babel review

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Average Ratings

Value for Money	8.3/10
Overall rating	7.8/10

50% Recommended2 out of 4 Reviews

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By Timix1 on 18th May 2007

Timix1's Ratings

Starring Actor/Actress	Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal
Where Did You See It?	Cinema
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	10/10
Timix1's recommendation

Good Points

Gripping international drama boasting stunning performances from marquee names and unknown actors alike, gorgeous cinematography and thoughtful scoring.

Bad Points

General Comments

Juggling four interconnected subplots with slightly staggered timelines in one movie is no small accomplishment, so director Alejandro Gonz lez I rritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga deserves credit just for giving it a shot even if the finished product had proven to be a complete mess. Mind you, the twosome workshopped these same elements with great success on their previous collaborations, AMORES PERROS and 21 GRAMS. The intense, stunningly ambitious BABEL, however, belongs in a league all its own. Of the 100+ films that I watched last year, no other movie dared to aim as high, and the end result is a bold, mesmerizing ensemble piece that stands out as my favourite film of 2006.

Thankfully for I rritu, his task is made far easier by a carefully chosen cast that combines famous faces with unknown actors. The marquee names - Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, a never-better Brad Pitt - all deliver solid performances yet find themselves largely upstaged by both Adriana Barraza as a dutiful nanny returning to her native Mexico for her son's wedding, and especially young Rinko Kikuchi as a lonely Japanese deaf-mute exploring her burgeoning sexuality (both ladies earned richly-deserved Oscar nominations for their work here).

Though separated by three continents and four languages, the multitude of characters are connected not only by circumstance but also misunderstandings that highlight just how important the simple act of listening can be. At a time in our history when common ground between (and tolerance for) differing religious and political viewpoints are in critically short supply, BABEL's underlying message is one of empathy for others; within its personalized tales of loss, tragedy and miscommunication, the film warns us - without the overwrought preachiness of 2005's CRASH, mind you - of the dangers inherent with turning a blind eye to the people around us. Despite the script's intrinsic globetrotting, the individual tales all squarely focus their attention on their respective characters, making their plights eminently relatable in a way that transcends language or geography. In lesser hands, a movie like this could easily come off as pretentious and convoluted. In my book, BABEL is an absorbing, often moving drama that proves to be far greater than the sum of its considerable parts.

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