Biutiful is not the usual blockbuster, if compared to the Hollywood masterpieces of either money or talent we usually watch. Yet Biutiful is a mainstream film nonetheless. It follows a pattern already well precluded by international directors who try to portray Europe and the Europeans in the least romantic way possible, but still fail.
If you are just slightly accustomed to the ‘new traditional’ European movie, you’ll find the explicit elements that you can find in both eastern and western European film culture: shady grey environments, descriptions of the poorest of neighborhoods, a shaky society (in this case a smelly and post-industrial-looking Barcelona), and of course, a hero with an incumbent death sentence, one who always cares for the next more than for himself and who ends up making all the wrong decisions nonetheless.
Biutiful is not an inspiring movie because it depicts the reality too closely to be inspiring. It tries to give hope, carrying in its title and in its story the message that beautiful does not only mean perfect. The sole idea that beautiful is spelled as pronounced gives the whole intonation to the story: beautiful is not only that which is seen, but that which is felt. It sounds cheesy expressed simply, yet Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Javier Bardem made a success out of such a simple life lesson.
What characterize the film are the subplots. Uxbal (Bardem) has multiple plot lines that, if let alone, would evolve to become the usual life prone to a happy ending. Yet at this stage and with this story, Uxbal’s stories intersect and make it impossible for him to keep the balance. There is always something to sacrifice for the sake of the rest.
Uxbal’s story is built on the contradictions of sentiment and duty. The first part involves his relationship with his son and daughter, the tender side of a man that has taken responsibility to shelter his children from the wrongdoings of the world. For their sake he returns with their bipolar mother to make sure that he has someone to continue his legacy. Yet this just one side of the story. We understand not only his unconditional love towards the two of them but how this love and inclination for self-sacrifice relates to the rest of the subplots.
In order to make a living Uxbal relies on two things he apparently can do best: communicating with the dead to understand their last wishes and helping illegal immigrants to find jobs in the informal sector. The first one is shown for us to dwell on the emotional depth of a character, but it does not seem to have the high impact it was designed to have. What works better is his relationship with the illegal immigrants. He tries to both provide with the means towards a better future and make their vile living environment more bearable.
The turning point of our story builds on the conflict of these two obligations: one for the children and one for the immigrants. Both need the same thing: money. As Uxbal tries to save money to assure his children’s future, he decides to buy a cheap heater for the building where the immigrants live, ensuring at least some better nights. Yet, this same heater will cause Uxbal to face the guilt of sacrificing for the sake of his own children.
Sadly, Biutiful oscillates between the saddest of realistic portraits and the grotesque you can distinguish as being pure artistic fallacy. Sexuality is overdone, a gay couple never really fits in with the plot, and then there’s the awkward late-night clubbing arrangement. Some of these portrayals were hard to understand and created a sense of ambiguity that tired the viewer. Of course it is fine to go beyond the boundaries, but Inarritu struggles to find the balance between his own creative genius and the reality he wants to portray.
The perverse side of Uxbal’s destiny is not the malady that ruins every aspect of his life, but the intricate and interdependent nature of his problems. And despite the sometimes exaggerated portrayal, Javier Bardem’s realistically portrays many ethical dilemmas that those with a pure heart face everyday. He drives the film, showing in his failure that no matter a person’s goodness, he might not have the means to satisfy everyone. In the end, there will always be someone left behind.