Babel

Taking the title of the film from biblical roots, I expected this movie is be completely about the language barrier the world at large faces, but it really wasn't. In act, this movie is almost nothing like I would have imagined it being. Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett are the "stars" but in reality they only make up a fourth of this loosely assembled ensemble piece.


Coming in at around 2hrs and 30 minutes, the film starts to lose its grasp with about 45 minutes to go, not because the material gets old or boring, but just because it all starts to look a bit repetitive and one of the four stories slowly unravels into near absurdity. Luckily, there are 3 other story lines that remain realistic and gripping. The movie uses a shooting as the thing that ties the 4 stories together and it also serves as the central theme of violence only begets more violence. The movie is not nearly as much about the problem of language as it is about the entire cultural difference problem.


We have 2 Americans stranded in a foreign country, a family in that same country going through issues of violence, a Hispanic woman attending her son's wedding in Mexico and in the most gripping and interesting story, we have a Japanese girl who is hindered by being a deaf mute. It takes a long time for the director to connect the story dots for us, but honestly they don't matter much. The Japanese girl is beyond stunning in her performance. She captures the turmoil of someone brought up with a language not understood by people in her own country and she captures the immaturity that often comes with those issues. Honestly she makes this movie for me. Also, Brad Pitt has a phenomenal scene towards the end of the flick that really captures a crumbling man.


The movie moves slowly and loses focus at parts. It has a lot of interesting things to say about culture, violence and even family and the director has a great eye for good visuals, I only wish he had done it in just a shorter amount of time. This was not the movie I was expecting or hoping for, but still a very solid film that I would recommend for anyone looking for something to make them think.