Biutiful (2010)
in Movies ·
This actually made my day, much like finding a forgotten twenty in an old pair of jeans: Javier Bardem and Alejandro González Iñárritu sitting down with Charlie Rose.!
That wasn't actually part of this thread; the answer was posted over in the chat.
So far, this is the only (actual) review:
rustywalker42 said:I already dropped my thoughts in the chat thread, but I might as well put them here too. I caught this one back in the summer; it’s a solid piece of filmmaking, though honestly, it’s a pretty heavy watch. Bardem is, as usual, absolutely flawless. The whole thing has such a distinct atmosphere, and personally, I thought they made a really inspired choice with the lead actress. Does anyone know when this actually hits theaters here in the States?
That wasn't actually part of this thread; the answer was posted over in the chat.
So far, this is the only (actual) review:
The dark horse. Asks:
The organizers actually made the right call by moving the outdoor screening of Biutiful from the truck to the Pink House, mostly just to save everyone from freezing their toes off. Honestly, people started bailing on the truck during AMSFF even though it was supposed to be packed. I can't quite tell if they were fleeing the bitter cold, just plain disappointed with the movie, or rushing off to catch that TBF concert that kicked off around 10 PM at the nearby plaza. It’s kind of wild when you think about it—scheduling a massive concert right as the penultimate film of the festival is playing, almost like some sort of chaotic grand finale? Either way, it felt pretty unfair, if not downright disrespectful, to the film itself.
So, after being part of the last sixty Mohicans who didn't get dragged away by TBF, we finally wound up at the Pink House for the festival's grand finale. *Biutiful* is essentially a beautiful film about a really ugly reality. I don't think Inarritu was quite as visceral here as he was with *Dog Love* or *21 Grams*, or maybe even *Babel*, but he’s still definitely in there somewhere, which is honestly way above average for what passes for modern high-budget productions these days. Bardem is, as per usual, fantastic, though he’s starting to feel a bit typecast in roles where he plays basically living corpses (*Life be sea*, *Before night falls*), so you kind of feel like you've already "experienced" him in this mode. His co-star is some Spanish actress I've never heard of who struggles to keep pace with him, while the rest of the supporting cast stays tucked deep in Bardem's shadow—mostly because Inarritu built this entire thing on Bardem's broad shoulders, which, to be fair, carried the whole movie. That said, if it wanted to be truly great, *Biutiful* needed a tighter script; instead of his usual collaborator Guillermo Arriaga, we got Inarritu working with two unknown writers, and unfortunately, that lack of polish is noticeable. I'm also starting to find Inarritu's increasingly globalist approach to "epic" themes a little grating, along with that overt moralizing rhetoric where he tries to weave together every possible race and social class in one pretentious, all-encompassing web. Personally, I found his previous work, *Y Tu Mamá También*, much more grounded and enjoyable.
Looking at the reasoning behind the award for *Honey*, that whole "less is more" minimalist approach is clearly the smarter move—mostly because it leaves more room for interpretation. To me, though, Serban’s minimalism feels organic and earned, whereas with Kaplanoglu, there’s this slight hint of pretentiousness that just doesn't sit right. I also realized I totally forgot to mention yesterday that the kid who serves as the emotional anchor in *Honey* is absolutely brilliant, even if centering a story around a child is always a risky gamble. Actually, looking back at my festival lineup, it's funny how almost every film I've seen so far revolves around a heavy-hitting male protagonist delivering a performance that goes way beyond just being "impressive." There's also this striking parallel between both films from yesterday: the protagonists are both on these redemption quests, trying to carve out a better life for their loved ones than the one they were forced to endure growing up in such a ruthless world. It's like they're all trying to play by the rules of a dirty game just to protect their own, and honestly, I’d like to believe the fact that these two films share such similar themes and outlooks isn't just some happy accident in the festival scheduling.
The very title 'Biutiful' is this ironic, exaggerated phonetic spelling that perfectly captures how distorted reality can get—the kind of twisted beauty that comes from being a byproduct of globalization in the land where the word 'beautiful' actually originates. Even if Guillermo Arriaga wasn't part of Inarritu's crew this time around, we still have the legendary Gustavo Santaolalla, whose score is just as mesmerizing as ever. And honestly, the setting is captivating too; even though they chose locations in the city that most tourists would never bother looking at because they show the gritty underbelly, Rodrigo Prieto’s stunning cinematography manages to give them this almost magical, painterly quality. To me, the whole movie feels like a dark counterpoint to a Woody Allen flick like 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'—where everything is usually breezy, fluid, and hedonistic, here the raw, grim struggle of marginalized communities casts a heavy shadow over the version of the city we think we know (even if you've seen it firsthand 😁). Ultimately, Inarritu seems to be telling us that life is a mess, but it's worth enduring until death arrives—provided we show up prepared, with our metaphorical ledgers balanced and clean, as if that's our ticket to some better, painless way of existing. Because, as Bardem's visionary character suggests, there's a world of dreams, illusions, and hopes waiting for us on the other side. A place where there used to be just the ocean, salt, water, and wind. That's where life begins.
Anyway, the festival is wrapping up and so is my rambling. 😍
