Biutiful

It is a very good year for foreign films as we are getting cinema releases for most of the film nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film. I think only one of the five went straight to DVD/Blu-ray.

Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu is not the most cheery of directors. He makes films that look at the darker side of the human condition. But he makes such brilliant films that you can forgive him. That is the case here. The story of Uxbal is a very sad story and there are not very many bright spots. While many will find it quite depressing in many ways it has lots of sad moments. You keep hoping that something good will happen to Uxbal but it doesn't. Uxbal is also one of those characters who is a good bad guy. He runs illegal street stalls selling fake merchandise but he is such a really nice guy that you don't mind. He really cares about the people he works with and does all he can to help them out if they run into trouble. So in many ways he is just trying to earn a living for his children and this is the best way he can do it. The conditions he lives in are not the best either so you come to appreciate him even more. His home life with his drug addicted wife is not the best as well. My only problem with the film was the fact that Uxbal can see the spirits of the dead. I don't think this aspect was explored as much as it should. It seemed like something tacked on to the story and did not feel integrated into the story.

I had heard a rumour that Julia Roberts held special screenings of this film for Academy members to help get her friend Javier Bardem an Oscar nomination. I'd like to think that his unbelievably brilliant performance was enough to do it. But I suppose she helped make them aware of it. Javier is an amazing actor and can be so versatile in his role. Here he gives such an emotional performance that you really come to care about his character. While you know where the story is going the ending still has an emotional impact. I was also very impressed by Maricel Alvarez as Uxbal's wife Maramba. She makes her character a real villain of the film as far as her children are concerned. Maramba does some horrible things making you love Uxbal even more.

You should not see this film if you are in a sad mood. It could very well send you into a deep depression. Despite that it is a brilliantly emotional story of a man who is trying to get his life in order by helping those around him.