"So we beat on, boats against the current"

Biutiful (2010), directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, is by far one of the most powerful films made in the past 15 years; one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Uxbal (Javier Bardem) is a single father who economically and emotionally struggles trying to raise a daughter, 10, and a son, 7, on the money that he gets from comforting the souls of the faithful departed, as well as from supplying labor/supplies for Barcelona’s black market. His wife has resorted to prostitution, thus leaving him with full custody of the children. The turn in the film comes when Uxbal discovers that he has cancer and he only has months to live. Before you dismiss this film as depressing, unbearable to watch, understand that this film captures everything, the very essence of being alive, of being human, so naturally that it turns even the strongest of pains into something incredible, humane, sublime. Inarritu never once tries to get you to feel sorry for any of his characters - sympathy is not the goal. The purpose of this film is to appreciate life, to realize that it is our pain which enables us to see and feel life. Javier Bardem gives one of the most finely nuanced performances in recent memory, as he never ceases to do what he has to for his children - the only important thing in his life - and the only way to see the pain that he suffers is through the darkening of the circles under his eyes. His performance is one of strength, of love. This film is not tragic, and it is most definitely not depressing. Inarritu’s direction knows when a close-up, that intimacy, is needed, and when we should see pan out to some of Uxbal’s world as it seemingly crumbles. Despite what you might conjure as you try visualize this film, there is a great deal of light, of color. Inarritu shows us Barcelona in a way that doesn’t try to bring the dirt to the surface, or even suggest that it’s Edenic. Instead, he reveals a Barcelona in which any of us could find reasons to want to live; something to grasp onto. Needless to say, the cinematography is sublime. A natural and subtle color palate, never distracting our attention, but always offering something if we should so look in that direction. Darkness never dominates the film. And the script is a flawless one - this is dialogue that has been plucked from Barcelona’s mouth, laden with pain, but bursting with something human. This is a most remarkable meditation on everything that we cherish and everything that we stand to lose. What Biutiful is is a film that has so much life in it, such a vitality and exuberance, that the inability to watch this and to feel something, to experience it, to feel that life coursing through your veins, means that the pain is something you don’t want to deal with or accept; it means you are afraid of living. What Biutiful is is a piece of our humanity. And regardless of the inevitability of death, something that haunts the film, there is always the hope for life - whether it’s in the crayon drawings of a 7 year-old boy, or helping a 10 year-old girl at the dinner table when she asks how to spell “Beautiful,” which we all know is spelled exactly as it sounds: “Biutiful.”