Biutiful is a movie by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It stars Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a man attempting to support himself and his two children while dealing with the dilemmas brought upon him by his illicit occupation and his bipolar ex-wife. A more detailed description of the plot is that it's about Uxbal, an ex-orphan who's now a poor single parent struggling to raise his two kids in their shabby apartment in a crapsack depiction of Barcelona while also staying away from his bipolar, alcoholic ex-wife. He works for a mob where his occupation is smuggling illegal immigrants into Barcelona. And he can communicate with the dead. And he has terminal cancer. It almost feels like something Tearjerker would make up.
This movie provides examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Uxbal succumbs to cancer, but his children are safe with Ige, and he reunites with his father in heaven.
- Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: No, it really doesn't. Uxbal is heavily involved with lots of different types of criminals, and his life is absolutely terrible.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: The audible heartbeats in the scene where Uxbal hugs his daughter were achieved on set with microphones stuck to the actors' skin.
- Kick the Dog: The movie could count as one giant Kick the Dog towards Uxbal. But When he gives Ige the remainder of his savings, she almost goes back to Africa with the money, but eventually reconsiders.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The carbon monoxide poisoning of the immigrant workers.
- Storefront Television Display: Uxbal walks by a storefront with multiple television screens
◊ showing images of a whale washed up onshore.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Uxbal gets no gratitude for passing on the dead's messages. Although, to be fair, the people he's talking to might assume he's a fake or is speaking out of pain.
