Drama – Malfrey's Movie Madness

(19/09/15)

“This movie certainly embodies ideas, the metaphysical, and beyond”

Spirituality. Morality. Existentialism. If anyone within movie fandom knows me well, it is that I am a huge admirer of Alejandro González Iñárritu. Having been first exposed to Babel at around the age of 10, and subsequently Amores Perros and Birdman, Iñárritu conceivably defines the essence of social realism. Sadly, despite some uneasy remarks from critics surrounding Iñárritu for bestowing rather ‘uppity’, artsy or pretentious directing traits, Iñárritu has, for me, infallibly provided me with hours of happiness, anguish, culture, and concepts. Biutiful doesn’t deviate from that compilation, and though not for everyone (as a result from its rather lukewarm reviews), this movie certainly embodies ideas, the metaphysical, and beyond.

Biutiful stars the shrewd Oscar-winner Javier Bardem as he plays Uxbal, a single father of two who bestows an obscure ability (power, if you wish) to see and speak with the dead while simultaneously earning fraudulent wages from ‘managing’ and helping illegal immigrants find work in the deep slums of Barcelona, subsequently to make a living. Alongside this, he also has an uneasy on-and-off relationship with his alcoholic ex-wife as well as suffering from prostate cancer, unknown to many; fate ultimately encircles him. Though the fundamental premise of Biutiful may seem to be a movie placed within the fantasy genre, Iñárritu projects the 147 minute odyssey in a manner which entails that of a drama – as you would expect if you have studied Iñárritu’s catalouge – only subtly playing up to the ‘deceased’ undertones throughout the course of the film. Uxbal’s everyday life, such as his unsettling relationships with his brother, ex-wife, and though incredibly loving to them, children, aswell as his work ethic, place more of a monopoly as opposed to Uxbal’s ‘gift’ of communicating with the dead. His ‘gift’ vibrantly trickles in the background throughout the movie, which makes it so much more encapsulating and fascinating with its potential – some families even ask him to attend their family funerals so they can help communicate with their loved ones. Biutiful favours moral absolutism; Bardem’s character, for example, tries to help his illegal workforce by buying them heaters for their basement, or offering up refuge for those that are homeless. Uxbal gradually puts himself on a moral path by attempting to redeem himself by enacting on his own deeds of common decency.

Biutiful ultimately is a beautiful movie, though an incredibly discomforting, disturbing and poignant one. Despite the literally abdominal and detestable world in which we are thrown upon in, coupled with the absence of levity, I still feel there is a touch of hope wavering beyond the physical (very much like Edward Scissorhands). There is so much more beyond to what we actually see, though Iñárritu intentionally plays on these vibes to secure a great deal of ambiguity, thought, metaphors, and rationale from his audience. But it’s also a film that isn’t afraid to show what reality can really be – it doesn’t pander on all the happy things in life, and it brutally depicts a flavour of the real world we are living in.

In terms of peripheries, Iñárritu achieved this sense of anguish by adopting a shaky-cam effect to clout the disarray and unease – Rodrigo Prieto, whose filmography also includes The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo, and Babel, wonderfully fulfills the optics. Bardem’s performance fuels a magnitude of brilliance – he keeps the film magnetic, rampant, and solemn. Iñárritu wrote this specifically for Bardem in mind, a commendable entity whose acting traits have lived up to roles that merit exposition and influence – take No Country For Old Men for example. Gustavo Santaolalla marks another return for Iñárritu as his occasional score crops up in times of desideratum – to the uninitiated, Santaolalla’s Oscar binding career has soared him to critical acclaim with accompanying soundtracks in films such as Brokeback Mountain and Babel. He also reportedly wrote around 27 pieces of music for the film, of which only 4 make an appearance. Though sparse and infrequent, the music applies itself beautifully, occasionally marking itself in times of montage or melancholy.

Though visually a rather linear movie, Biutiful entails themes and ideas which are seriously complex. This is the type of movie you literally think about constantly days after you watch it, regarding that you see it with an open mind and if it corresponds with your viewing criteria. I am utterly fascinated by this movie and wish to observe, discuss, and analyse it more because it’s adopted its own formality and entourage. I am eagerly looking forward to The Revenant, Iñárritu’s upcoming sixth film. But for Biutiful, Iñárritu delivers a soaring spectacle.

Matthew Alfrey

(3/09/15)

“A mindful politically-driven drama which staggers on its potential”

Alberto Arvelo’s The Liberator had been a hopeful spectacle for me after viewing the trailer I became accustomed to a year prior. It opened up a great deal of interest to me; it bounded the biographic and historic life of Simón Bolívar, a Venezuelan revolutionary, sparsely influenced by the American War of Independence (among other sources), with the intent of freeing large provinces of South America from Spanish monarchical rule. The sole premise of the movie easily allured me – Simón Bolívar, along with the likes of Lincoln, were concrete figures in history who provided a catalyst of hope for their own people; Bolívar himself was even called Liberator by his supporters, hence the film’s title. As a Western European, I was sightless in such an immeasurable and huge part of history that was embarrassingly unknown to me prior watching. The film’s use of Spanish, tinted with various bouts of English in occasional scenes, widened that flavour of authenticity and rawness, adding to that sense of true grit and immersion.

The film’s generous budget warranted the movie to capture utterly awe-inspiring shots. The cinematography undoubtedly bestowed a mountainous role in this project, with the utterly wondrous scenery predominantly being filmed in Venezuela, in rich locations such as the Canaima National Park. Coupled with the glorious style the film was shot in, the movie panders a beautiful first opening shot, and correlating to Spielberg’s Lincoln, it takes a fair few minutes for us to see the face of our hero, the camera making clever use of manipulation to introduce us gradually to a figure so statute and powerful.

However, despite the rather hefty sum the movie was granted, this is a mindful politically-driven drama which staggers on its potential. Simón Bolívar was a hugely complex man with a hugely complex history; this two-hour picture doesn’t perpetuate that sense of justice we need. I felt no true sense of impact and motivation throughout the course of the movie – we see little oppression from the actions of the Spanish (or “Royalists”) from Bolívar’s perspective other than a small scene or two which involved the use of slaves. It makes us wonder why Bolívar, a privileged aristocrat, is actually fighting this cause. Clearly our antagonists have meek character development, as we are hardly introduced to them. But that hidden precedent of angst and pain we didn’t get to see lost the realistic tendency of Bolívar’s motives. Comparatively, 12 Years A Slave is a movie which had the actual tenacity to depict the brutalization of African-Americans, and as a result we could see why Solomon Northup was so eager for emancipation.

Bolívar’s character and intentions nearer the end of the film become a hazy cloud, and it’s abrupt conclusion left holes that made me pander to do some more research on the life of this polarizing figure. It attempted to become more political than adventurous during the movie’s third act (as expected), but subsequently felt too quick and brushed over once Bolívar’s adversarial ideologies started to emerge, as if the creator’s didn’t want us to feel any dislike against our protagonist. In Schindler’s List we understand that Schindler’s initial intentions were to take advantage of war Jews for profiteering, yet Schindler is still known as one of the most compassionate and influential people during that period because his good deeds overpowered the bad ones. Why was Arvelo so afraid to show that?

Easily, this film’s intentions and awareness of South American history could have been expanded into a three-hour treat, a miniseries, or possibly a trilogy. It left audiences wondering more into this amazing history and how intricate Bolívar’s life actually was. Like the Wachowski’s Cloud Atlas, this project was incredibly ambitious to translate into film, something which of course, as previously mentioned, had the utmost potential to explain more about the life of this wondrous character – which it unfortunately lacked. Not fantastic, but not terrible either.

Matthew Alfrey

Malfrey's Movie Madness

"He killed them with their love. That's how it is every day, all over the world."

Category: Drama

Biutiful (2010)

The Liberator (2013)

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