In the swaggering, maximalist cinema of Alejandro I帽谩rritu, I帽谩rritu has, himself, never been all that far off the screen.
Since his blistering debut in 鈥淎mores Perros鈥� to his seamless, surrealistic 鈥淏irdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),鈥� I帽谩rritu鈥檚 showman-like presence has been easy to feel prodding and propelling the picture along in a ravenous hunt for transcendent images and spiritual epiphany.
In I帽谩rritu has turned within with just as much zeal as he brought to a bear fight in 鈥淭he Revenant.鈥� As with all of I帽谩rritu鈥檚 films, 鈥淏ardo鈥� isn鈥檛 just deeply felt but impassioned to the max, with grand designs to not just plunge into his own soul but that of Mexico, too. For a filmmaker always pushing for more 鈥� including those titles that stretch on and on 鈥� 鈥淏ardo鈥� is his most ambitious and indulgent film yet.
鈥淏ardo,鈥� which has been trimmed since but still runs more than 2 1/2-hours, is I帽谩rritu鈥檚 stab at a familiar kind of auteur magnum-opus project: the movie memoir. Like Fellini鈥檚 鈥�8 1/2,鈥� it takes a tragicomic, circus-like approach in presenting the life of I帽谩rritu鈥檚 alter ego, a famous documentary filmmaker named Silverio (Daniel Gim茅nez Cacho).
And while there are many dazzling moments to I帽谩rritu鈥檚 extravagant, fictionalized autobiography, it鈥檚 also tiresomely focused on no one but Silverio. For all its freewheeling surrealism 鈥� one scene puts the conquistador Hern谩n Cort茅s atop a pyramid of naked human corpses 鈥� 鈥淏ardo鈥� is too self-obsessed to be much distracted by anything but Silverio鈥檚 mid-life worries: his mortality, his success, his family. Characters 鈥� including his wife, Luc铆a (Griselda Siciliani), and children, (脥ker S谩nchez Solano, Ximena Lamadrid) 鈥� pass by more like props to his existential journey.
When such inward-looking films work, I think, they鈥檙e filled with observations and portraits not just of the artist. Alfonso Cuar贸n鈥檚 鈥淩oma,鈥� which shares 鈥淏ardo鈥� production designer Eugenio Caballero in common, turned, really, on the housekeeper (Yalitza Aparicio). In Terrence Malick鈥檚 鈥淭ree of Life,鈥� it鈥檚 the parents (Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain) that glow. Even in James Gray鈥檚 just-released 鈥淎rmageddon Time,鈥� which, like 鈥淏ardo,鈥� was shot by cinematographer Darius Khondji, the focus is less on Gray as a young boy than on his family and classmates. For these filmmakers and many more, the self is less a protagonist than a prism 鈥� a starting gate not a finish line.
Unlike those films, I帽谩rritu鈥檚 self-portrait lives less in memory and more in the present 鈥� albeit a present peopled by ghosts. The film opens with the arresting image of a man鈥檚 long, thin shadow on barren plains. He鈥檚 walking then running and then with a skyward leap lifted 鈥� like Birdman or the opening dream sequence of 鈥�8 1/2鈥� 鈥� aloft. After the process repeats, he鈥檚 soaring above the desert when the film properly starts. Did he ever come down? Does he want to?
A similar question hovers over the film鈥檚 first proper scene. Silverio and his wife give birth to a baby, Mateo, who the doctors report would rather go back into the womb. The world鈥檚 too messed up, Mateo informs the doctors. Satirical news reports on television in coming scenes suggest the newborn has a point. Amazon, we overhear, is purchasing the Baja Peninsula.
Like passageways of thought, corridors and hallways crowd the early sections of 鈥淏ardo." (It opens in theaters Friday and debuts next month on Netflix.) 鈥淟ife is nothing but a series of senseless events and idiotic images,鈥� Silverio says, explicitly stating not just a guiding principle of I帽谩rritu鈥檚 films but the overarching architecture of 鈥淏ardo,鈥� a fantasia that flits between fantasy and reality. In one scene, a conversation between Silverio and an American politician that turns to the Mexican-American War, they're surrounded by 19th century soldiers acting out a battle.
鈥淏ardo鈥� is I帽谩rritu鈥檚 first film made largely in Mexico since 2000's 鈥淎mores Perros." It's a homecoming, and one very much invested in what it means for one of Mexico's most famous Hollywood filmmakers to return home. A prestigious award awaits Silvio (I帽谩rritu, a filmmaker of assertive virtuosity, is coming off back-to-back best director Oscars) but he's plagued by feelings of guilt for finding fame in Los Angeles. This is especially debated with a former colleague, a TV host who accuses him of being a pretentious sellout and criticizes him for profiting on the pain of undocumented immigrants. (I帽谩rritu, himself, made that put the viewer within a migrant experience.)
But how much sympathy can we muster for a wealthy, celebrated filmmaker on holiday? It's hard not to roll your eyes when Silverio says things like, 鈥淪uccess has been my biggest failure." The award ceremony scenes make up the largest section of the film, and I鈥檓 not sure why. Much comes across as a superficial spectacle of self-doubt. I liked 鈥淏ardo鈥� more as a drama of dislocation, as an immigrant tale where no place, really, is home, anymore. There are a few scenes here that feel directly taken from I帽谩rritu's subconscious. That ego gets in the way of insight is one of the subjects of 鈥淏ardo," but also, maybe, its undoing.
鈥淏ardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,鈥� a Netflix release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for language throughout, strong sexual content and graphic nudity. Running time: 157 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
