In “Biutiful” (2010), director Alejandro González Iñárritu proves masterful once again at capturing human drama, revisiting themes from his previous effort, the critically acclaimed “Babel” (2006), and eliciting a haunting performance from Javier Bardem as Uxbal, an underworld figure seeking redemption for himself as well as the recently departed.

Set within the dark, gritty underworld of Barcelona (the dead giveaway is a momentary shot of Gaudí’s Sagrada Família from afar), “Biutiful” is in many ways a continuation of “Babel,” creating a narrative founded upon death, (mis)communication, family and globalization. But whereas “Babel” was split across the globe, with the characters only connecting tangentially, “Biutiful” remains rooted in Spain. Uxbal, a middleman of sorts when it comes to counterfeit goods and exploiting immigrant labor, must deal with illegal aliens from Senegal and China, all of whom are driven by greed. Money is what holds their tenuous lives together, and yet all the while threatens to destroy them.

Bardem, sporting a coif only marginally better than the one he wore in the Coen brothers’ “No Country for Old Men” (2007), captivates as a dying man trying to settle his scores before leaving this life for the next. We watch as Uxbal struggles to hold his family together, making ends meet, while trying hard not to completely rip off his foreign clients, for whom he maintains a great tenderness despite his constant demands and threats. In addition to his duties of fatherhood, collecting payouts and bribing local police, Uxbal also acts as a speaker for the dead: laying a cool hand on the foreheads of the recently embalmed, absorbing their last thoughts and speaking with their families so that they can part on peaceful terms.

This touch of magic realism is new for Iñárritu, whose signature style was formerly one of shocking authenticity. However, the spirituality of “Biutiful” is never fully explored nor explained — a slight disappointment because at two and a half hours, there is ample time. As engrossing as Uxbal’s journey is, the film occasionally loses its pull, lapsing into a melancholic cycle to which there is no apparent end. Money is glorified as the saving grace, but in the cruel world of “Biutiful,” there is never enough to go around, and when there is, it usually stays in the hands of the least deserving.

But as polemical as Barcelona may be, Iñárritu saves it from self-righteous politicization by complicating the lives of the immigrants. Rather than simply portraying them as the poor disadvantaged, he incorporates real human drama into their stories. Set against this backdrop of survival in a new place, there is a family rocked by a father’s deportation, a patriarch dealing with the advances of a male co-worker and a young mother coping with unbearable work conditions. In the end, it is a tale of human endurance and not of racism, corruption or any other concern that rears its head during the course of the film.

Again collaborating with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, “Biutiful” is both vibrant and realistic, at times achieving an almost documentary-like feel as the camera follows Uxbal through the narrow streets of Barcelona and into the modest, decrepit apartment he shares with his two young children. This raw quality is what hooks the viewer in and may leave him wanting when the credits roll and ambiguity remains. Redemption only exists in dreams, it seems to suggest, while in life the most one can hope for is forgiveness.

rating: 7/10