BABEL

So much has been the hype of this movie, and for no small reason too, i guess. Frankly I've never seen this movie at all, why not even a single clip of it! Came to know about it only a few weeks before Cannes came along. I thought that perhaps this nice review written by Allan Hunter from Cannes itself will give us some insight into this top-of-my-hot-list movie. And oh, music in this one is composed by Santaolalla. This gentleman from Argentina has established himself in the top for good. I guess the film authorities in India are too busy with their da vinci protests and sucking up to our bollywood (and every other somethingwood, wonder how many there actually are!) nonsense, to even consider screening such works of creativity here in these parts. I guess i'll find a dvd, or get help from my faithful torrent community.
A single gun shot reverberates around the world in Babel, unexpectedly uniting disparate lives in Morocco, Mexico and Japan. The third collaboration between director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga initially seems to lack the bravura edge of Cannes discovery Amores Perros or the soulful intensity of 21 Grams but it matures into a melancholy meditation on the way in which humanity is one species divided by misunderstanding, prejudice and fear. In its best moments, this fatalistic, multi-story narrative is reminiscent of Kieslowski's Three Colours Trilogy although the film's over-ambitious reach sometimes exceeds its grasp. Critical acclaim, the drawing power of the cast and the Inarritu/Arriaga track record should combine to make this a surefire attraction for upscale arthouse audiences. The random consequences of one foolish action underpin the jigsaw puzzle structure of Babel which places less emphasis on juggling time and chronology than previous collaborations. In a remote area of the Moroccan desert, two young brothers compete to show their prowess with a newly acquired rifle. The younger brother fires at a bus inadvertently wounding American tourist Susan (Cate Blanchett). Her subsquent ordeal means that back home in American, her nanny Amelia (Adriana Barraza) is left with responsibility for Susan's two children on the very day of her own son's wedding in Mexico. She decides to take the children with her driving across the border with her nephew Santiago (Gael Garcia Bernal). Meanwhile in Tokyo, deaf, mute girl Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is to discover that she is also connected to an escalating tragedy that the world's media rushes to report as an act of terrorism. Working on many different levels, Babel is a film about the sense of loneliness and isolation that can exist anywhere in the world from a distant desert village to the middle of a teeming modern city. It is about the difficulty we have in expressing who we are and what we want. It is about the fear of other cultures, the suspicion of the unknown, the power that the haves exert over the have-nots, the legacy of imperialist assumptions, the bonds between parents and children, the kindness of strangers and the selfishness of those who refuse to see beyond their own needs. It is only one film and its wide-ranging dissection of the human condition threatens to become overwhelming. Unusually for these two collaborators, their promiscuous curiosity also creates problems within the film's structure. We become completely involved in the moment only to have the focus shift elsewhere. When Susan's husband Richard (Brad Pitt) struggles to find her help we want to stay with them and discover what happens rather than returning to Mexico or Tokyo. When Amelia and Santiago are confronted by hostile border patrol guards we need to follow that path. We never do learn what happens to Santiago and the Tokyo story feels the most tenuous. Using a range of film stocks, cinematographer Roderigo Prieto has created a film of great visual beauty that underlines the separate cultures of each setting. The sleek city lights and oppressive crowds in Tokyo are contrasted with the vibrancy of Mexico where the young Mike (Nathan Gamble) watches in horror as Santiago rips a head from a live chicken in preparation for the wedding feast. The local children don't bat an eye. The varied score from Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain composer Gustavo Santaolalla also helps differentiate the moods of each locale and proves a unifying force in the emotional impact of the film as all the global connections are made and the film becomes increasingly bittersweet and rueful. 21 Grams earned Oscar nominations for Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro and there are some equally noteworthy performances in Babel, especially from Cate Blanchett who brings raw emotion to a character already deeply wounded before the gunshot is even fired, and from Adriana Barraza as a woman whose road to hell is paved with good intentions. Faced with a more demanding role than the pretty boy nonchalance required for a Mr & Mrs Smith or an Ocean's Eleven caper, a grey-haired, bearded Brad Pitt doesn't disappoint in a convincing performance fuelled by a barely suppressed anger and frustration that are unleashed in a heated flare-up with a fellow tourist and a tender telephone scene with his distant son. It is those kind of emotional depths in Babel that should unite viewers to its cause.

Director/Producer: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga

Producers: Jon Kilik Steve Golin

Music: Gustavo Santaolalla

Main cast:
Brad Pitt
Cate Blanchett
Gael Garcia Bernal
Koji Yakusho
Adriana Barraza
Rinko Kikuchi
Elle Fanning

further reviews: http://www.cinematical.com/2006/05/24/cannes-review-babel/ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14936-2194146,00.html http://www.plume-noire.com/movies/reviews/babel.html