Biutiful (2010)
Country: MEX/SP
Technical: col 148m
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib
Synopsis:
A man who makes a living both as a medium and by brokering work for economic migrants, while looking after his two children by his bipolar estranged wife, learns that he is to die within weeks from prostate cancer. As he attempts a reconciliation with his wife for his children's sake, an act of kindness rebounds tragically and threatens to engulf him in feelings of guilt.
Review:
This lugubrious, if ultimately affirming, character drama places great demands on its star, who features in every scene, a challenge to which he rises admirably. Eschewing the criss-crossing narratives of the director's work with Arriaga, it retains a concern with the modern world's underclasses and the theme of inequality, while not shirking from the most uncomfortable of truths. A triumph. (The title comes from a picture drawn by the daughter in the film: 'Pirineos is biutiful'.)
Country: MEX/SP
Technical: col 148m
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib
Synopsis:
A man who makes a living both as a medium and by brokering work for economic migrants, while looking after his two children by his bipolar estranged wife, learns that he is to die within weeks from prostate cancer. As he attempts a reconciliation with his wife for his children's sake, an act of kindness rebounds tragically and threatens to engulf him in feelings of guilt.
Review:
This lugubrious, if ultimately affirming, character drama places great demands on its star, who features in every scene, a challenge to which he rises admirably. Eschewing the criss-crossing narratives of the director's work with Arriaga, it retains a concern with the modern world's underclasses and the theme of inequality, while not shirking from the most uncomfortable of truths. A triumph. (The title comes from a picture drawn by the daughter in the film: 'Pirineos is biutiful'.)
Country: MEX/SP
Technical: col 148m
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib
Synopsis:
A man who makes a living both as a medium and by brokering work for economic migrants, while looking after his two children by his bipolar estranged wife, learns that he is to die within weeks from prostate cancer. As he attempts a reconciliation with his wife for his children's sake, an act of kindness rebounds tragically and threatens to engulf him in feelings of guilt.
Review:
This lugubrious, if ultimately affirming, character drama places great demands on its star, who features in every scene, a challenge to which he rises admirably. Eschewing the criss-crossing narratives of the director's work with Arriaga, it retains a concern with the modern world's underclasses and the theme of inequality, while not shirking from the most uncomfortable of truths. A triumph. (The title comes from a picture drawn by the daughter in the film: 'Pirineos is biutiful'.)