Javier!

Even with a Platinum Pass [the best available to me] it is still a good idea to arrive at some of the more popular screenings at least an hour ahead of time. Sponsor, Donor, Industry, Patron-type passes can get in even at the last minute. They reserve a block of seats for them until a few minutes before the program starts. They release those seats to ticket holders and then the “rush” crowd. Last night there was a “rush” line of some 50 hopefuls 2 hours before the program. I got in the pass-holder line an hour before and I was # 50. I don’t like it but they do cut off the number of pass-holders at some predetermined point just to ensure that some regular ticket holders get in. Last night it was JAVIER! Biutiful is Javier Bardem’s latest film. It is directed by Alejandro Inarritu [sic; I don’t know how to get the international keyboard on a Mac] of Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros. A cliché is sometimes the best description one can use. This film is heart wrenching, gut wrenching, moving, thoughtful, timely, profound, and just plain superb! That said; it is not for the faint of heart. Bardem plays a “gifted” father of two who lives in the underworld of immigrant Barcelona. If you have been to this remarkable city you will not recognize it in this film. The setting is slum, construction site, sweatshop, closet-size apartment, narrow filthy street, jail cell, and the inside of a troubled mind. Uxbal has just been told that he has a couple of months to live. He sets out to put his life in order, tie up loose ends, provide for his children and seek redemption for all the pain and suffering he has participated in. This process is slow and frustrating. His efforts at redemption often backfire in the most horrifying ways. His family becomes more and more difficult to deal with [he does not tell anyone he is dying]. The cold and heartless underworld of Barcelona coupled with Uxbal’s “gift” expose suffering of enormous magnitude. There is no happy ending; indeed, there is no redemption. Bardem won the Best Actor prize at Cannes and I suspect he will be nominated [again] for the Best Actor Oscar. After the film there was a 45-minute interview on stage with Mr. Bardem. Yes, he is as handsome and sexy as he appears on screen. He is also very thoughtful, funny [he imitates Woody Allen spot-on] and ultimately compassionate. He fielded questions from the audience with apologies for his lack of English language skills; he started learning English only 5 years ago. I found him easy to understand and his language skills only enhanced his answers. They were expressed in uncomplicated, unadorned, unguarded and guileless simplicity. He is a treasure as an actor and I would guess he’s a pretty nice guy.