Film Review #4 - “BIUTIFUL”

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Run Time: 105 minutes

Cast: Javier Bardem

Language: Spanish

The most striking aspect about “Biutiful” is without a doubt Director Inarritu’s use of imagery and symbolism in the film. In a place where the question of life and death is always uncertain, one entrepreneurial peddler of fake merchandise named Uxbal (Javier Bardem) spends his days between bribing cops and raising his children in a dilapidated apartment far from his abusive and bipolar wife Marambra.

As the story began, I felt a guilty mix of compassion and scorn for Uxbal. On the one hand he is doing everything he can, including talking to the dead and risking the consequences of stealing from his boss, in order to do whatever was necessary to support his children. On the other hand, however, Uxbal is bribing policeman and breaking the law in order to facilitate the exploitation of Chinese immigrants. He is like a homeless man on the side of the street. He is a man you want to love because of the poverty and adversity he faces, but at the same time you feel repelled by the stench of his occupation (or lack thereof).

Soon enough, however, the discovery of his malignant prostate, bone and liver cancer, along with an introduction to his bipolar, drunken, prostitute of a wife quickly made me pity the man enough to view him a tragic hero worthy of my support.

But just when I began to really care about Uxbal and his daily struggle to survive, Director Inarritu begins to give viewers signs of Uxbal’s deteriorating health condition. One of my favorite uses of symbolism in “Biutiful” is Inarritu’s use of the state of the apartment to reflect the state of Uxbal’s life and character. In the first part of the film, just after we learn that Uxbal is diagnosed with cancer, we watch painfully as the dying man lies in his meager apartment, staring up at a water-damaged ceiling speckled with the first signs of mold. In the midst of this somber scene, an equally solemn tune drowns out all other noises and leaves us alone with Uxbal to contemplate the struggles that lay ahead. As many of us know, these black markings on the surface of the ceiling reflect a more ominous sign of structural damage and rot. This rotting ceiling symbolizes several forms of decay: the physical degradation of Uxbal’s body as it is consumed by the cancer, as well as the corruption and general weakening of his family.

One might also think that this element could symbolize Uxbal’s state of acceptance with regards to his affliction. In any case, though the water damage to the ceiling is definitely a problem, it is not as pervasive as it could be. Similarly, though Uxbal is beginning to deteriorate physically (he is urinating blood and suffering from fatigue), his family is beginning to suffer more in terms of their relational strength and connection to one another (Uxbal grows frustrated as he yells at Mateo and strikes the kitchen table), and the fact that he is showing signs of shock and resistance to his fate (like telling his lady friend “I am not ready to go”), the circumstances are still not yet an imminent threat to future of his family.

In our next visit to the bedroom, however, the story is very different. Around the middle of the film, we see Uxbal again staring up at the water damaged ceiling with the somber music drowning out all distractions and focusing our thoughts on his pain. In fact, the damage has grown to cover most of the ceiling. Moreover, not only is the damage fully black and molded, as opposed to predominantly brown and gold with speckles of mould, but a massive swarm of moths have taken up residence on the toxic patch of ceiling. As a universal symbol of death and decay, these creatures reflect the deteriorating conditions of Uxbal and his life. Several troublesome events warranted this change in the condition of the apartment ceiling.

First of all, by this point in the film, Marambra has physically and emotionally abused Mateo (Uxbal’s son) by hitting him repeatedly in the face and leaving him all alone while his sister, Anna, and mother, Marambra, traveled to the Pyrenees Mountains together. This catastrophe resulted in a literal tug-of-war between Marambra and Uxbal for Mateo. In the aftermath of the struggle, the family’s strength and solidarity hit an all time low. Additionally, Uxbal’s symptoms had been worsening as of late with increasingly common episodes of bloody urination, vomiting, and excessive fatigue. Lastly, his hope and feeling of helplessness were at an all-time low while his desperation and fear of death reached new heights. Thus the bonds holding Uxbal, his mind, and his family together were rotting away leaving in its wake nothing but decay.

Finally, by the end of the film, we know that Uxbal is dying. He has given up hope for saving his own life, but in the process has found a new kind of salvation for his family. Her name is Ige. Ige is the wife of one of Uxbal’s friends and subordinates in the fake merchandise business. After a police sting operation and the deportation of Ige’s husband (Ekwewe) left her without a home or income, Uxbal took her and her child into his own home in spite of his illness. Ige proved to be a blessing to Uxbal in his final days. Not only did she help care for Uxbal himself, but she also began taking care of and loving his children in a way their own mother never had. Thus, as Uxbal finally came to terms with his fate, saved up money for his children, found them a new care-taker in Ige, and gave Mateo and Anna special keepsakes to remember him by, the mould and the moths disappeared from the ceiling. Only light brown watermarks stained the ceiling in a small corner.

A close up of Bardem’s face and the gradual shift from his usual tan, leathery countenance to the pale, chalky pallor of death confirms the passing of this weary man. Death’s cleansing of Uxbal’s corrupted body completed the purification process, and the last scene of this wonderful movie ends with a repetition of the first – Uxbal alone in the pure white snow of cold winter day, save for the companionship of his deceased father. Thus Inarritu reminds us that life and death are all part of an inexorable circle of human existence.

Reviewed By: Hunter Hodge