Yes. This movie is subtitled.
Yes. This movie is subtitled in Spanish.
Yes. This movie is subtitled in Spanish, and it doesn't matter.
Finally. This movie is amazing!
Biutiful is not a perfect movie, but the rating is perfect, because of the actor involved, the tension that is built, but mainly because of the emotions that it surfaces. From love, to fear, to shock, to compassion...I have rarely come to a movie that has turned me in so many directions that I felt dizzy from the experience.
Kudos go out to the director: Alejandro Gonzalez - who also worked on the films Babel and Amores Perros, both of which were very intense as well as captivating in its portrayal of hidden cultures & cultural differences. His films seem to be pushed by the boundaries of human morals and sacrifice.
Here we meet Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a man who has crossed to many lines in his life: he imports and provides undocumented workers to work on fake designer accessories in Barcelona, for a factory in the seedy part of town (aren't they all). These items are sold on the street illegally, and when a crackdown happens, the sellers have to gather-and-run...to the next street corner. Talk about moving up the corporate ladder. Not only does Uxbal have to bring in the workers, he also has to oversee their living conditions (and with that their overall health). His fingers are everywhere they are not suppose to be.
With his divorce from his bi-polar wife, Marambra (Maricel Alvarez) who drops in from time to time, followed by a constant trail of cigarette smoke, we see that he is the only one who is struggling to take care of their two small children, Ana and Mateo. The money he gets is barely enough for the cereal they call a meal in the mornings. While he is at work the children have a caring Nanny, Ige - whose love seems to cross the lines with Uxbal on many levels. In taking care of his children, he also has to TAKE CARE in watching these women. He is spread very thin.
Then he gets the news that he is dying (and we get that news in the beginning of the film with his bathroom visits ending in bloody discharges). This film is anything but subtle, in both imagery, tone, as well as its message. For Uxbal now wants to set his life right now, and do good by his children - all while he hides this news from those around him. It is a tough road indeed.
What sets this movie on its spiralling course, is that even while Uxbal tries to mend his ways, he is reminded that when it comes to life, we don't live it alone - and the morals of others may not fit the plans that we have for ourselves.
Biutiful is a masterwork in how life, although on film, is not always a movie with a picture-perfect ending. What we set in motion, has to play itself out in the direction it was aimed, no matter how we might want to bend the road in a different direction. Javier is an amazing actor, and exhibits the torture inside this character who is forced to change his nature. We all want to be better people, but there is resistance when we are FORCED.
The idea of death and limitations, as well as circumstances that are beyond our control, litter this film. The look of it is very fresh, with vistas and locations that show is a different side to this country. It is very awe inspiring. The images is imposes, from a waft of cigarette smoke, to a beach laden with corpses - our senses are numbed.
Though the character's life isn't all that beautiful - what we walk away with is.
No comments:
Post a Comment