Lucas
Versantvoort / 25 September 2014
Biutiful is director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s
attempt at recapturing the sense of drama his Death trilogy (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) had. Expectations were high not
only because of the success of the aforementioned films, but because it had
been four years since Babel
first graced the big screen. Unfortunately Biutiful doesn’t fully recapture the
magic of Iñárritu’s previous efforts and this may simply be because of
Melodramatic Overload. Iñárritu always had a knack for compelling drama, but
his films never became melodramatic to the point that it turned me off. Biutiful pretty much reached that point. If
you thought Detachment
was depressing, wait until you revel in the quagmire that is Biutiful.
We
follow Uxbal (played by Javier Bardem) as he tries to make a living for himself
and his kids in Barcelona. He has separated from his wife due to her bipolarity
and alcoholism, so his kids have no mother; his only immediate family is his
brother who works in construction; he earns money by finding work illegal
immigrants and managing a group of people who sell fake designer goods; he’s
diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and he can talk to the dead (with which
he earns some money on the side when taking to the recently deceased on behalf
of others). To provide further plot info would be to enter spoiler territory,
but the above should give you a clear indication of what you can expect:
tragedy.
What
works is Bardem’s magnetic performance which is what convinced me to watch the
film from beginning to end and the cinematography which capture Barcelona in a
way not seen on postcards, in all its depressive beauty and dreariness. Those
who were enamored by the nighttime Tokyo imagery in Babel, will find a lot to like. Also interesting is some
of the camerawork during scenes involving the afterlife. The first time Uxbal
walks into a room and the camera slowly pans to reveal a man clasping onto
pipes on the ceiling with what can be described as an intense look on his face…
Iñárritu should try his hand at horror, that’s all I’m saying. Perhaps the
film’s highlight is the subplot involving his ex-wife. Despite her bipolarity
and alcoholism, she and Uxbal try to repair their relationship and take care of
the kids, until Uxbal realizes (again) she cannot be entrusted with this task,
despite what she says.
Overall, I think Iñárritu reached the limit of
what the audience could take in terms of melodrama. Though reception was
positive, in no way did it equal his previous efforts. With Babel, there was an overarching point
and a sense of dramatic beauty that this
film’s title fails to deliver. Although Iñárritu’s films deal with themes of death (hence the
supernatural element in Biutiful) and mortality, Babel had more to offer (the theme of communication overcoming
cultural barriers). Crucially, Biutiful
lacks this ‘positive element’. It feels more like a melodramatic downward spiral,
as opposed to Babel which – despite
all the drama – still offered a positive worldview, because it showed human
suffering is universal and it is the point where cultural barriers fade away.
It’s unsurprising that Iñárritu’s next film, Birdman,
will be part drama and part comedy, which will be interesting to say the
least.
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