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Biutiful

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Biutiful (2010)

December. 28,2010
|
7.4
|
R
| Drama
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This is a story of a man in free fall. On the road to redemption, darkness lights his way. Connected with the afterlife, Uxbal is a tragic hero and father of two who's sensing the danger of death. He struggles with a tainted reality and a fate that works against him in order to forgive, for love, and forever.

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Smartorhypo
2010/12/28

Highly Overrated But Still Good

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Executscan
2010/12/29

Expected more

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Paynbob
2010/12/30

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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Deanna
2010/12/31

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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redrobin62-321-207311
2011/01/01

I really wanted my rating to be 7.5, but since there are no points, an 8 it is.There were many things to like about this film - Javier Badem's acting, as a matter of fact, everyone's acting, the cinematography, the score, and production values.What, to me, makes a film stand apart from others is you get introduced to things that you've never seen before, in this case, Desolation Boulevard, Barcelona style. It's definitely not the Spain portrayed in Rick Steve's Spain. This one is cold, brutal and unforgiving. Witness first hand how Senegalese street merchants obtain their counterfeit handbags. Witness first hand the oppressive sweat shop that is the Chinese mini-empire. Witness a gay love story in said Chinese sweat empire. Inarritu even got the bipolar aspect of the children's mother correct. That's why I live foreign films - to be exposed to scenes I'd otherwise never see in Rick Steves' or anyone's travelogue.

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bnsw19
2011/01/02

I first watched this film two years ago and it has been haunting me ever since; I watched it again last night... It's a bleak story beautifully told and there's the paradox. I consider it the second leg of Inarritu's stool of films - the first (Babel, Amores Perros, 21 Grams) was distinguished by elliptical, multi-layered story-telling and the third (The Revenant, Birdman) by a linear narrative and this one by its earthy, implicit social commentary with a touch of magic realism. What makes it such a stand-out film for me are the dialogue/script - so natural and economical - the direction and production - one smells the sweat - and, above all, the acting - Bardem delivers the performance of a life-time. He deserves to be remembered for this (and The Sea Inside) above the pastiche Bond villain in Skyfall.

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Miguel Neto
2011/01/03

Biutiful is a very cruel and heavy film, the script is competent , the cast is also competent , more emphasis is Javier Bardem this excellent, each field this actor surprises me more , is the direction of Alejandro G. Inarritu , and it makes a great direction , not enough to be his best work in the direction , even more so is very good, the picture is good and dark , the pace is good, the soundtrack is very good, and the film is full of moments and strong , the character Javier Bardem , Uxbal , is very interesting , one of the best characters of the actor, Biutiful is one of the best films of Alejandro G. Inarritu (which eventually would Birdman and the Revanant ) when the movie ends you feel the sensation a punch in the stomach . Note 8.6

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Lucas Versantvoort
2011/01/04

Biutiful is director Alejandro González Iñárritu's attempt at recapturing the sense of drama his Death trilogy (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) had. Expectations were high not only because of the success of the aforementioned films, but because it had been four years since Babel first graced the big screen. Unfortunately Biutiful doesn't fully recapture the magic of Iñárritu's previous efforts and this may simply be because of Melodramatic Overload. Iñárritu always had a knack for compelling drama, but his films never became melodramatic to the point that it turned me off. Biutiful pretty much reached that point. If you thought Detachment was depressing, wait until you revel in the quagmire that is Biutiful.We follow Uxbal (played by Javier Bardem) as he tries to make a living for himself and his kids in Barcelona. He has separated from his wife due to her bipolarity and alcoholism, so his kids have no mother; his only immediate family is his brother who works in construction; he earns money by finding work illegal immigrants and managing a group of people who sell fake designer goods; he's diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer and he can talk to the dead (with which he earns some money on the side when taking to the recently deceased on behalf of others). To provide further plot info would be to enter spoiler territory, but the above should give you a clear indication of what you can expect: tragedy.What works is Bardem's magnetic performance which is what convinced me to watch the film from beginning to end and the cinematography which capture Barcelona in a way not seen on postcards, in all its depressive beauty and dreariness. Those who were enamored by the nighttime Tokyo imagery in Babel, will find a lot to like. Also interesting is some of the camera-work during scenes involving the afterlife. The first time Uxbal walks into a room and the camera slowly pans to reveal a man clasping onto pipes on the ceiling with what can be described as an intense look on his face… Iñárritu should try his hand at horror, that's all I'm saying. Perhaps the film's highlight is the subplot involving his ex-wife. Despite her bipolarity and alcoholism, she and Uxbal try to repair their relationship and take care of the kids, until Uxbal realizes (again) she cannot be entrusted with this task, despite what she says.Overall, I think Iñárritu reached the limit of what the audience could take in terms of melodrama. Though reception was positive, in no way did it equal his previous efforts. With Babel, there was an overarching point and a sense of dramatic beauty that this film's title fails to deliver. Although Iñárritu's films deal with themes of death (hence the supernatural element in Biutiful) and mortality, Babel had more to offer (the theme of communication overcoming cultural barriers). Crucially, Biutiful lacks this 'positive element'. It feels more like a melodramatic downward spiral, as opposed to Babel which – despite all the drama – still offered a positive world-view, because it showed human suffering is universal and it is the point where cultural barriers fade away. It's unsurprising that Iñárritu's next film, Birdman, will be part drama and part comedy, which will be interesting to say the least.

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