Javier Bardem

I’m glad that Javier Bardem received recognition for No Country for Old Men even if I thought it was one of his weaker roles, and would go so far as to say he was miscast. That being said, after seeing a few more of his films, few actors could match his range. I say this on the basis of having seen not only his most recent Vicky Christina Barcelona but also Goya’s Ghosts, The Sea Inside and Before Night Falls.

(My appreciation comes late and was not particularly twigged with his role in Jamon Jamon: A Tale of Ham and Passion, though the title is almost worth the admission…had to see that having just come back from Madrid and various ham emporia, and the first hand knowledge of the Iberian love of the pig on the plate).

Goya’s Ghosts

In Goya’s Ghosts, Bardem plays a priest who under duress abandons the Spanish Inquisition, running off to France and returning with the French invaders. It gets much more complicated than that. He plays someone who comes to enlightment but attains amorality in the bargain. He’s good but a real pleasure here is the oddity of Stellan Skarsgaard as Goya (I think he does well but its kind of like Sean Connery where he is always Sean Connery; I do have a great deal of respect for Skarsgaard and found him to be astonishingly visceral and brutally charismatic in King Arthur). And Nathalie Portman.

The intriguing thing about Portman’s role as as a young girl taken by the Inquisition and imprisoned for years is that when she is finally out, wandering destitute, her family slaughtered by the same forces that liberated her, is that she remains somewhat disfigured by her time there.

In near any Hollywood film she would have been cleaned up, her teeth fixed, but she wanders the rest of the film, a slovenly shamble.

The Sea Inside

The Sea Inside is similar to Diving Bell and Butterfly with a bedridden main character. Bardem plays a man who has been paralyzed for decades and petitions the state for the right to die. Its a true story and the rendition is both moving and unsentimental. This is a man who was loved, who entertained those around him, who was essentially cheerful but never lost the desire to lose the burden of his life.

If you get the dvd, check the extras for interviews with Bardem on his preparation for the role, and the details of the filming process, the work to keep dynamic a film about someone lying around in bed. They succeeded in creating a lively film which did not shut out the world.

Before Night Falls

In Before Night Falls,  Bardem plays the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas. Its based on his memoir of the same title, and this film together with these others is what for me cemented my feeling that Bardem is one of the great actors of our time.

The story is about a gay artist in revolutionary Cuba who finally makes his way to New York City. Its a film about the losing and gaining of liberties, of life under oppression, of unfairness yet interwoven with moments of true joy. But Bardem does seem to get more than his share of death scenes; there are more than a few correspondences between this and Sea Inside. I wouldn’t recommend watching them on the same night.

Julian Schnabel who also directed Diving Bell and Butterfly helmed this film and its incredible that an American director could have made that film and this. This film, which is one of the most beautiful and authentic films I have ever seen, is also utterly Latin American. It has occasional elements of the documentary, and just seems to revel in the scenes of Cuba in a way that feels indigenous. This film is, as they say, a revelation.

Now I have to go back and see Bardem in Collateral again (and I do not mind that at all), as well as hunting down the Schnabels I haven’t seen yet.

And finally, I had the sudden thought that Bardem would be perfect to play Buster Keaton.  Why has there not been a biopic of this man?

I would also like to put in my vote for Bardem to play the next Bond villain.  Now that Bond has become the rational and cold part of the equation, the villains can be the lively ones, ergo Bardem.  (My first choice was Juan Valdez but I understand that he has retired from acting).

Previous ruminations on Bardem
Vicky Christina Barcelona
Books, happiness, learning Spanish and bad haircuts