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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Too often, filmgoers prefer their genre of the visual art form packaged with neat and tidy endings and maybe even a rainbow or pot of gold tossed in for good measure. Therefore, Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (Babel, 21 Grams) deserves much respect for creating Biutiful, a film that can best be summed up with three words: dismal, gloomy, and sorrowful.

A whispered conversation in a darkened room about a grandmother’s wedding ring loses itself to a lonely wintery landscape where an owl lies dead amidst an eerie forest. This sets the film’s tone as the scene switches again to a hospital examination room somewhere in Spain where the central character, Uxbal (Javier Bardem), is undergoing a prostate exam. We quickly learn he’s waited too long to be checked and that he’s probably a former drug user.

Despite his dire health situation, Uxbal tries to live a normal life, which is not necessarily normal. A father of two young children with a separated wife who’s a bipolar “massage therapist,” Uxbal earns a living by finding work for illegal Chinese workers and running a scam in which illegal African immigrants sell pirated knockoffs to tourists. On the side, Uxbal utilizes his apparent talent to speak with the dead to make a few extra bucks off of grieving families.

As his condition worsens, Uxbal does everything he can to insure that his children will be taken care of once he’s gone. To keep his conscious clear, he justifies the money he takes from the illegals by convincing himself that he’s finding them reputable work. But his world completely collapses when, in the pursuit of more money, he cuts one too many corners, and tragedy occurs.

Bardem is perhaps best known to American audiences for his Oscar-winning role as the remorseless hitman in No Country For Old Men, and (in real life) being Penélope Cruz’s husband. Some in the media world were surprised by his recent nomination for his work in Biutiful. Apparently, they had failed to see it before passing judgment, because Bardem is nothing less than masterful in this role. While his character does objectionable things, Bardem gives him a degree of humanity, presenting him as a remorseful father who genuinely loves his kids. In fact, his best scenes are when Uxbal is trying to maintain some semblance of a family life, even though it falls apart when his wife can’t handle reality.

Bardem’s performance aside, Biutiful abounds with such grime and sorrow that you feel worn out and dirty after watching it. This is not necessarily a negative, but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Furthermore, Uxbal’s I-see-dead-people ability is never fully explored and detracts from the main storyline. A subplot involving a Chinese family man and his closeted homosexuality doesn’t click with the rest of the film either. Still, Biutiful should be given a look-see just for Bardem alone.

On a letter grade scale from “A” being excellent to “F” for failing, Biutiful receives a B. 

Biutiful is rated R and has a running time of 148 minutes.

Now showing through February 17 @
Glenwood Arts
3707 W. 95^th St., Leawood, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-642-1133 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.