Biutiful
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Written by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Armando Bo & Nicolas Giacobone
Spain/Mexico, 2010
It’s a real testament to a filmmaker’s abilities when one of his pieces can principally revolve around a struggling man’s attempts to support his family, plus the effects he has on those around him, and then use said protagonist’s psychic abilities as little more than a subplot. Imagine if The Sixth Sense portrayed Cole as a grown man, near destitute and hammered by life, with the “I see dead people” crux as narrative depth rather than intricate focus. Mexican maestro Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has proved just how apt he his at capturing the vast scope of a story, whether in the sensational and emotionally hardboiled (Amores Perros) or the ambitious but ultimately underwhelming (Babel), but with his Catalan set epic Biutiful he takes a boat across the Atlantic to...
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Written by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Armando Bo & Nicolas Giacobone
Spain/Mexico, 2010
It’s a real testament to a filmmaker’s abilities when one of his pieces can principally revolve around a struggling man’s attempts to support his family, plus the effects he has on those around him, and then use said protagonist’s psychic abilities as little more than a subplot. Imagine if The Sixth Sense portrayed Cole as a grown man, near destitute and hammered by life, with the “I see dead people” crux as narrative depth rather than intricate focus. Mexican maestro Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has proved just how apt he his at capturing the vast scope of a story, whether in the sensational and emotionally hardboiled (Amores Perros) or the ambitious but ultimately underwhelming (Babel), but with his Catalan set epic Biutiful he takes a boat across the Atlantic to...
- 4/7/2013
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Title: Biutiful Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Starring: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernandez, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Cheng Tai Shen, Luo Jin It just so happens that there isn’t anything beautiful found in a flick titled Biutiful. Tragedy and despair fill the lens in just about every scene. Attempts of showing compassion between characters is as coarse as sandpaper. Even the atmosphere is cold and callous. Basically, this one is a real downer. However, if one is able to process and handle all of the dark emotions, they will be able to appreciate the beauty in the storytelling along with the steady performance of Javier Bardem. If you reach [...]...
- 12/29/2010
- by joe
- ShockYa
Roadside Attractions has released the the official domestic trailer for crime drama Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem who stars as Uxbal, a man involved in illegal dealing is confronted by his childhood friend, who is now a policeman. Co stars Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella, Eduard Fernández, Cheikh Ndiaye, Diaryatou Daff, Taisheng Cheng and Luo Jin.
Synopsis:
Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life’s corridors,...
Synopsis:
Biutiful is a love story between a father and his children. This is the journey of Uxbal, a conflicted man who struggles to reconcile fatherhood, love, spirituality, crime, guilt and mortality amidst the dangerous underworld of modern Barcelona. His livelihood is earned out of bounds, his sacrifices for his children know no bounds. Like life itself, this is a circular tale that ends where it begins. As fate encircles him and thresholds are crossed, a dim, redemptive road brightens, illuminating the inheritances bestowed from father to child, and the paternal guiding hand that navigates life’s corridors,...
- 10/19/2010
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
Deauville Asian Film Festival 2008
DEAUVILLE, France -- First-time director Robin Weng injects marvelous energy into Fujian Blue, a film in two parts that is as a powerful social comment on changing Fujian, one of the first Chinese coastal provinces that opened its doors to the world in the early 1980s. An ensemble of non-professionals is used to push the narrative into often exciting realm. The film looks poised for a long festival run though its commercial prospects seem limited.
In the first section, The Neon Nights, Amerika (Zhu Xiaopeng), Roppongi (Zhuang Jian Jie) and Dragon (Luo Jin) use their imported video cameras to film wealthy women in sexual acts with lovers. These women, termed "remittance widows" because their husbands are away on work, are then blackmailed by Amerika and his gang, who use the money to buy drinks, drugs and prostitutes.
Dragon is an exception. He uses the illicit earnings to pay off his brother's emigration debt, send his sister to a private school and help his parents live better. The gang understands this, and is not entirely without scruples. When Amerika decides to blackmail his mother who takes a lover, his friends are aghast. The second part, At Home, At Sea, is really about Dragon and the honest desires that he seeks to fulfil through nefarious means.
Weng's non-professional actors essay their roles with conviction, and an imaginative use of locations helps the movie's central theme to develop and affirm how an increasing Western influence has led to excesses in China. Crime and addiction appear to be ruining the country's social fabric, and Weng's work captures this situation with remarkable clarity.
FUJIAN BLUE
Wonderland Pictures/Fantasy Pictures Entertainment/Harmony Film Company
Fanhall Films
International sales: Fantasy Pictures Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Robin Weng
Screenplay: Robin Weng, Chen Tao and Lin Yile
Producers: Weng Xiuping, Lin Fan and Kondo Teiko
Executive producer: Zhang Xianmin
Directors of photography: Hai Tao, Shang Yi and Wang Yan
Production designers: Chen Fei, Weng Yu
Music: Wang Lei
Co-producers: Gao Liyong, Chai Tao, Huang Wenbo, Zhu Rikun
Editor: Zheng Jian
Cast:
Dragon: Luo Jin
Amerika: Zhu Xiaopeng
Roppongi: Zhuang Jian Jie
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
DEAUVILLE, France -- First-time director Robin Weng injects marvelous energy into Fujian Blue, a film in two parts that is as a powerful social comment on changing Fujian, one of the first Chinese coastal provinces that opened its doors to the world in the early 1980s. An ensemble of non-professionals is used to push the narrative into often exciting realm. The film looks poised for a long festival run though its commercial prospects seem limited.
In the first section, The Neon Nights, Amerika (Zhu Xiaopeng), Roppongi (Zhuang Jian Jie) and Dragon (Luo Jin) use their imported video cameras to film wealthy women in sexual acts with lovers. These women, termed "remittance widows" because their husbands are away on work, are then blackmailed by Amerika and his gang, who use the money to buy drinks, drugs and prostitutes.
Dragon is an exception. He uses the illicit earnings to pay off his brother's emigration debt, send his sister to a private school and help his parents live better. The gang understands this, and is not entirely without scruples. When Amerika decides to blackmail his mother who takes a lover, his friends are aghast. The second part, At Home, At Sea, is really about Dragon and the honest desires that he seeks to fulfil through nefarious means.
Weng's non-professional actors essay their roles with conviction, and an imaginative use of locations helps the movie's central theme to develop and affirm how an increasing Western influence has led to excesses in China. Crime and addiction appear to be ruining the country's social fabric, and Weng's work captures this situation with remarkable clarity.
FUJIAN BLUE
Wonderland Pictures/Fantasy Pictures Entertainment/Harmony Film Company
Fanhall Films
International sales: Fantasy Pictures Entertainment
Credits:
Director: Robin Weng
Screenplay: Robin Weng, Chen Tao and Lin Yile
Producers: Weng Xiuping, Lin Fan and Kondo Teiko
Executive producer: Zhang Xianmin
Directors of photography: Hai Tao, Shang Yi and Wang Yan
Production designers: Chen Fei, Weng Yu
Music: Wang Lei
Co-producers: Gao Liyong, Chai Tao, Huang Wenbo, Zhu Rikun
Editor: Zheng Jian
Cast:
Dragon: Luo Jin
Amerika: Zhu Xiaopeng
Roppongi: Zhuang Jian Jie
Running time -- 91 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/21/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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