161) BabelDirector: Alejandro Gonzalez InarrituYear: 2006Plot Summary: Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's drama, Babel, is an interesting yet flawed examination of four different families on three different continents connected by the consequences of their actions.
Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Moroccan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. Out of boredom, they decide to test how far their rifle can shoot by firing at a passing bus. The bullet goes farther than they thought it would and it hits an American tourist, Susan, on the coach. Susan and her husband Richard are forced to seek medical assistance in a local village while the Moroccan police search for the culprits. Back home, their babysitter decides to take their children across the border to her son's wedding having unexpectedly been told she must look after them longer than anticipated. Meanwhile, in Japan, the deaf-mute daughter of a Japanese arms dealer searches for human contact despite her disability.
The concept of Babel is a fascinating one exploring how one act of violence, in an instant, ruins the lives of many different people. It is also well constructed as you begin to realise the order in which the events occur. However, the individual stories of these characters really aren't connected by much more than that. Therefore, especially with such a long running time of just over two hours, it's easy to question why exactly we are watching these stories unfold. None of them are held together by one mystery or theme, for example, and instead play out like four short stories that are intertwined. The Japanese segment feels especially redundant as you only see the loose connection to the other events form at the end. Far too little and too late, in my opinion, for it to justify its place in the narrative.
Furthermore, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's work is always so unentertaining making it difficult to re-watch. Of course, the stories of a dying tourist, an illegal immigrant, a deaf-mute looking for a connection and two boys on the run from the police aren't going to create the most exciting of movies. But my issue comes from the fact that there are opportunities of hope in Babel: The father's love for his daughter in Japan, the determination of Brad Pitt in helping Cate Blanchett to safety, etc. Yet, Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga focus so heavily on the darkness and the despair. As the final scene fades you can't help but feel anything other than depressed and empty.
Nevertheless, despite the fact that the actual storytelling is pretty average, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's filmmaking is worthy of praise. He gives each location and story a very distinctive feel, his direction is very forward and honest rather than enhanced by meaningless stylistic devices and he says a lot more through his visuals than he does his script. It's also got an ensemble of spectacular performances, especially Adriana Barraza as Amelia and Brad Pitt as Richard.
3/5
3 comments:
I absolutely love this film and have done ever since I saw it in the cinema and don't really understand how people hate it so much. Maybe I like unresolved depression because it's true (like Leigh films)? Either way, I find this a thoroughly enthralling and fascinating film that unlike you, I do feel those last moments.
I think I remember seeing this in your top 100.
Depressing films don't really both me too much - like you said, it's real - but it's just when they indulge in the self-pity when there is room for other emotions that I feel put off.
Something like The Pianist, for example, is fine because its from the perspective of someone who really suffered at the hands of the Nazis. So, I accept that it's not going to have any uplifting features. But, with Babel, there's so much possibility of hope and yet Innaritu seems to only focus on the dying, getting stranded, longing for connection, etc.
Plus, I just think so much of it is pointless to the overall theme.
But I've seen a fair share of spectacular reviews so I realise there's something people see in it that I don't.
Haha, I don't want to suggest I like depressing stuff for the sake of being depressing. Maybe I should rewatch so I can properly articulate what I like about it. I know I think it's beautiful, visually and audibly.
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