BIUTIFUL AND JAVIER BARDEM

It’s hard for me to separate the brilliance of the film Biutiful as a whole from the brilliance of Javier Bardem’s acting. And now, having had the extreme pleasure and privilege of seeing him speak after the actors-only screening I just attended, I can’t separate Javier, the person, from any of it. He and his new film are just on a much higher level than the norm. I’m overwhelmed with emotion about the whole experience.

I have so much to say on these topics that I can’t even form it into cohesive paragraphs, so please bear with me. The screening organizers tell us not to bring cameras or recording equipment, but so many people who can’t follow rules do. I regret that this time I wasn’t one of them because I just could not write down every word of genius and fun that came out of Javier’s mouth, so just know that his exact words were much better than what I can even portray here.

Since I’m linear thinker, I’ll review the film first, though all you really need to know is that it’s the best film I’ve seen all year, to date. I feel that the other movies should be ashamed to call themselves “films” compared to Biutiful. [Note: I haven’t seen The King’s Speech yet.]

This is how the press release describes the story, and there’s no way I can do any better–even this is on a higher level!: “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, whether bright, bad – or biutiful.” I’m going to start crying just reading this!

As many of you know by now, I never want to know anything about a film going in–even the genre. (I do need to be warned if it’s horror, though, because then I’ll take a pass.) But I always ask Mr. X to look it up for himself, to see if he wants to join me or if I should take a pal. Sometimes he forgets my policy and starts to tell me something about it. (Guys!) Before I could stop him this time, he said, “I don’t know what to say about this one–I guess ‘gritty’ would sum it up best.” He described it perfectly in one word–just from reading a brief synopsis!

And, of course, I love an actress whose nose is bigger than mine!

But it’s nothing more horrific than basic life itself for so many people who we privileged ones know little or nothing of. It’s extremely sad, but such a riveting film that it’s worth it to be depressed for awhile. (Or, the rest of my life, in my case! I rarely get over the sadness I see, whether real-life or fictional.) And I especially hope that all of the snobs out there, who think that the worst day of their lives is not being able to find the perfect dress for a black-tie function (as one of my good friends really did say to me a few years ago!,) see Biutiful and realize just how many thanks they need to give to the powers-that-be. (Maybe, in this holiday season, it could act as a new A Christmas Carol, to show people to be grateful for what they have before it’s too late.)

The film is long (two and a half hours, to be exact,) but there was nothing that I would cut-out. Javier is in just about every scene (I can think of only four short ones he wasn’t in,) and just to watch him be is breathtaking.

And to witness him holding court afterwards, as himself, is even more breathtaking, though in a totally different way–he’s supremely charming, funny, not-full-of-himself, intelligent, sincere, and educational. A finer person I cannot imagine. And I swear, all I knew about him previously was that he’s an amazing actor and a perfect match for his wife, Penelope Cruz. They’re a perfect couple, as far as I’m concerned; both are genuine, lovely, intelligent, and thoughtful people. Only he’s also a riot.

I banged-out this paragraph the second I got home: I wish that every good person on earth could spend one hour listening to Javier Bardem speak. It would be an hour of pure joy, as it was for me and the rest of the assemblage at the screening. We all wanted him to go on and on, and I’m pretty sure that he would have been more than happy to continue, had the moderator not ended the session for time constraints. (BTW–This guy was the best moderator ever! He totally stayed out of the way, and made it nothing about himself, as most of them do. I wish I knew his name.)

Javier joyfully declared near the end of our time together that “I’m having fun!” He said he loved speaking to a room full of fellow actors, but I have a feeling that he’d have fun doing just about anything. In the middle of his talk, I actually thought the words, “I love this man!” I had a feeling I would, but not to this extent. He’s perfect!

His talk made me realize even more how full of beans most of the other actors with films to push are. As boring and affected as Justin Timberlake was the other night, [check this site for my Social Network review,] Javier was the exact opposite. And the BS that came out of Ann Hathaway and Ed Zwick at their talk last week, regarding the film-making “process,” is Jersey Shore compared to Javier’s Romeo and Juliet! What wastes of time these people were; I think so even more since I’ve been to the mountaintop in that category. It just could not get better than what Javier Bardem had to say.

Lest I bore you with my adulation of this man, here are my last thoughts for the day on this topic: I haven’t even enjoyed watching my own show as much as I did watching this man speak! Those of you who’ve seen me get a kick out of myself know how serious that statement is! I feel like it changed my life. I cannot even portray in words how wonderful this experience was. I’d sit through an even longer, even more depressing, film just to get to hear his discourse again.