Biutiful (2010) Review

Eye of the Biuholder  

★ ★ ★ ★

By: Kameron McBride

 Before I watched Biutiful I had a chance to read some of the criticism that had been written on it and noticed that one of the main critiques of the movie was that it had too dark of tone, and some even seemed to suggest that the film drifted into nihilism. After watching it myself I can say that the movie’s whole idea, and the point of it’s title, is that it doesn’t delve into nihilism. Biutiful sets up incredibly dark situations to provide a stark contrast to the moments that are truly beautiful, the dark tone serves to help underscore the opposite moments. To call this movie too dark is to miss the point of the movie entirely.

         
 Biutiful is the story of Uxbal, a man who has a boy and a girl to take care of after having a fall-out with his wife. When Uxbal isn’t trying to balance his difficult family life, he’s out trying to run several different businesses. Essentially Uxbal is the middle-man between illegal street merchants and the suppliers. The issue is, of course, further complicated by the legality of the persons Uxbal is working with, and then further complicated by the working conditions the product-makers work in. To talk any more about the plot would spoil an extremely well-told story, but believe me it is a very powerful web of intrigue and compelling storytelling. 

Bardem trying to hold everything together in Biutiful

A lot was made of Javier Bardem’s performance after Biutiful’s release, and his performance doesn’t disappoint. Layered beyond most characters, Uxbal is a very interesting study about a man trying desperately to survive with his family in a difficult world. His motivations are clouded sometimes, his character is amoral if anything, and he has to sacrifice a tiny peace of himself to make ends meet. All in all Uxbaul fights fiercely to maintain what he thinks is the way things should be in his life. Ultimately it is apparent Uxbaul is fighting for things to be beautiful, but in the end things can only be Biutiful.

Bardem receives direction from director Alejandro González Iñárritu while filming Biutiful

 Visual literature is one of the hardest methods of literature to present, and Biutiful handles this in spectacular fashion by utilizing literary devices so well. The film certainly uses symbolism, motif, and tonal shifts to establish the movie's purpose. Biutiful is a film that reveals the backwards nature of discovering true beauty in the world, and the skewed ways that we have to achieve beauty. Often the film repeats sayings, or shows us images that ramify this feeling, one that comes to mind is the absolute haunting image of people washed ashore. To describe the scene would give away a lot of the plot, but rest assured it is a moment of sublime cinematic power. There are many other examples of phrases and images that repeat in the film that give it the kind of dramatic punch that makes this movie great; but giving these away would ruin the enjoyment of a really excellent example of film as literature.

Bardem doing business in Biutiful

The shortcomings of the movie aren't numerous, but there are a few. One is that I wish Marcial Alvaréz had a few more scenes to develop her character. As the mother of Uxbal's children, Maramba, Alvaréz represents the most antagonistic character in the story opposite Uxbal. The scenes she is in with Bardem bring out the best and the worst in his character and creates a more dynamic protagonist in him. I also think that some other side characters could be more developed, in some ways Bardem's performance is so dominant that it can overshadow some other actors and their characters subsequent development. I wish we could have seen the others' world a little bit more, in order to more fully realize the world Uxbaul is in, but the film still works well with the characters the way they are.

             
All in all, to say this film is too dark is to say Spinal Tap is too tongue-in-cheek, or Chinatown is too cynical, or even that a Samuel Beckett play is nihilistic. In other words, to call this movie too dark is to miss the point of the film, and cloud your viewing of a great example of film as literature. Movies like Biutiful are meant to be very challenging, not everyone is going to enjoy it, but not everyone is necessarily meant to enjoy it. Films like these are the yin to giant blockbusters' yang; they are gritty literary ideas at heart, that people who enjoy atmospheric movies more. I am one who enjoyed it thoroughly.