MovieChat Forums > Biutiful (2011) Discussion > Great film, but slightly too ambiguous

Great film, but slightly too ambiguous

posted 11 years ago by Dr_Clitterhaus
3 replies | jump to latest

I've loved all of Iñárritu's films and his appreciation/obsession for the way the human spirit can overcome the grimmest of situations. I really enjoyed Biutiful for the most part, the fractured storytelling technique worked well but i am disappointed in the way the final act was handled. I would have like to have at least been given a hint as to the fate of the children. It was the main strand of the movie, Uxbal's concern over the fate of his children. In Inarritu style I expected to see the nanny walking off into the horizon to new life somewhere with the two kids, fate unknown, but at least we would have known she'd returned to take care of them. Uxbal had given the nanny all that money and i know that he hears the nanny in the hall in his final moments but i'm pretty sure that is him wanting to hear the voice in his mind.
I love ambiguous endings in films, so dont think im someone who wants everything tied up neatly, but it would be heartbreaking to think the nanny went back Senegal with all the money.
I dont think she could have, she had a heart, but then again, she was so used to looking after herself and the baby there was something that told her to take the money and abandon the Uxbal's kids to a life in care. She couldn't, could she?

[–] theevilmonkeycmp3 11 years ago

I didn't feel it was too ambiguous, i do feel she came back because he heard her, she was there, she didn't die so people can't say he heard her ghost, they were just stuck there in that situation and he died laying in bed with his daughter.

One mans wife was another mans slut This has been a MomentofTruth brought to you by TheEvilMonkey.

[–] AllyWheels 11 years ago

It was ambiguous by design, and for what it's worth, I think this was the best way to deal with the end scenes. The viewer is left in a limbo of worry about the fate of the kids etc.

Had we seen Iga enter the apartment we would have experienced a feeling of respite and hope, which would be completely out of tune with the previous 2.5+ hours of unrelenting suffering.

We see the main character hear Iga's voice in the hallway but we never see her.

Also add the statement made by Uxbals police friend, along the lines of "Never rely on a starving (wo)man especially one with starving children"

[–] truditty 8 years ago

I think the ending being the way it is...well, therein lies the sting of dying....it all ends for us when we leave this life...He dies hoping they will be safe and well and cared for...and that is how we are left as well....as the credits roll and we are left not knowing. So yes....in that instant, we feel a bit of what he is feeling as he fades from existence in physical form. There are always unanswered questions left when we die....and I think that is what we are supposed to feel as well......as the story, for us, the viewers, ends.