Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu brought in Amores Perros (Love's A Bitch) the story of love and doom. In 21 Grams, he perfected a magnum opus about the price and weight of death. And in his latest film, the third and probably the last of his trilogy about culture-clash connections, Babel is an un-biblical tale about the sense of understanding and misunderstanding in a global scale. While entitled the same as in the Bible's, it's not about people trying to build a tower that would reach the heavens nor a world that has a common language and inimitably understanding each other's speech. It's set in the modern day of pathos, billions of years later since God scattered the humans with different tongues, about Moroccan sheep herders, American tourists, an illegal Mexican immigrant working as a nanny in California, and a deaf-mute Japanese girl. All these different people had their own stories but somehow connected to each other in a way that all of them were seeking for a place to be understood. Consider it the new Crash, but on an international scale. It's not better than 21 Grams, but bleming hell, it's as powerful, as convincing, as emotionally heart-wrenching. This is filmmaking at it's finest and it's message to humanity is priceless and uncompromising.As being said, Babel contains a mingle of stories. First, we are presented with two young Moroccan sheepherders who plays with their rifle and deliberately shoots a tourist bus for experiment. In a fine sequence, we don't expect the bus to stop, but it did. Hours before, Richard (Brad Pitt) along with his wife Susan (Cate Blanchett), an American couple who's having a vacation in Morocco, had a stifled argument about the safety of water in the country, telling us that they're a couple trying to grapple with their relationship and communication with each other. While they were riding the tour bus, Susan was the one who was hit by the rifle. This accident stirred an echo around the world, affecting the Mexican nanny in San Diego, California, Amelia (played by Adriana Barraza), the one who's taking care of Richard and Susan's children. Her son is about to be wed and she doesn't know where to leave the children while their parents are away to Morocco. She couldn't afford to miss it and rather daftly, she takes them with her along with her nephew played by Gael Garcia Bernal. They had fun, they partied, they drank booze and drove home rather drunk. They caught the border security's attention and she was forced to flee with the children on a desert.
Thousands of miles away, in Japan, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is an emotionally troubled teenager wanting to belong among her peers and live up to their expectations. She is deaf and mute and only lives to read other people's lips. While her hormones are wanting to get her rid of her virginity, she is shunned away by the boys and being pushed and laughed at. Even though she has friends with her, she feels out of place, misunderstood and forsaken.
Here is what Babel is forceful about: it shows a series of stories, somehow related, yet trying to fit a jigsaw puzzle that we all humans must understand in a world that is lack of understanding. Forget Amores Perros, forget 21 Grams, forget Crash for now. Put Babel in your mind. It's an original film on its own right. It's a brilliant film, a rare piece of gem that's supposed to be treasured. Innaritu, here, crafts a solid stand in the middle of a world crisis. He uses his own themes and techniques to carefully balance his forte, showing scenes that are raw yet mastered.
Also, it's an acting film. Everyone here delivered top-notch performances. Brad Pitt, who's underwhelmed by his former acting career, may be at his most summit because this is Pitt's FINEST FILM PERFORMANCE. Mind if i caps lock that. While he is growing old, and sure looks much older in his character of Richard, he shows his inner strength as an actor and flexes his capability of actually acting. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film was when he trying to tell off his other co-tourists in the bus to not leave them while Susan was waiting for medical help from the embassy. You could see a man trying to seek for understanding, a man terrified to be stuck in country where no one speaks his language yet at the same time trying to hold on for his ill wife. Also the scene where he was talking on the phone with his children, it was just emotionally exhausting. Shame the Oscars snubbed Brad Pitt with his performance here as he deserved even a nomination for it. Cate Blanchett was amazing as usual, and her role as Susan would really seethe into your skin. She's also a misunderstood woman who couldn't wait to be home yet stuck in an alien country with a bullet in her shoulder. Adriana Barraza just received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work her as the illegal Mexican nanny. One of the best scenes in the film was when she was seeking for help in the desert, and when she was seen the police, she was considered as a prime suspect, not a nanny trying to save the lives of the two children she was given responsibilities of. Rinko Kikuchi, who's very unknown to me, played the deaf-mute Japanes teenager Chieko and she played it brilliantly. She delivers one of the best performances in a movie this year and man, does she deserves recognition. She might be a beginner and thank God she just received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. How is cool is that? One great scene was when she entered a disco club along with her friends. The scenes involved Chieko trying to grasp her way into the crowd yet couldn't hear the music playing. She feels lost in her own existence. She gave Chieko a multi-dimensional finish that is splendid, shocking, humorous and at the same time, moving - and you could really feel the frustration, the anger, the desperation for human contact and the doom of alienation in her situation. I must admit she had somehow overshadowed everyone in this film by her astounding performance that leaves us emotionally involved and empathetic. She's a girl misunderstood by her own peers and the final scene where the camera cranes back away from the emotionally, mentally and physically naked Chieko hugging her father, crying, away from the buildings of Tokyo in a night is absolutely haunting and justified. Although it wasn't really explained how closely related she was in the story, your feeling for sympathy for the characters will help you understand how misunderstood these people are in the world that they live in.
Also, it's an acting film. Everyone here delivered top-notch performances. Brad Pitt, who's underwhelmed by his former acting career, may be at his most summit because this is Pitt's FINEST FILM PERFORMANCE. Mind if i caps lock that. While he is growing old, and sure looks much older in his character of Richard, he shows his inner strength as an actor and flexes his capability of actually acting. One of the most heartbreaking scenes in the film was when he trying to tell off his other co-tourists in the bus to not leave them while Susan was waiting for medical help from the embassy. You could see a man trying to seek for understanding, a man terrified to be stuck in country where no one speaks his language yet at the same time trying to hold on for his ill wife. Also the scene where he was talking on the phone with his children, it was just emotionally exhausting. Shame the Oscars snubbed Brad Pitt with his performance here as he deserved even a nomination for it. Cate Blanchett was amazing as usual, and her role as Susan would really seethe into your skin. She's also a misunderstood woman who couldn't wait to be home yet stuck in an alien country with a bullet in her shoulder. Adriana Barraza just received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her work her as the illegal Mexican nanny. One of the best scenes in the film was when she was seeking for help in the desert, and when she was seen the police, she was considered as a prime suspect, not a nanny trying to save the lives of the two children she was given responsibilities of. Rinko Kikuchi, who's very unknown to me, played the deaf-mute Japanes teenager Chieko and she played it brilliantly. She delivers one of the best performances in a movie this year and man, does she deserves recognition. She might be a beginner and thank God she just received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. How is cool is that? One great scene was when she entered a disco club along with her friends. The scenes involved Chieko trying to grasp her way into the crowd yet couldn't hear the music playing. She feels lost in her own existence. She gave Chieko a multi-dimensional finish that is splendid, shocking, humorous and at the same time, moving - and you could really feel the frustration, the anger, the desperation for human contact and the doom of alienation in her situation. I must admit she had somehow overshadowed everyone in this film by her astounding performance that leaves us emotionally involved and empathetic. She's a girl misunderstood by her own peers and the final scene where the camera cranes back away from the emotionally, mentally and physically naked Chieko hugging her father, crying, away from the buildings of Tokyo in a night is absolutely haunting and justified. Although it wasn't really explained how closely related she was in the story, your feeling for sympathy for the characters will help you understand how misunderstood these people are in the world that they live in.
This is one of the best films of the year. Innaritu delivers another critical hit. He's an exceptionally gifted director that bears his own beliefs and showing it to the whole world with unflagging courage. Although it's a tad flawed work, I still love this film, save when Innaritu runs for trouble when trying to get the strands together. It's emotionally compelling, a kind of movie that would stay with you for ages. Babel is also a very complex film filled with very complex issues. Some might not understand it yet we must put in mind that this movie is about finding the sense of being understood. It's a moving film for those people who wanted to be moved, a heartbreaking film for those people who wanted their hearts to be broken, a tearjerker for those people who wanted to shed tears, and a very humane film for those people who feel like humans.
Rating: A+
