Babel

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.

This is a highly intelligent, deeply affecting film. Shot in documentary style, it offers the realism of unforced observation, yet it is brilliantly arranged and choreographed. Innaritu has achieved actors' performances which appear absolutely natural, and understated, and which give their characters enormous dignity. The result is so accomplished that the unfolding story audience is totally absorbing.

A sequence of events is set off by an accident when two brothers are arguing over the distance a rifle can fire; they hit a tour bus. The introduction of the rifle into the Moroccan community suggests corruption of a way of life, and the film shows how far-reaching are the repercussions of this mishap. Innaritu plays with timing and fate, guns and panic. People are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and characters respond differently when under pressure. Only the Englishman is unsympathetically portrayed, when his fear and suspicion overcome any compassion. Social divides and the difficulty of communicating effectively and clearly create a remoteness which is emotional not geographical, but this disconnectedness is not alienating; the audience seems to be willing the characters towards resolution, reconciliation and trust.

Innaritu tackles grief, adolescence, the loss of innocence, and family relationships, but the central theme is dislocation, and its accompanying alienation, misunderstanding and incomprehension, between people and between cultures. Individuals are apart from their countries, are unable to communicate with those they most love, are at odds with authority, and are utterly understandable and recognisable. Babel provides a huge range of characters from a wide world, yet we can identify with each and every one, with their desires and their frustrations. The effect is intensely powerful, utterly compelling and a triumph of storytelling. Flawless.

It left me wondering what the point of it all was. I can't understand why anyone would have this idea and then actually write a whole screenplay for it. Like I said, each story was fair enough but none of them really combined at any point, so it was like...why? What was the reason for making this film? I'm afraid it just came across as being an excuse for some nice direction and use of different cultures and places without any real substance behind it.

I'm amazed that it has received any Oscar nominations, never mind the number that it actually has!

General verdict - mediocre.