Biutiful

Director:  Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Length:  148 min.
Released: 2010

The latest film from the Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu received much critical acclaim.  Innaritu's films tend to use multiple character subplots concentric or overlapping circles to tell a larger story.  As he did in Babel, Innaritu uses several different cultural groups, but in Biutiful he places them all in the same city (Barcelona).  

Inarritu sets his story in a world invisible to most people.  His main character, Uxbal (played by Javier Bardem, who was nominated for an Oscar), is a go-between for several illegal operations: Chinese sweat-shops, operating a sweat-shop warehouse who pay the Spanish police to
Uxbal also earns a little money as a medium helping people interpret the last needs of their loved ones as they die.

He does his best to help people, but sometimes things go horribly wrong.  His personal life takes a bad turn, as a bladder problem becomes much more serious.  He worries that his wife, who suffers from manic depression, will not be able to care for their two young children.  He is unable to confide in his brother, who is involved in other projects: drugs, strip clubs, and construction.  The cemetery where their father is buried will be turned into a shopping center, and the body must be cremated.

All the characters in Biutiful struggle to keep themselves afloat.  They are doing the best they can to survive.  It is easy to criticize from a distance and say the characters are part of a seedy underground, that the have made bad choices.  These people are doing the best they can with the resources they have.

Most of the scenes take place inside: in basement warehouses, in cramped and dirty apartments, in hospitals. For many of these people, being outside means being exposed and vulnerable.  One of the few scenes outside takes place on a major square where illegal African immigrants sell goods (illegally-manufactured by the Chinese illegal immigrants in the sweat-shop warehouses).  The police arrive in a major raid, causing a chain of events which leads to a breakdown in the whole operation.

Wilby Wonderful

Director:  Daniel MacIvor
Length: 99 min.
Released: 2004

  

Quirky towns always make popular settings for films.  Wilby Wonderful follows a group of characters and interwoven characters through a single somewhat ordinary day.  Wilby is a small town, on a little island where residents view anyone not born and raised on the island as a foreigner.  The story is set in Canada, but the conflicts within the film are so universal that it could take place anywhere.  Canadian actors populate the film, and a few who have become very famous in the US (Sandra Oh and Ellen Page).  As in many stories, each character evolves over the day and becomes a better and more whole member of the community.  The well-written screenplay brings Wilby to life, and even though the entire film takes place in only one day, we have lived something with the characters.  Wilby Wonderful challenges its characters to move beyond themselves in order find their place and purpose within the community.  The fact that the title sounds like "we'll be wonderful" is another fringe benefit of an already good title, presented in the film as a banner for an upcoming town festival which was printed backwards.  Quirky music fills the soundtrack.  Wilby Wonderful is a gem.  

Western

Director:  Manuel Poirier
Length: 124 min.
Released:  1997



Europeans have a fascination with the American West, but this film gets its title from Bretagne, a region in Northwest France where this film takes place.  The story centers around two characters, both foreigners.  Paco is a Catalan in France on a business trip as a shoe representative, and Nino is a Russian hitchhiking his way around Europe.  Paco's initial goodwill to help Nino causes him nothing but problems, when he loses everything: his car, his wares. even his job.  But being stuck in a small French village has its upsides, as he meets a beautiful woman willing to help him.  Finding Nino, and restoring his life again become his highest priority, but he begins to change his opinion of Nino.

As catastrophes continue to cause Paco grief, he begins to adopt some of Nico's carefree nature.  Losing everything multiple times forms a bond between the two, who become friends.  In one of his first roles,   Sergi Lopez often plays villains, but he shows he's a more well-rounded actor with his portrayal of Paco.  French director Manuel Poirier has used him in several of his films, always playing a lost Spaniard in France.  Sacha Bourdo, a Russian-born actor popular in many French films, shows Nino is an intelligent and thoughtful individual, more a wandering philosopher than a vagrant gypsy.  

Western uses its foreign characters to tell a multicultural story, but it is not about the difficulties of being a stranger in a strange land.  Its characters reveal and challenge cultural stereotypes, and engage in real discussions about life and modern society.  The characters grow on each other, and we grow with them.

Western is charming.  It seems to say with a sense of humor you will get through anything, and live better.  The film won the Jury prize at the Cannes film festival.    

The Motorcycle Diaries

Original Title:  Diarios de motocicleta
Director:  Walter Salles
Released:  2004
Length: 126 min.

The Motorcycle Diaries depicts the journey Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his best friend Alberto Granada took by motorcycle from Argentina to Venezuela in 1952 and is based on books written by both Che and Granada.

Gael Garcia Bernal as Che and Rodrigo de la Serna as Alberto perfectly capture the innocence, enthusiasm, brashness and idealism of youth.  The fact that the moto is old and that they lack money forces them to stop frequently, and their encounters with people from many different backgrounds introduces them to prejudice and injustice in many forms.  It was this journey that determined the future paths of Ernesto and Alberto;  Alberto to improve medicinal treatment in poor areas, and Ernesto to instigate social and political change throughout South America.

Walter Salle perfectly captures the natural beauty and cultural diversity of South America.  Gustavo Santaoallalo's guitar solos in the score complement the film well, as a guitar often provides nice accompaniment on a long journey.

The Motorcycle Diaries is part travelogue, part adventure, and part documentary.  It portrays the humor between two close friends exploring together, and the escapades they encounter on a road trip.