The greatest movie that will ever be made about existential doubt from a creative mind is Frederico Fellini’s 8 1/2. While self-indulgent a bit, that movie is more interested in the gridlock that can form in a mind filled with ideas and no idea what to do with them. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has a right to be feeling himself a bit, winning back to back Best Director Oscars in the 2010s. That kind of hubris led him to Bardo, a movie more interested in Inarritu’s hang ups than creative hang ups generally, and thinks it’s in 8 1/2’s league. Thinks…
The Inarritu stand in is Silverio Gama (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), a celebrated documentarian from Mexico. He now lives in the California with his wife Lucia (Griselda Siciliani), and his mostly American children teenager Lorenzo (Iker Sanchez Solano) and adult Camila (Ximena Lamadrid), now in Boston. About to receive a prestigious award, Inarritu, er, Silvio goes through his life moments as well as several creative endeavors to come to terms with what his life has become today.
Plenty of directors make movies about themselves, especially very recently. But at least those movies (Roma, Belfast, The Fabelmans) find ways to generally tell the story to not come off extremely narcissistic. Inarritu shows no such concern, making Bardo about his current predicaments. I’ll give Inarritu this, at least he has a LOT of things he’s working through, hopefully making it possible for people to relate to him in little chunks. But, dealing with the fact that you’re being used as a cultural pawn in a political war? Worrying about your rich kids growing up too American and not Mexican enough? Fretting over TV appearances? Hernando Cortes historical inaccuaracies? If audiences aren’t eye rolling through Bardo, they’re definitely just checking out what else is on Netflix, because these condescending issues come up repeatedly and continuously for almost 3 hours, assaulting your senses in sometimes insufferable ways.
Thankfully Inarritu the director saves Inarritu the film subject a bit. Bardo certainly is weird, but if you’re paying attention, the movie has a kinetic energy that certainly kept me engaged. Whether it be a TV audience, a family fight, or an awards afterparty, there movie serves as its own hype man, bombarding the audience with movement and emotion. The camera is always moving in strange new ways to help the audience transition from one scene to the next. The set design is superb, conveying 1000 words of creative turmoil better than any monologue. And when all else fails, there’s some shock and awe in here too. Plus, the actors really give it their all, and commit fully to the most insane lunacy and the most intimate feelings equally well. I imagine if you’re going into Bardo not knowing it’s about a real person, or you’re super duper high, the movie might be a hell of an experience.
In this case, Alejandro Inarritu, I don’t think you needed to make Bardo to get through your rut. You’ve got two of the greatest filmmakers of all time as buddies, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron. Use them! Set aside your ego, and work together. Remember when Spielberg and George Lucas did? You can have your version of Raiders of the Lost Ark!