Directed by:
Alejandro González IñárrituScreenplay:
Guillermo ArriagaCinematography:
Rodrigo PrietoComposer:
Gustavo SantaolallaCast:
Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Peter Wight, Harriet Walter, Trevor Martin, Matyelok Gibbs, André Oumansky, John O'Mahony, Adriana Barraza, Elle Fanning (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out - detonating a chain of events around the world that will link an American tourist couple's (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. Separated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, each of these four disparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling towards a shared destiny of isolation and grief. (Umbrella Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
Alejandro González Iñárritu has reached the zenith of his mosaic-laden journey. I would like to say that he took the best from Amores Perros and 21 Grams and combined them together, but that is not the case. Still, Babel remains the director's best work. He managed to avoid a bit of the unfortunate confusion from his previous film, endowed all the storylines with emotional richness, and mixed everything in a way that I could barely catch my breath right from the first second, for over two hours. And it wouldn't be Iñárritu if there wasn't some message present in his film. Babel almost screams for humanity, solidarity, and help, which in some moments brings tears to the viewer's eyes, and in others simply pins them to their seats.
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For me, this film by Alejandro González Iñárritu is right between Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Once again, the director relies on several stories in which the characters' fates intertwine more than one would expect. And he does it that again, but, unlike 21 Grams, where I liked all the stories, the one with the Japanese girl didn't really fit. I had the same dilemma with Amores Perros, where I knocked 1* off the rating because of the hysterical ex-model. Half of the film is based on an excellent sequence of images, accompanied by a wonderful score (deserved Oscar!), often better than the redundant and boring script. As for the acting, I was most impressed with Adriana Barraza and (despite my issues with her story) Rinko Kikuchi. The rest of the cast was also good, but these two performances just stood out. So, I would like to say that Babel is a film that is definitely not lacking in quality. Its weakness may have been its running time, but that's up to each individual. I probably wouldn't watch it a second time, but who knows? All in all, a better 4*.
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Iñarritu abandons the time fragmentation of 21 Grams and, as in his first film, tells several intertwining stories. The Mexican episode is probably the weakest, with relatively little emotional impact, while the Japanese one seems to have fallen out of another film, but thanks to the likeable lead actress it’s one of the most enjoyable. Great emotions take place in Morocco, with the story of a shepherd and his sons that escalates with great urgency at the end, while the fate of the injured American woman is gripping in places thanks to the great performances of the central duo Pitt – Blanchett, whose circumstantially forced intimate moments are among the film's strongest. The Moroccan episodes are clearly worth 5*, the other two 3*, but if I had to compare, Iñárritu's previous 21 Grams had much more emotional charge overall, at least for me.
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An ambitious shot in the dark. It has some moral ideas, but they’re wrapped in an insanely lengthy filler that pretends to be an artistic rebellion against the traditional narrative, but it's just a few classically punctuated episodes in an aimless structure. The actors are excellent and some scenes are very strong, but that's not enough. 2 ½*.
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Director Inarritu once again moves in a terrain he knows intimately, bringing several parallel storylines to the screen, which intersect at a certain point and with certain characters. He once again delivers heightened emotions, moral conflicts, clashes of values, and cruel dramas. This time, he also seeks to explore various cultures in a globalized world. Only the story from Tokyo didn't fit into the whole, although I understand that Inarritu couldn't resist incorporating into his film a panoramic shot of Tokyo illuminated by neon lights and thousands of bulbs. This section of the film reminded me more of Atom Egoyan's productions and deserves its own film. Overall, it seemed to me that, unlike his debut film Amores Perros, this film contains less energy and leans more toward beautiful camera shots capturing the rocky Sahara, wedding celebrations in Mexico, or the Nevada desert. However, it is such a visually mesmerizing spectacle that I have no problem awarding it five stars. Inarritu is one of the most talented directors of our time. Overall impression: 90%.
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