Babel
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Rinko Kikuchi
In Moroccan, English, Mexican Spanish, Japanese with English subtitles
The film gets its title from the Biblical tower that was built by a united humanity to try and reach Heaven. As a punishment for their arrogance, God gave the people different languages so they could no longer communicate and continue with the building, and they were then scattered to different parts of the world. Taking its theme from the latter part of this tale, the film focuses on three apparently unrelated tales of people in Morocco, Mexico and Japan, whose lives soon collide. However, this is more a film about the butterfly effect, where one small action has much wider repercussions, rather than a modern-day parable.
What starts with an act of generosity ends up with two young Moroccan boys accidentally shooting an American tourist, not only creating an international diplomatic incident but also impacting on the lives of the shot woman's children, their Mexican nanny and the original owner of the gun.
In keeping with the Babel theme, the film is played out in the native tongues of the countries in which it is set, so we have dialogue in Moroccan, English, Mexican Spanish, Japanese and sign language – the daughter of the gun's original owner is a deaf mute. With an excellent international cast, including Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett (whose talents are sadly underused), Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho and Rinko Kikuchi in a stunning performance. Supported by convincing performances from non-professional actors, the sense of drama is maintained throughout. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 GRAMS) manages to keep all the threads together even if the story does get a little bit convoluted at times.
At nearly two and half hours long, it's not light entertainment, but it is engrossing and just about manages to avoid a convenient happy ending.
BABEL is released by UIP and opens nationally on January 19.
Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Rinko Kikuchi
In Moroccan, English, Mexican Spanish, Japanese with English subtitles
The film gets its title from the Biblical tower that was built by a united humanity to try and reach Heaven. As a punishment for their arrogance, God gave the people different languages so they could no longer communicate and continue with the building, and they were then scattered to different parts of the world. Taking its theme from the latter part of this tale, the film focuses on three apparently unrelated tales of people in Morocco, Mexico and Japan, whose lives soon collide. However, this is more a film about the butterfly effect, where one small action has much wider repercussions, rather than a modern-day parable.
What starts with an act of generosity ends up with two young Moroccan boys accidentally shooting an American tourist, not only creating an international diplomatic incident but also impacting on the lives of the shot woman's children, their Mexican nanny and the original owner of the gun.
In keeping with the Babel theme, the film is played out in the native tongues of the countries in which it is set, so we have dialogue in Moroccan, English, Mexican Spanish, Japanese and sign language – the daughter of the gun's original owner is a deaf mute. With an excellent international cast, including Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett (whose talents are sadly underused), Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho and Rinko Kikuchi in a stunning performance. Supported by convincing performances from non-professional actors, the sense of drama is maintained throughout. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 GRAMS) manages to keep all the threads together even if the story does get a little bit convoluted at times.
At nearly two and half hours long, it's not light entertainment, but it is engrossing and just about manages to avoid a convenient happy ending.
BABEL is released by UIP and opens nationally on January 19.
posted by Chris Patmore at 1:03 PM
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