A bit more on Biutiful
It’s hard.
Hard story. Hard story to do with originality. Hard truths. And often, hard to watch.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has probably done the best work of his career here. He’s finally abandoned the triptych. So even though Bardem’s character is still engaged in multiple stories, the film feels whole. It’s the beginning, middle, and end of the story of this piece of this man’s life. And in just weeks of time on screen, there is a
real arc… and it doesn’t feel forced.
There is still plenty of pain and, yes, urine in the film. But unlike previous efforts, it never feels like a stunt or an intentional test of the audience’s tolerance. It feels almost like a documentary about one man – a unique man, allowing for metaphor – and what he might do when faced with singular circumstances after a life of turmoil.
As a new father, the movie is often brutal, even at its kindest. Futility is a big theme. And the children in the film, including the big one inside Bardem, are endangered repeatedly. But the film allows no easy judgements. There is no black or white. Just a life of gray.
Personally, just the grime of the walls, floors, everything was hard to watch. And I’m not a neat freak. But the idea of living in that dirty way, and of not really having a choice, was painful. Some days are better that others in that world, but at best, there will always be a grim coat of muck lingering on the surface. Horrifying. And real.
So… not for everyone. And unlike something like Winter’s Bone, which can be pretty grim, there is no real hope here, only relief when it’s not as painful as it could be. I mean, all picture long, just waiting for someone to fall from a window or be smothered by a pillow or whatever possible simple horrors are always hanging around, right around the corner. And some do happen…
But there is no denying the beauty, the craftsmanship (a visual theme that is defined late in the movie shows up very early on in very subtle ways… watch the mirrors), and the great passionate storytelling that permeates every scene.
As for awards… well… Bardem is an Oscar-winner and that matters. He deserved at least two other statues before he won and he wasn’t nominated for either. Both shared with Biutiful being “difficult.” He should be a lock. The movie, a greater challenge for the film’s distributor. But we’ll see.
In the meanwhile, consider buckling up and seeing this one in a theater… where you can’t hide when it hurts. And it will hurt. You don’t have to love the pain, but you certainly have to respect it.
The mirrors. I totally thought I was seeing things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
this new format blows.
I agree. It’s totally nonsensical. It’s cluttered just to be… cluttered. I literally have no idea who convinced David and his crew that his lean and mean website needed to be gussied up like man whore on a Friday night, but those people were idiots. Seriously, if you want to kill this blog then kill it. It makes no sense for you to not update box office all weekend long and to not even put up a BYOB!
If it’s to hard for you, let the admin update this thing for you, but this is just two weeks of epic fail for this place, and that’s just not good at all.