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Brad Pitt,
Brad Pitt,
Cate Blanchett,
more...
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Alejandro González Iñárritu,
Alejandro González Iñárritu
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: Paramount
: Drama, Suspense/Thriller
: 143 min.
: English, French
: English, Spanish
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The tragic aftermath of human carelessness travels around the world in this multi-narrative drama from filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu. Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett) are a couple from the United States who have traveled to Morocco in Northern Africa on a vacation after the death of one of their children has sent Susan into a deep depression. Richard and Susan's other two children have been left in the care of Amelia (Adriana Barraza), their housekeeper. Amelia is originally from Mexico, and her oldest son is getting married in Tijuana. Unable to find someone who can watch the kids, or to obtain permission to take the day off, Amelia takes the children with her as she travels across the border for the celebration. Around the same time, in Morocco a poor farmer buys a hunting rifle, and he gives it to his sons to scare off the predatory animals that have been thinning out their goat herd. The boys decide to test the weapon's range by shooting at a bus far away; the shot hits Susan in the shoulder, and soon she's bleeding severely, while police are convinced the attack is the work of terrorists. In Japan, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is a teenage deaf-mute whose mother recently committed suicide. This despairing, confused girl experiences such rage and frustration that she causes her volleyball team to lose a match, and later yanks her underwear off and begins exposing herself to boys in a crowded restaurant. Chieko's father then struggles to reach past the emotional distance which separates him and his daughter. Babel earned Alejandro González Iñárritu the prize for Best Director at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Mainstream but worth seeing
by SBarnett
June 14, 2007 - 2:53 PM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| Less challenging than "Amores perros" and less focused than "21 Grams," "Babel" is nonetheless a film worth seeing. The scenes in Mexico are a refreshing perspective on the current immigration debate and also treat us to Gael Garcia Bernal playing a minor character with gusto. The film probably tries to do too much--it tackles immigration, terrorism, deaf culture, media globalization, failure to communicate in marriage, family dysfunction, depression, suicide...it's no wonder that so many of the secondary characters threaten to take over the picture from Pitt and Blanchett, whose characters never manage to engage our sympathy as much as they should. The film left me with a gentle sadness, a feeling of "Why can't we just try to take care of each other?"--not a bad thing, but I expected more. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.62)
120 Votes
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