fate, where every character sat. Well, i suppose we find it here, but in a more rough, less assumed way. No one doubts that every character in this film (even the Chinese bosses) lives in a world whose rules he or she don't understand, less even control. That's the first interesting thing here. We have the city as the defined board where the game is played. The sense of (urban) placement tells us the game is being played, but we never get to see anyone higher than a simple pawn. I think when you take the story as it is, you can place this along with Blindness, for the pessimism, for the hopeless view on the world. The city, Barcelona, is shown with a grittiness and darkness that actually is not in its superficial face, although some scenes (like the black people running from the police with fake purses) are actually a part of its routine. But nothing of what we see here is a told at a first level of observation, so we don't have the city of Gaudí here, we have a city of oppressed, manipulated by an unknown oppressor.

(**spoilers here**) This world is complex and deceiving. Uxbal seems to control the Chinese boss, but we know he is manipulated by his man lover, whose homosexuality is not accepted by the other's family. Maramba drowns Uxbal's rejections on the bed of his brother, as her madness progressively moves her away from her children. But Uxbal will be dead and knows it, plus he also knows what's "on the other side". He is just as drowned in his own unavoidable destiny as the Chinese workers that he thinks he helps (until he kills them!). So is Ige, who knows somehow she can't leave Barcelona and have a future; she's drowned in her fate, and money can't change it. And so are Uxbal's children, whose fate depends on the luck and will of those who in turn are responsible for their upbringing: their father will die, their mother is unreliable, and we are only hinted that Ige will become their mother figure.

But all this is only secondary, compared to the real reason why i think you should watch this film: the faces. All the darkness, all the pus that comes sickly out of the wounds of these people only really matters anything because it is mirrored in the "biutiful" faces of absolutely every character. That's what the incredible first scene gives us: the meeting between two faces, Bardem (what an actor he finally became!) and the one we come later to find out to be his late father. Notice how the close-ups of the faces are the key to every emotional response you give to the film. Notice how it's the broken smiles of Mateo, or Maramba's powerless looks that make your heart break. Notice how those faces are framed by Iñarritu (and his incredible cinematographer!), always differently, according to the face of every actor. Bardem usually three quarters. But the face i'll always remember is that of Ana. According to IMDb this was her first film, and if it is her last, i still will have reasons to remember her. I'm betting she was chosen based on her smile, that of disillusioned innocence, of broken childhood. So beautiful, so sad. So much pain, in such a chaotic noir world. This is great film writing, great film making. I'm wondering how it will fit in my dreams.

My opinion: 4/5

http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

Dark, slow, ugly, depressing, but artistically and technically flawless.

[davidtraversa-1 · 7/10 · 3 June 2011]

(I read the other reviews and must agree with them in all the excellent qualifications given to actors, cinematography, music and what not (By the way, talking about the music, the credits mention a Santaeulalia as the AUTHOR of the music..., wow, the music is by MAURICE RAVEL!!! and they didn't change a single note from RAVEL original score...!!!). No wonder that nowadays musicians are complaining about author rights... But going back to the movie: Its immensely long, enormously black, fantastically depressing. I lived during many years in Barcelona and even walking down the streets in the Raval neighborhood (I assume that's the quarter used in this film for the street locations) I never saw the ugliness they show in this movie. How could they manage to show Barcelona so awful is beyond my comprehension. Honestly, nowadays most (most, not all) movies are made correctly in all departments, acting, wardrobe, period reenactment, music, etc. So, once we take that for granted, set it aside and look at the entertainment value of a film, having to deal with all these penuries is asking too much from the spectator point of view. What can we do about horrible working conditions for the illegal and exploited Senegalese, for the illegal and exploited Chinese, for our thrashed by life protagonist, about the future of his children, of his wife (all and everyone living a hellish life and already thumbed down by destiny), what about those nightmarish stinky hell holes euphemistically called apartments, with unspeakable wall paper patterns on all the walls (no wonder their inhabitants suffer severe migraines and are continually depressed, taking to the bottle and other substances...). I don't know, I don't want to see these super depressing movies ever again. I can do nothing about the conditions of these poor illegal immigrants (and neither can you) so, what is this, a masochistic depressed viewers show time? If I want to see these kind of social or political issues I go to see a documentary dealing on those issues. Again, the movie is extremely well done (is this director the same that directed the Mexican "Vidas de perros"?! I remember --I was still living in Valencia when I saw this movie-- that coming out of the theater I was looking for a dark corner where I could discretely commit suicide... what a horribly depressing movie, what hideous and horrid characters!!! I never again saw anything equal in blackness!! (save this one and "Precious", but "Precious" is shorter and much better as a movie). Well, decide for yourselves about "Biutiful", it'll be a very personal decision up to each individual sensibility.

BIUTIFUL - a spiritual journey through the despair of life

[InTheNameOfCinema · 10/10 · 21 December 2010]

I saw Biutiful last week at the International Film Festival of Kerala where it was greeted with a standing ovation after the screening. Some may feel Biutiful boring and depressing but it will be a transcendent experience of redemption for the rest. Alejandro González Iñárritu has come up with a movie that could take you to deep trenches of despair and end up on the spiritual path with a glimpse of hope… Biutiful is one of the best movies of the year if not the best.. on par with Iñárritu's Amores Peros. It is a meditation on the dark areas of urban life…

It is rich with a true socio-political image (which some might consider as a bleak world view of Iñárritu) by portraying the marginalized multi ethnic lives of Barcelona. Story is filled with bleak images of lives of Senegalese immigrants and Chinese sweatshop workers that will remain as unforgettable visuals in our minds..

Biutiful is the story of Uxbal, a terminally ill man who lives on crimes. Uxbal (played by Bardem) itself is a bridge between our world and the eternal, a man of contradictions.For example, he has a supernatural gift of speaking with the dead but ends up being purely human by charging money for it. Uxbal's wife Marambra who has bipolar disorder is a gem of a characterization. The movie has a linear narrative unlike Iñárritu's previous works. But don't expect a spoon fed Hollywood drama. Movie is deliberately ambiguous at times and open to multiple interpretations.

Good characterizations, smart script and wonderful performances along with artfully dense scenic strength of the problematic city lives, aided by great cinematography make Biutiful a brilliant experience. But the trump card of the movie is a stunning performance by Javier Bardem…

Watch it for an improved version of Iñárritu and masterful acting of Bardem

A personal tale from Alejandro González Iñárritu

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 5 January 2014]

I have been an advocate of Iñárritu's works continuously, AMORES PERROS (2000, 8/10), 21 GRAMS (2003, 9/10) and BABEL (2006, 8/10), but his fourth feature length BIUTIFUL has been evading my watchlist hitherto, maybe it is its dour outlook intimidates me, although Bardem grabbed a precious BEST LEADING ACTOR nomination in a foreign language picture.

But today, I'm in an indomitable mood (thanks to my sanguine nature) so I dare to take the challenge. BIUTIFUL, the intentional spelling error rings a bell of THE PURSUIT OF Happiness (2006, 7/10), under the same default of a divorced father struggles to maintain the subsistence with his kid(s), the latter is a bullish and aspiring fairytale while the former treads the muddy water in the underground Barcelona, with an impending terminal cancer lurks on.

Uxbal (Bardem) lives a double life, he is a medium who earns money from eliciting the last words from the deceased, also he is involved in a furtive illegal immigrant labor business with a Chinese boss Hai (Chen). With two children to foster, as a single father, when he realizes his days are numbered, it is a clarion call to urge him to be prepared and don't leave anything unfinished, which is also why the cancer sub-genre has its unique allure since it sets a date, motivates or even coerces the protagonists to take a look at theirs lives from a different angle, to slow down the pace and engage in an introspection like in TIME TO LEAVE (2005, 7/10) or to fulfill the bucket list like in MY LIFE WITHOUT ME (2003, 8/10), but here, Uxbal faces a much grimmer reality, everything will collapse, sometimes even in the most horrid way (an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning results in the casualties of two dozens Chinese immigrants all because he bought the cheapest heaters), his tentative attempt to leave two kids to his bipolar ex-wife Marambra (Álvarez) leads up to a blind alley and his brother Tito (Fernández) is a giant sleaze ball. With no other option, he leaves all his savings to an African immigrant Ige (Daff), who lives with them with her own infant boy, in dire hope he wishes she can take care of his offspring, but will she? Life cannot be more harder, so death could be his deliverance.

Bardem is so emotive as the jaded father, with his perpetual greasy hair, utterly riveting in meting out the plight around him, particularly scenes with his two young-lings, a dramatic turn from the deadpan and ruthless killer in NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007, 9/10); theatrical actress Álvarez stuns in her film debut, a far more afflicted persona beyond redemption. Being a Chinese, it does pique my curiosity to see how a foreign director does with the Chinese gay characters in their films, but as a much diluted subplot here, shamefully it has been passed over with a vilifying perspective.

BIUTIFUL is a Stygian recount of a very personal story, its often wobbly, frantic camera movements linger persistently in the seedy and cramped environs, attended by the otherworldly score from Gustavo Santaolalla, sometimes resorts to fright flick with the spectra materialize out of nowhere. Apparently my least favored Iñárritu film so far, its brooding nature and the one- sided linear narrative does deter the general audiences from emerging oneself to a sadcore once more.

A truly stunning movie

[johnfpfallon · 9/10 · 27 December 2020]

This is one of the best movies ever made. Full stop. The humanity, joy, tragedy, spirituality, beauty ... It is all here. This should be obligatory viewing for every student of Film ... on the planet! This movie is an experience.

Dark yet light

[monjon6 · 7/10 · 21 November 2021]

A dark haunting beautiful tale of hope expressed through a wonderful performance by Javier Bandem and masterful cinematography. The narrative is brought together piece by piece as the film moves to its expected conclusion, or does it?

Disappointing

[jordang73 · 1/10 · 30 January 2011]

I just came from the theater with the sensation of wasting my money and my time here. Being an admirer of the early work of Iñárritu I have to say that since "Babel" he is going down. This guy could be an excellent director, but he still has to demonstrate his skills as a scriptwriter. Maybe he needs Arriaga back. The script of this new movie is a complete fiasco; I still don't know what was the main idea of the movie. After the first 15 minutes I started to note that something was going wrong, half an hour later I was still waiting for something with substance, after an hour I gave up. The lack of focus on a central idea is the main feature of this story, and the characters are plain and uninteresting. The dialogues, by trying to follow the plot (or the lack of) are consequently vague and forgettable, even ridiculous. I think Iñárritu had just an idea and he added up a context or a background, but missed the real thing. It's like a collage of non credible situations and subplots disconnected from a central theme. This script is at amateur level. Any college student majoring in film could write a better movie. I really hope this great director don't follow the path of Shyamalan, letting his ego to take control instead of getting advice from the millions of screenwriters around him that can help him out. (Actually, I hope both go back and start doing awesome movies again someday). The fact that this movie has been praised by many critics is an insult to the common sense.