Despite abandoning the multi-clue narrative this time, the 140-plus minutes felt unbearably tedious, coupled with an unusually heavy tragedy, suffocated by the gloomy atmosphere and death theme throughout.
The director still likes to insert characters of multiple races and languages in the story, but this time it is not the subject of communication. Characters who speak different languages are tangled together by an irreversible tragic fate, a group of ants on the fringes of society, ostracized and forgotten as if they were already doomed. The director's portrayal of such characters is relatively objective and meticulous, although the part involving Chinese people is disturbing, and the design of homosexuality seems too deliberate.
The biggest highlight should be the acting of Cannes actor Javier Bardem, and it is no exaggeration to say that it is his personal show. From the beginning to the end, I could hardly see any trace of his performance. I felt that he was not acting, but experiencing a tragic life. His performance makes me believe that in Spain there are not only painters who are not worried about food and clothing and romantic and romantic like in "Love in Barcelona", but also marginal people like Uxbal who do everything for their livelihood and family.
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