Biutiful: To me, this was a disappointing work. The idea of a contemptible criminal with little regard for the health and well-being of others developing loyalty towards those closest to him as he confronts cancer was appealing but the execution is lacking. Javier Bardem is once again on the other side of the law but he shows far more empathy than he did as Anton Chigurh but he is unable to engender the sympathy of the audience. So fate strikes those on both sides of the law but what is the lesson? Perhaps Biutiful meant to show how anyone can change but character development is slow and the protagonist does not quite reach his peripeteia, like the film never reaches the promise displayed in the trailer.
A vivid recreation of Barcelona slums and long fixed angle shots which linger on the characters highlight Alejandro González Iñárritu’s skill although the prologue and coda, which mean to serve as allegories for Bardem’s journey are also metaphors for the unfinished nature of the film. **½
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives: I am sad to report that I did not care for this at all and question whether it deserved the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year. Uncle Boonmee arrives at the end of his life and wishes to tie up loose ends, such as his relationship with his long-dead wife and his missing son. As Boonmee arrives at a cottage to spend his final days, both return. Together, they travel through the countryside and Boonmee reflects upon this life and possible previous lives which he may have lived. The humans must interact with each other and the nature which surrounds them, showing that nobody lives in isolation, I suppose. **
Incendies: Denis Villeneuve created a unique work, enhancing an already engaging story by adapting it to the screen and allowing it to reach its full potential. The film portrays the parallel journeys of Jeanne and Nawal Marwan, thirty years apart. After the passing of her mother, Jeanne received word that her father – long believed to be dead – was alive and that she had a long-lost brother. She seeks these two individuals out so that she can resolve the issues that had been troubling her mother during the final years of her life.
Incendies repeats the same camera angle to show how similar the two voyages are – and how little has changed in the Middle East over the years. There is a stark contrast between Jeanne’s life as a teaching assistant at a Montreal university and the ones that she encounters overseas, like the contrast between the life Nawal created for herself in Canada and the one that she left behind. The ending may be a tad clichéd but the message of how violence can destroy families is still received. The conflict between modern life and traditional values rages on, although Villeneuve blends both seamlessly for the two hours that Incendies is on-screen. ***½