05 February,2011 06:39 AM IST | | Bryan Durham
BIUTIFUL
U; DRAMA
DIR: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
CAST: Javier Bardem, Blanca Portillo
Rating: ''1/2
WHAT'S IT ABOUT: Uxbal (Bardem) is a good man with the right intentions but very weak resolve. A facilitator between sweatshop owners, their illegal immigrant workforce and the local police, he's led life on a pretty even keel. Until now.
His estranged junkie of a wife, Marambara returns to make his life more complicated than it already is. His children Mateo and Ana are his life and it breaks his heart that he will have to leave them at her mercy. Why? The guy's days are numbered (he has only a couple of months to live, says his doctor), thanks to late cancer detection. He's peeing blood, is increasingly cranky and disoriented and begins seeing visions of a father he barely knew.
His life is headed for that cul-de-sac moment and in all his selfishness, he's trying to do his best by people he has taken under his wing. Time is ticking away all too soon...
WHAT'S HOT & WHAT'S NOT: Bardem trudges through the film with the precise worldweariness and trauma his character demands. It is singularly on his shoulders that this film rests. He's there in practically every frame and the pressure shows, but it never overwhelms you. I ufffd rritu continues with the melancholy mood (his last film was the equally morose yet somewhat uplifting Babel) and it seems the sun will only shine gloomily past puffs of smoke to herald the beginning of yet another torturous day. The film gets repetitive in routine (Mateo's bed wetting, Uxbal's incontinence) and that's also a bit of a depressant. There are sub plots introduced but they seem to go nowhere. Also, the film's completely in Spanish, so be prepared to skim through the subtitles.
WHAT TO DO: A decidedly arthouse flick, Biutiful is anything but what the sound describes. If you can stomach the grim and the depressing, this will touch a chord. Don't go for this one when in a happy mood, it's a sure downer. Bardem's interaction with his kids is the only thing that keeps you in your seats, though.u00a0
