DIFF 2010 - Biutiful

A clearly disturbing yet beautiful rendition of a fathers struggle to keep his family and children intact and alive versus the dark background of a Barcelonian run-down living. The film has various overlays, of the poor living in a Barcelona neighbourhood, to the lives of immigrants (Chinese/African) and the means of survival they require to follow, to the challenges of holding a family thrown in gorges of neglect and strained relationships. The story paces rapidly from establishing the protagonists', to enlisting their livelihood means to building up of the events leading to the climax, all with a pronounced sense of character formation and complex relationship barriers.

The film works wonderfully in establishing the relationship complexities and helplessness of the characters, the beauty being that everything is kept grey, keeping the viewer within a reality check. The family chemistry is beautifully rendered as a series of believable yet unfortunate equations cleverly using hope as the pivot and not ego. Incident overlays are brilliant and smartly invoke gory imagination, though not shown explicitly.

Dark as it seems, the film does leave several inconclusive threads but still manages to leave a lasting impression, especially one of a disturbing nature.

10:30pm, 18.12.10 Madinat Theatre