Biutiful

How this film uses it

Uxbal's diagnosis makes time visible. He stops chemotherapy and tries to set things right for his children before he dies. What he cares about changes as the end gets closer.

Where to see it

Diagnosis: Uxbal is diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer with only a few months to live. Bea gives him two black stones to give his children before he dies.

How this film uses it

Uxbal is haunted by the harm his choices cause. He feels responsible for the expulsion of the Senegalese and the deaths of the Chinese workers. Guilt shapes the way he spends his last weeks.

Where to see it

Gas heaters: the cheap gas heaters Uxbal bought for the Chinese workers are unsafe, and almost all of them die in the night from carbon monoxide poisoning.

How this film uses it

Uxbal speaks to the dead as part of his work. The film plays these scenes straight, without winks or explanations. They sit beside the money, the police and the bills as ordinary parts of his world.

Where to see it

Medium work: Uxbal earns money as a medium to the dead, passing on messages from the recently deceased at wakes and funerals.

How this film uses it

A ring and two stones carry the love Uxbal cannot say. He hands objects to his children as his last gifts. They make an unspoken goodbye physical.

Where to see it

Ring: just before he dies, Uxbal gives Ana a diamond ring his father once gave to his mother. He lies down beside her and dies.

How this film uses it

The film shows a Barcelona of cramped flats, forged goods, street vendors and construction sites. Uxbal fixes work for immigrants who live in the city's shadows. The places show what people must do to survive.

Where to see it

Uxbal's world: he lives in a shabby apartment with his children and arranges work for Chinese illegal immigrants who make forged designer goods that African vendors sell.