trailer mix

Biutiful Trailer; or, Javier Bardem Will Cry His Way to Oscar

In Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful, Javier Bardem plays a dedicated father with two children, a bipolar ex-wife, a shady job in the criminal underworld, a relationship with the spirits of the dead, and a terminal-cancer diagnosis. It is no wonder that he spends most of the trailer crying. Bardem has long been considered a contender for Best Actor because of this role, and the trailer is certainly a showcase for him as much as the movie, which has Best Foreign Film Oscar ambitions of its own. (Also, working in Bardem’s favor is his hair, which gets grayer and shaggier throughout. He’s got good Oscar mojo when it comes to roles with noticeable hair.) Unlike, Iñárritu’s previous films (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel), which had interlocking narratives, Biutiful has a linear structure, but looks to be just as overwhelmingly depressing (not in a bad way!) as his previous offerings. Look out, in particular, for an eerie scene late in the trailer of human bodies washed up on the beach.

Biutiful Trailer; or, Javier Bardem Will Cry His Way to Oscar