In the picture
Babel****1/2
*ing: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Mohammed Akzam, Peter Wight, Harriet Walter and Trevor Martin
Directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

 
Raw, textured and emotional – Babel is a film that puts its finger on the anguish and disorder surrounding mankind, all over the world. The film takes its cue from the biblical myth, 'Tower of Babel' that was built by "united" mankind to reach paradise. God, provoked by this action destroyed this tower and assigned separate languages to the world. Since then, human race has remained divided. Director Alejandro Gonzalez uses this biblical myth as the backbone of the film and spans the miscommunication, chaos and confusion confronted by mankind into the third and final flick in his trilogy of the subject that began with Amores Perros and continued in the Oscar-nominated 21 Grams. But hey, this is not a religious film. Biblical overtones are used in a universal way.

Interestingly, all stories are disconnected from one another and yet there is one thing that connects all the characters and it's a 'rifle'. Sounds bizarre. It really isn't.
 
In a poor Moroccan village, two young boys get their hands on a rifle, thanks to Dad, who gives it to them to protect cattle. In the same area, an American couple is on a vacation, trying to overcome the grief of their dead infant son. The couple's other children are in America, living with their illegal immigrant nanny who has a wedding to attend in Mexico. And then there is a deaf and mute teenager in Japan, going through a rough time because of her mother's death and a complicated relationship with her father. These are four different stories from three continents that have been tied together with one thing alone: a gun. You have to see the film to understand what this connection really is...
 
There is no real big bad 'evil' in the film. But the misery goes on through errors and misunderstandings, frustrations, bad luck, media explosion, chaos, communication breakdown and so forth. The point that Alejandro makes here is that human beings don't necessarily need monumental problems. Relationships these days have become extremely complex in the 21st century.

This is a film that showcases the stupidity of the human race unabashedly.
 
What it must be like for a couple to get over the death of their infant son or what motivates a young boy into shooting on a tourist van for no good reason? These are characteristics pertinent to the times we live and it is one of the reasons why Babel is such a sheer force of dramatic genius.
 
Just like 21 Grams, which spun from a story to another and moved in different time frames, Babel also does the same thing. The difference is that its much more dramatic, the sentiments are far more convincing and this is a true ensemble effort. The film not only shows different locations but three distinct languages. The other drama that comes to mind after watching Babel is last year's low-budget Oscar winner Crash and Babel easily surpasses it in every respect.

Cinematographically, Babel is a beautiful film. From the rugged terrain of the village in Morocco to the happening streets of Tokyo, it is not only a film that you learn from, but it is also an experience watching it. Some
individual scenes are exceptional. When Brad Pitt calls his kids from the hospital and bursts into tears, it's a touching moment. The best scene in the film is when the deaf and mute Jap teenager lands into a club with her friends. She sees all her friends and strangers dancing to a sound that is inaudible to her. Here, the director very smartly keeps minimal dialogues. The girl hears no sound and within a split second, the sound is back, only to disappear. It vividly and effectively shows what its like being deaf and how difficult it really is...
 
The only drawback of the film is it's editing. In the end, one finds it a tad dragging because there is no real climax. The stories fold and unfold in a seemingly predictable yet riveting manner. After all, we all can relate to the mess-ups because they are universal.

Since its release, director Alejandro has picked up Best Director at Cannes and the film has already been nominated at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Industry grapevine has it that it may even get an Oscar nomination. Whether Babel wins or not, it is a must-see. It is just a story of different individuals hailing from different creed, cast and societies and how they struggle against ordinary mishaps. Highly recommended!

– Maheen Sabeeh

*YUCK

**WHATEVER

***GOOD

****SUPER

*****AWESOME