{"id":126224,"date":"2013-05-14T18:40:01","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T17:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/?p=126224"},"modified":"2013-05-14T18:44:33","modified_gmt":"2013-05-14T17:44:33","slug":"biutiful-alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/2013\/05\/14\/126224","title":{"rendered":"Biutiful (Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu, 2000)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rese\u00f1a de David Bustillo<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The bookend technique, where the opening and final scenes are parallel or almost identical, is often utilized in storytelling. Used in various disciplines, for example in poetry, writing and cinema, bookends leave the audience with a sense of completion- they witness for themselves the beginning and the end of the work. In Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1arritu\u2019s latest film, Biutiful<\/em>, he cleverly incorporates bookends to illustrate the demise of his protagonist, Uxbal, who is dying from cancer. Despite coming off as a tragic movie centered around death and corruption, I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s bookends highlight the circularity of life.<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s Biutiful<\/em> is a change of pace for the Mexican artist in the sense that it differs from his distinctive style composed of a transnational setting, multi-protagonists and scrambled narratives. [1<\/sup>] Biutiful, <\/em>on the other hand, is solely centered in a corrupt Barcelona and features a linear plot focusing on a single protagonist. For this, I\u00f1\u00e1rritu has received criticism, \u201cMaking one character bear the weight of imminent death from cancer, a bipolar wife, and responsibility for both Chinese and African illegal immigration becomes simply ridiculous.\u201d [2<\/sup>] On the otherhand, he has received praise for relying solely on a hand-held camera, which adds a feeling of intimacy and allows the audience to feel like a first-hand participant in the action.[3<\/sup>] Bookends, as stated by James Romm, \u201cserve as a way to make the end of stories come round to their starting point and to mark their completion.\u201d [4<\/sup>] Biutiful<\/em>\u2019s bookends do just that- it all begins with a scene of Uxbal entrusting his mother\u2019s ring, which was a gift from his father before he fled from Franco and died in Mexico, to his daughter Ana. \u201cEl anillo es tuyo mi amor.\u201d[5<\/sup>] The audience only hears them whispering and sees their hands in a dark room as he confesses to her his fear of the sound and of the bottom of the ocean. \u201cEl ruido del mar me daba mucho miedo\u2026 me daba miedo el fondo del mar.\u201d[6<\/sup>] The exchange of the ring from Uxbal\u2019s large fatherly hand to his daughter\u2019s much smaller hand ends the tender scene and shifts to an image of a dead owl in the snow and then to Uxbal and an unknown younger man, who the audience later discovers to be his father, meeting in the snowy woods. In fact, the snowy woods are the Pyrenees, which inspires the title of the film, as Ana misspells in the movie her desire to go to the Biutiful<\/em> Pyrenees.<\/p>\n

In the Pyrenees, Uxbal\u2019s father asks him two questions, first, \u201c\u00bfSab\u00edas que cuando los b\u00fahos mueren echaron una bola de pelo por el pico?\u201d[7<\/sup>] The first question, which not only is repeated in the bookend scenes, but also is restated by Uxbal\u2019s son in the movie, Mateo, highlights the importance of the things you leave behind after death. According to Berger, owls are often referred to as bad omens or signs of death.\u201d[8<\/sup>] Thus, the presence of the dead owl in the snow creates an eerie atmosphere and suggests impending death, which highlights Uxbal\u2019s imminent death. The remains of an owl\u2019s hairball, which consists of undigested bones, are undoubtedly insignificant; however, Biutiful<\/em> reveals the importance of the things you leave behind, or Uxbal\u2019s \u201chairball\u201d for his children. [9<\/sup>] During the movie, Uxbal scrambles to organize his life affairs in time to leave his children in a good state, both financially and domestically, after his death. Uxbal comes from a family that is plagued by premature paternal death, not even remembering what his own father looks like; thus, he understands the hardships of growing up without a father. Therefore, he makes sure all of his affairs are in order before leaving his children fatherless.\u00a0 Just like an owl, he leaves behind the family ring, stones for his children\u2019s protection and manages to convince a senegalian woman to be their temporary care provider.<\/p>\n

The dead owl imagery not only highlights the importance of what one leaves behind after death, but also the circularity of life. \u201cThe circularity of life and death\u2026 is always linked to rebirth, as in the natural life cycle\u201d [10<\/sup>] What Uxbal once had to do, which was struggle to grow up without a father, will soon be the job of his children. The circle of life persists. The circle of life also highlights that death is not the really the end, but a seed for some other life. [11<\/sup>] Despite an owl\u2019s hairball not necessarily being a seed for another life, it represents the action of passing on roles to the next generation. Uxbal, exactly what his father did to him, is passing on the torch to his offspring for them to unfortunately grow without him. Further, Uxbal emphasizes to his children that he wants them to remember him, since the fact that he couldn\u2019t remember his father truly troubled him. \u201cNo me olvides mi amor, por favor. \u201d[12<\/sup>]<\/p>\n

The second question the father asks Uxbal in the bookended scenes is \u201cAntes no hab\u00eda nada, solo agua salada. \u00bfY sabes come hac\u00eda el ruido?\u201d[13<\/sup>] Once the audience learns that the Pyrenees were once filled with nothing but \u201cagua salada\u201d, in other words it was once an ocean, it becomes clear that their conversation in the bookended final scene is I\u00f1\u00e1rritu revealing to the audience that Uxbal has died and is at the bottom of a dried up ocean with his deceased father.\u00a0 Uxbal\u2019s finally meets his inevitable fate and his father- the circle of life persists. Bookends are also utilized to show character development. [14<\/sup>]Once the audience sees the final scene and realizes that I\u00f1\u00e1rritu uses a bookend, the audience can see that despite all of the struggles Uxbal has encountered throughout the\u00a0 film: a bipolar wife, a cheating brother and an inescapable corruption, he\u2019s still the same man- he still fears the ocean and it\u2019s sound.<\/p>\n

I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s bookends are pivotal to his film. They not only are a unique structural techinique of the Mexican director, but they serve a deeper purpose: they emphasize the circle of life. Through the bookends the audience not only witnesses the whole story unfold and pack itself up before their very own eyes, but the audience also witnesses character development and the significance and beauty of the paternal role. Moreover, the bookends tie up any loose ends that the movie may have left unsettled. Amidst all the corruption and grief that surrounds the film, I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s Biutiful<\/em> is indeed beautiful by portraying the circularity of life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Berger, Cynthia. Wild Guide Owls<\/em>. 1st ed. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole, 2005. Print. pp 33-36.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Deleyto, Celestino, and Mar\u00eda Del Mar. Azcona. Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu<\/em>. Urbana: University of Illinois, 2010. Print. pp 46-50.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MacCabe, Colin. \u00abAn Amorous Catfish.\u00bb\u00a0Film Quarterly<\/em>\u00a064.1 (2010): 59-61.\u00a0JSTOR<\/em>. University of California Press. Web. 1 May 2013. <http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/10.1525\/FQ.2010.64.1.59>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mamer, Bruce. \u00abCreating The Shots.\u00bb Film Production Technique: Creating The Accomplished Image<\/em>. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2009. 16-17. JSTOR<\/em>. Michael Rosenberg. Web. 3 May 2013. pp 84-86.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Parker, Gary. Building Blocks of Life Science<\/em>. Green Forest: Master, 2007. Print. pp 18-24.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Romm, James S. Herodotus<\/em>. New Haven: Yale UP, 1998. Red De Bibliotecas Universitarias<\/em>. Web. 1 May 2013. http:\/\/rebiun.crue.org\/cgi-bin\/abnetop\/O7384\/ID691a9dba\/NT1<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Salazkina, Masha. In Excess: Sergei Eisenstein’s Mexico<\/em>. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2009. Print. pp 24-26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

1.Deleyto, Celestino, and Mar\u00eda Del Mar. Azcona. Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu<\/em>. Urbana: University of Illinois, 2010. Print.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.MacCabe, Colin. \u00abAn Amorous Catfish.\u00bb\u00a0Film Quarterly<\/em>\u00a064.1 (2010): 59-61.\u00a0JSTOR<\/em>. University of California Press. Web. 1 May 2013. <http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/10.1525\/FQ.2010.64.1.59<\/a>>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.Mamer, Bruce. \u00abCreating The Shots.\u00bb Film Production Technique: Creating The Accomplished Image<\/em>. 5th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2009. 16-17. JSTOR<\/em>. Michael Rosenberg. Web. 3 May 2013. pp 84-86.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.Romm, James S. Herodotus<\/em>. New Haven: Yale UP, 1998. Red De Bibliotecas Universitarias<\/em>. Web. 1 May 2013. http:\/\/rebiun.crue.org\/cgi-bin\/abnetop\/O7384\/ID691a9dba\/NT1<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8.Berger, Cynthia. Wild Guide Owls<\/em>. 1st ed. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole, 2005. Print. Pp 33-36.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9.Parker, Gary. Building Blocks of Life Science<\/em>. Green Forest: Master, 2007. Print. Pp 18-24.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10.Romm, James S. Herodotus<\/em>. New Haven: Yale UP, 1998. Red De Bibliotecas Universitarias<\/em>. Web. 1 May 2013. http:\/\/rebiun.crue.org\/cgi-bin\/abnetop\/O7384\/ID691a9dba\/NT1<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.Parker, Gary. Building Blocks of Life Science<\/em>. Green Forest: Master, 2007.Print.Pp 18-24.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12.Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13.Biutiful<\/em>. Dir. Alejandro G. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu. Perf. Javier Bardem. Lionsgate Films, 2010. DVD.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14.Salazkina, Masha. In Excess: Sergei Eisenstein’s Mexico<\/em>. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2009. Print. pp 24-26.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

David Bustillo<\/strong>, 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rese\u00f1a de David Bustillo:   The bookend technique, where the opening and final scenes are parallel or almost identical, is often utilized in storytelling. Used in various disciplines, for example in poetry, writing and cinema, bookends leave the audience with a sense of completion- they witness for themselves the beginning and the end of the work. In Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1arritu\u2019s latest film, Biutiful, he cleverly incorporates bookends to illustrate the demise of his protagonist, Uxbal, who is dying from cancer. Despite coming off as a tragic movie centered around death and corruption, I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s bookends highlight the circularity of life. I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":4}},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126224"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126226,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126224\/revisions\/126226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/imagen_cine_comunicacion_audiovisual\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}