Return to tiff.’s home page

Biutiful

Biutiful

Alejandro González Iñárritu

  • Country: Spain, Mexico
  • Year: 2009
  • Language: Spanish
  • Producer: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Fernando Bovaira
  • Executive Producer: David Linde
  • Screenplay: Alejandro González Iñárritu
  • Runtime: 148
  • Programmes:

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. The film stars Javier Bardem.

Crime & Thriller,  Identity,  Illness & Death,  Europe

screening times

    • Friday September 10
    • 8:00:00 PM
    • WINTER GARDEN THEATRE
    • Saturday September 11
    • 9:30:00 AM
    • AMC 6

Note: indicates Premium Screening.

official description

Acclaimed auteur Alejandro González Iñárritu hits all the right notes in his long awaited directorial follow-up to 2006’s Academy Award®-winning Babel. Biutiful is also González Iñárritu’s first film to be made in his native Spanish since his landmark feature debut, Amores perros. Adding further pedigree to this heavy-hitting drama is an all-star cast led by Academy Award®-winner Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), who recently won the best actor award for this role at the Cannes Film Festival. Together, they make a powerful match, as evidenced from the opening moments of this transfixing work.

Forgoing González Iñárritu’s usual proclivity for enormous casts and non-linear narratives and timelines, Biutiful features a significantly more stripped-down approach to storytelling. Bardem delivers a typically devastating performance as Uxbal, a son, father and lover living in Barcelona. Working as a shady businessman, he helps Chinese immigrants find illegal jobs. His previous line of work as a drug dealer still haunts him and leaves him guilt-ridden. To further complicate matters, his bipolar wife works as a prostitute. But things are about to get even worse, as Uxbal discovers that he may not live much longer. And when he is confronted by a childhood friend who now works as a police officer, his world takes an even darker and more dangerous turn.

Fraught with technical ambition, Biutiful is further elevated by the work of renowned cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (who has photographed all of González Iñárritu’s films) and Academy Award -winning editor Stephen Mirrione (Traffic). The film’s craft, like its narrative, feels both effortless and brutally meticulous. The result is a tour de force that takes us on a unique and compelling journey down the rocky road of human existence.

Michèle Maheux

director bio

Alejandro González Iñárritu was born in Mexico City and started his career as a radio DJ. His highly acclaimed first feature, Amores perros (00), won numerous awards, including the Grand Prix de la Semaine de la Critique at the Cannes Film Festival. His short film about the September 11, 2021 terrorist attacks was screened at the Festival as part of the omnibus work 11’09’’01 (segment, 02). His second and third features, 21 Grams (03) and Babel (06), for which he won the best director award at Cannes, also screened at the Festival. Biutiful (10) is his fourth feature film.

full credits

Principal Cast: Javier Bardem
Producer: Alejandro González Iñárritu, Fernando Bovaira
Executive Producer: David Linde
Cinematographer: Rodrigo Prieto
Editor: Stephen Mirrione
Sound: Martín Hernández
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla
Production Designer: Brigitte Broch

Canadian Distributor: Maple Pictures Corp  
International Sales Agent: Focus Features International
Production Company: Mod Producciones
.
Shopping Cart
 

    Share This

    • Digg
    • Share

    Like This

    film stills and media

     
    Pause Slideshow