Babel-2006
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu
Starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett
Scott’s Review #791
Reviewed July 19, 2018
Grade: A
Babel (2006) is part of director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Death Trilogy” films- Amores Perros (2000) and 21 Grams (2001) are the others. The director crafts a riveting drama involving intersecting stories that are a thrill ride a minute and highly compelling.
The film is at risk of being forgotten, however, largely due to Iñárritu’s subsequent successes- Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015), but Babel is a fantastic companion piece to either Traffic (2000) or Crash (2006), as those films hold a similar style.
The three stories are riveting in their own right and could each be a gripping short film of their own. The fact that characters within each segment are related to the others in some way takes the stories over the top.
The film switches back and forth within each story which is a huge plus, making the tension even more palpable as we begin to connect the dots. The spliced editing is a remarkable achievement in making the continuity seamless.
Each story is summarized below.
An affluent American couple, Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett), vacation in Morocco, happily enjoying a bus tour.
When two local boys play with their father’s rifle and experiment by shooting at long-range, the American woman is shot, leading to a terrorist accusation while the couple desperately seeks medical attention in the middle of nowhere and in a foreign country.
In Japan, a wealthy businessman (and owner of the rifle), is investigated while his promiscuous teenage daughter (Rinko Kikuchi) seeks attention from young men.
The girl, deaf, is angry and depressed due to her mother’s recent suicide.
As she flirts with a local detective, she slips him a mysterious note and implores him to read the note only after he leaves her father’s gorgeous high-rise apartment, leading to a mysterious revelation.
Finally, in southern California, Richard and Susan’s Mexican nanny, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), cares for the couple’s young children. Almost like a real family member, Amelia adores the kids (and they love her.)
When she is notified that the couple will be delayed returning home, she panics and foolishly takes the kids across the border to Mexico to attend her son’s wedding.
When an incident allows the police to become involved, Amelia and the kid’s lives are in peril.
The connecting stories are only part of what makes Babel so fantastic, but an enormous aspect is the direction Iñárritu has the characters go in.
As the stories play out we care deeply for the characters which play a great role in adding meat to each story.
Sometimes the connections of the characters are immediately known, other times the audience can savor the inevitable big reveal. Not every story featured in Babel will have a happy ending, which makes the film all the more compelling and satisfying.
How incredible are the different locales and cultures featured in Babel from a geographical perspective alone?
The action traverses from the hip, modern metropolis of Tokyo, with slick nighttime sequences dance clubs, and urban hip-hop beats.
The deserts of remote Morocco with the vast and sweeping lands mix perfectly with the hot Mexican atmosphere and the cultural nuances of a real Mexican wedding.
Another key element is the different backgrounds of the characters and the conflict this sometimes leads to. As Richard frantically seeks medical attention for Susan, he is met with resistance from some while receiving aid from a local veterinarian.
At the border of Mexico and the United States, Amelia and her brother are not treated well by Border patrol. One cannot help knowing that this is because they are Mexican and carrying American children, thus discriminated against.
Wonderful call-outs are deserved for relatively unknown actors, Kikuchi and Barraza, both of whom received tremendous accolades in 2006 for their work when they could have easily been overlooked in favor of bigger, high-profile stars like Blanchett and Pitt.
I love when this happens and gritty performances find their due respect. Both actors give great performances in complex, layered characters.
Since making Babel Iñárritu has progressed to great acclaim with Oscar winners like Birdman and The Revenant, but let’s not forget that Babel received a heap of Oscar nominations, though sadly only one victory for the musical score.
Unfortunately usurped by his more high-profile works, Babel (2006) is an excellent, fast-paced, and layered film with spectacular characters, story-telling, and editing.
Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best Supporting Actress-Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score (won), Best Film Editing