Biutiful

Director: Alejandro González Inárritu
Cast: Javier Bardem, Guillermo Estrella, Hanaa Bouchaib and Marical Alvarez
DVD release: 14 September 2011
Rated: MA 15+

Biutiful has an ironic title - which is a child’s misspelling of ‘beautiful’ - since this is not the sparkling bright Barcelona of Woody Allen. Light years away in the dark grotty enclaves of the city we watch the end days of a man dying of cancer. There’s a haunting, sad beauty to the visuals. This gripping and heart-rending (if disturbing) film, makes those 60s British kitchen-sink dramas seem like Luna Park by comparison.

With a running time of 148 minutes, it never once had me look at my watch. The riveting performance of Javier Bardem dominates every scene, his soulful eyes and sad smile makes for an outstanding characterisation of a doomed man.

In a grim suburb of Barcelona Uxbal (Bardem) works on the edge of criminal activity. He’s involved in an illegal workers racket exploiting Chinese immigrants and taking a percentage of the profits, but at the same time wishing to make the unfortunate workers as comfortable as possible. This results in a disaster which could put Uxbal in jail.

That’s not his only problem. His estranged bi-polar wife (Marical Alvarez), hooked on drugs and prostituting herself, is hardly fit to care for their children, daughter Ana (Hanaa Bouchaib) and young Mateo (Guillermo Estrella). Uxbal dotes on them, and they’re the most important part of his life. He’ll do anything to keep the children safe. Like a Victorian tragedy there’s even worse to come, for Uxbal is diagnosed with prostate cancer, and has a limited time to live. In his last months he tries to put his complicated life in order.

Like Matt Damon’s character in Hereafter, Uxbal is able to communicate with the dead; offering hope to the departed’s relatives - for a price. He also finds the gift a curse, but this is a more sombre look at the afterlife than Eastwood’s film. Uxbal’s final days are spent preparing for death and attempting to leave his children provided for, in a culmination of his troubled existence. He especially misses the father he never knew.

The film is powerfully directed by Mexican born Alejandro González Inárritu, noted for films like Amores perros, Babel, and 21 Grams. Guillermo del Torro (Pan’s Labyrinth) is an associate producer. They suck you into a nightmare world of poverty and misery, where even getting a blood sample takes on new meaning. The course of the illness and treatment is shown in clinical detail. Scenes remain in the mind, like the accidental deaths of workers, the dinner seance, and the bleak exhumation of Uxbal’s father and later cremation. Fortunately overall there’s a sprinkle of magic realism.

A superb supporting cast, the children - especially Guillermo Estrella - are very appealing. Marical Alverez as the pathetic wife gives a touching performance. Giving deep meaning to every sequence in which he appears is the remarkable Javier Bardem, who gives a glimpse of Anthony Quinn in some close-ups. Bardem, one of today’s great actors, has never bettered this performance. He’s probably most remembered as the psycho killer in No Country for Old Man, but also ironically appeared in Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona, which cast the city seen in a very different light indeed.

Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography manages a tactile feel to many shots, with the selected locations giving a pervading sense of abject poverty. Grim details are emphasised in close-ups, but there are moments of strange beauty that are totally unexpected. Prieto worked on Babel, 21 Grams and Amores perros with the director.

In common with Hereafter, the undercurrent of Biutiful deals with death and the afterlife; yet in a spiritual if tragic manner, the highly emotional ending offers redemption. It would be remiss for me not to recommend this film highly for discerning audiences.

John Bale