Biutiful

From the director of 21 Grams and Babel comes this gloomily striking feature about the struggles of a single father. Starring Javier Bardem in what is the first Spanish speaking role to gain an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, Biutful rests delicately in the tandem of his virtuoso performance and artful cinematography.

Uxbal (Bardem) is a man on the brink of complete despair. His mentally ill and estranged wife is becoming more and more of a danger to their two children, while an influx of illegal immigrants into his native city of Barcelona sees him take on the role of their maverick supporter. Adding a fatalist sting, Uxbal is also diagnosed with terminal cancer, a fact he attempts to hide from his nearest and dearest.

With Alejandro González Iñárritu at the helm, Biutful is meticulous in both its aesthetic and philosophical approach to film-making, feeling almost like a deliberately imperfect painting in constant motion. Uxbal becomes the poster-boy for a man up against the current of modern life. Wave after wave of woeful crises barrage this shattered man as we watch his humanistic story unfold with morbid fascination and helpless anguish.

Biutful may not pack in many laughs when painting its portrait of everyday life, but it runs atop an undercurrent of romantic mortality all too often ignored in the humdrum routines of modern, urban living. For a thoughtful, if sometimes disheartening, dissection of humanity’s troubles look no further.