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Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett This was the most  movie I've seen in a while, but in that good way. You don't smile at the end but you know it was drat good.Between Babel and Amores Perros, Iñárritu is up there in my list of favorite directors. This movie kept me captivated throughout, hinging around the single event of the somewhat accidental shooting of an American tourist in Morocco, but tying in three distinct storylines. It's told kind of disjointedly, and several connecting events are addressed separately from either story (or all three of the stories) with often quite some time in between. It does take some putting two and two together, as the three stories are told in different timeframes and while you know they're connected, they're not blatant in their overlapping. The movie just worked for me. It seemed like everything was perfectly done, and had some purpose in its individual storyline. I especially enjoyed the soundtrack. It was sparse in that good way, where every note carries that much more weight. My only complaint was a Tokyo rave that left my poor eyes hurtin'. I had to excuse myself and take a leak. If you can cope with the weird story setup it really is a great movie. There are some loose ends that are still bugging me, having just left the theater a short while ago, but beyond those I enjoyed it thoroughly. EDIT: I'd just like to add in that I liked that there wasn't really anyone malicious in this movie. There's no one to hate except maybe bureaucrats and a couple xenophobic tourists, if raging is your thing. It's refreshing to see, especially in a movie that deals pretty strongly with several different countries. 4.5/5 PROS: Beautifully filmed, excellent soundtrack, great acting, strong story for the most part CONS: It gets confusing, and there are some loose ends that aren't clearly explained, raves make my eyes hurt ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://imdb.com/title/tt0449467/ black potus fucked around with this message at 06:36 on Nov 14, 2006 |
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Nov 14, 2006 06:31
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I completely agree with what you said above, and after going into the movie last night, not really knowing what to expect, I think the director conveyed his message very well. I think the movie was supposed to show how language inhibits and can ruin our lives, how prevalent the language barriers are in everything we do. 4.5 stars
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Nov 14, 2006 18:50
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I love the idea of a grand story being weaved together with different threads (Crash, Pulp Fiction). Babel gives us plenty of brilliantly acted viewpoints and emotionally charged performances. But for what? I really liked the story lines of the Moroccan kids, the Mexican family, and the yuppy tourists but it never comes together for that "OH, I SEE WHERE THIS IS GOING!" moment. This movie was made to win an Oscar, not to tell a story. 1.5/5
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Nov 20, 2006 05:46
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blindside posted:I love the idea of a grand story being weaved together with different threads (Crash, Pulp Fiction). Babel gives us plenty of brilliantly acted viewpoints and emotionally charged performances. I almost completely agree. I watched this movie and the whole time I was tense because I kept wondering what was going to happen to certain characters and then at the end I was left with the feeling of well its over, but ..., well I guess its over, ok that was errr a good movie I guess. I would liken watching this movie to an aborted ride at splash mountain. I enjoyed the ride, but the whole time I was looking forward to the big drop at the end and then right before you are about to take the big drop, your little floating-log-boat-thingy get diverted and the ride ends and you have to get off. I was left with this sort of unfulfilled feeling.
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Nov 21, 2006 02:00
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Babel is a pretentious mix of excellent acting, moving and realistic character drama, and a piss-poor plot. It reminds me of Magnolia in a sense that the film itself gives a fairly simple lead up to a underwhelming plot climax that can only be described as "oh, thats it?". The sub-plot about the trip to Mexico is an obvious political stab and makes no bold or surprising point from a political perspective. The entire arc about the Japanese school girl was unnecessary and awkward when compared to the drama of the rest of the film. Overall some excellent performances and a terrible story telling still makes for a very disappointing film. 2.5/5
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Nov 22, 2006 20:52
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I came into this movie with very little expectations and came out pleasantly surprised. Everything just worked perfectly for me and I could see what the director was trying to do. I loved the excellent blend of cultures and the emotions the movie portrayed were so amazing that the plot itself was pretty much unimportant. Despite the many complaints about a disappointing ending, I was really satisfied with how the movie ended. I didn't really feel like it lacked anything since the whole movie was a big emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. 5/5 bernie killed rosa fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Nov 24, 2006 |
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Nov 24, 2006 17:03
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Babel was an interesting, well-acted, and beautifully shot movie. There were three subplots that were emotionally charged and provoked certain feelings from the audience. However, by the end of the film, I thought to myself "Ok... and that's it?" The movie just abruptly ended without any real climax and I left the theater wondering what the purpose of the movie was. Most films don't really serve a true purpose other than to entertain, but surely an emotionally charged film such as Babel could end with some kind of theme, or question to be answered. The film almost seemed like it was just trying to illustrate the idea that we're all human beings and we all have problems, but as a movie, it leaves more to be desired. 3/5
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Nov 25, 2006 10:42
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I liked Babel as political art, and much less as feel-good entertainment. The movie is an intertwined web of subplots connected by circumstance (similar to Crash, unfortunately with no effective time framing) that convey the injustices of society. As said before, this is not a feel-good movie. Incest, poverty, racism, desperation, suicide, drug use, terror, murder, every act of social deviance is highlighted by this film. All the characters demand sympathy through consequence. Actually, the movie is based on that motif. I do praise the movie's subtleties. For example, the mute rave scene was intentionally disorienting for effect. It her first trip on ecstasy and whiskey as well; however I personally can't attest to the accuracy but will admit that the scene urged me to close my eyes. I swear I heard farm animals in the silent sequences, but I'd have to watch it again. If there were in fact dubs of birds and goats, then my interpretation is that the director wanted the audience to visually witness the vibrancy of a technologically suave society, while aurally alluding to the Moroccan children's depravity. I liked how Richard and Susan and their kids are all located near dirt roads and people of color. Scenes like the ice cube threat for Rich and Susan and the chicken neck breaker for their kids rings true to their comfort around "lesser" cultures. I believe the media only covered Richard and Susan's fiasco. Hurr, white people. It's hard to place blame in this film, which really can go for or against it. Babel is a very untraditional movie that has no central protagonists or antagonists and depends on the viewer to decide. 3/5 Oprah Moment fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Nov 26, 2006 |
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Nov 26, 2006 05:27
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Ooh god this movie could have been so much better if it wasnt for the ending. I badly want to call this film the best movie of 2006 and at first I was because I came out liking it so much. But reading what others have said and really thinking about the ending now with a more clear mind, I have to say the ending ruined the movie. Perhaps I am just missing something here, I am not quite sure I entirely saw the point or message this movie was suppose to say. The movie Crash (2005) did it perfectly, different message but same concept. I was expecting a film like Crash and for the most part got it, its just that ending that really prevents this from becoming a truely amazing film. 4.5/5
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Dec 1, 2006 00:26
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Scorpion posted:Babel is a pretentious mix of excellent acting, moving and realistic character drama, and a piss-poor plot. It reminds me of Magnolia in a sense that the film itself gives a fairly simple lead up to a underwhelming plot climax that can only be described as "oh, thats it?". The sub-plot about the trip to Mexico is an obvious political stab and makes no bold or surprising point from a political perspective. The entire arc about the Japanese school girl was unnecessary and awkward when compared to the drama of the rest of the film. I disagree, I thought the Japanese storyline was the best part. It was by far the most interesting and multifaceted. As you said the Mexican one was pretty pointless, and the Morrocan one was also remarkably straight-forward.
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Dec 7, 2006 05:40
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Like 21 Grams in it's sheer absurdity of anything that can go wrong will go wrong. It just wasn't able to take it serious when the nanny couldn't get across the border. The mother's been shot, the nanny goes across the border to a wedding and this ends up being LOST IN THE DESERT FIGHTING TO SURVIVE WITH THE CHILDREN DYING OF HEAT STROKE. Come on, it's just so unlucky it's almost laughable. With that said all the acting is fantasic and I loved the way it was edited. I just wish I could've taken it seriously and got something out of it. 3/5
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Dec 14, 2006 13:49
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Well, I went into this movie with okay expectations at the least considering I like pitt and blanchett.. but it was pretty boring and predictable.. It had its dramatic moments but it left me pretty bored in general. Nothing to really fault the acting performances.. everyone was pretty solid and the film itself was beautiful- Especially the japanese subplot and the mexico wedding. it was pretty meh other movies have done the interconnecting stuff much better and more interestingly 2.5\5
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Jan 10, 2007 19:48
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I had a long discussion about this movie with a friend after we both saw it. He compared it to crash. He hated crash because it relied on being incredibly blatant, but he felt that subtle racism and stereotypes would have made a much more powerful film. Then this came out and he felt like it filled that gap. I agreed. 4.5/5
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Jan 18, 2007 04:54
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I went into this movie with no real expectations. I had seen Amorres Perros and liked that movie quite a bit, but other than that, had no opinion on Babel before I walked in. So here's the thing: I enjoyed every story. I thought they were all very compelling, particularly the Asian girl's. However, all these stories, even though connected by circumstance, just felt so disjointed from one another in the grand scheme of things. I felt as if I was watching 3 or 4 different movies at once, with no real resolution in any particular film. I had very mixed thoughts when I left the theatre. I was really entertained, but felt very unfulfilled. Something was missing, but I can't put my finger on it. I think it was good, but definitely not Golden Globe Best Drama good. 3.5/5
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Jan 22, 2007 07:00
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This is very good, but not quite as good as 21 Grams. This film is effectively a straightforward tale with very little moralising. There are no grand climaxes, there are no tremendous character transformations (unless you want to argue about Brad Pitt suddenly loving his wife), it's just an interesting story, very well told. The acting is great, the writing is great, the cinematography is great. The film shoots for a mood and a vibe and nails it. That said, you have to like this sort of thing (if you want a conventional "play in five parts" sort of thing, you're not going to get it), and you have to be content with a story which is pretty much just a snapshot of a terrible period in a few people's lives. The drama here is entirely interpersonal, and you have to like that sort of thing. I loved this film but I have to say that 21 Grams moved me much more. I found it easier to get emotionally invested in the characters and I felt that the theme of love was better explored there. Anyway, this is a fantastically well-made picture, and you're only going to dislike it if you dislike the story itself. 4.5/5 edit: Oh yeah, anything this director ever does will make Crash look like the piece of poo poo that it really was. Crash is this type of movie dumbed down and made blunt and boring. TCC: Dude, you gotta play miniature golf.
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Jan 23, 2007 07:04
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After watching the trailer and reading the synopsis I went in to see Babel, expecting something akin to Syriana - the only recent film I've seen which closely connects the lives of a number of very different people. I knew virtually nothing about Syriana when I first saw it and I was very pleasantly surprised. Seeing Babel's 7.8/10 score on IMDb and keeping in mind its Oscar nomination, perhaps my expectations were just set too high. Regardless, the film as a whole feels like a lost opportunity to me; or rather a number of lost opportunities. Richard's desperate struggle to get his wife the medical attention she needs is very dramatic, but even though it's essentially the movie's centrepiece it seems to largely lack the miscommunication and misunderstanding that the film's title (implicitly) alludes to. By adding a perpetually present and extremely cooperative translator, a golden opportunity for Frantic-esque scenes has been sacrificed. Even so, I feel that this part, together with the tale of the two Moroccan boys, would've been more than sufficient for a feature-length film. Without Amelia and Chieko's storylines to dilute the experience, it could've had much greater lasting impact than it did. Even its conclusion, which was a rather predictable cop-out, probably would've been more satisfying if double the screentime had been dedicated to these two storylines. Yet the best material for a completely separate movie is found in Chieko's experiences. Curiously enough, they come across to me as being simultaneously the least and the most appropriate part. The least, because the drama central to 'Babel' has so little bearing on Chieko's life, its inclusion feels very forced. The most, because more than any of the other storylines it revolves around a mutual inability to communicate and understand, linguistically as well as mentally. Great acting accentuates the fantastically intriguing premise, particularly in those scenes where Chieko makes tragically misguided passes at older men. The scene in the hotel was one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever watched and that makes it all the more memorable. 'Babel' is very easy to believe and relate to: the writing and acting are excellent and most people will likely begin to feel quite depressed in the second half of the movie. It's generally uncompromising and it never patronises the viewer by making its protagonists explain things which they take for granted. It shows great, great promise but at the end of the day I'm left wondering (like several others here, it would seem) what point it was really trying to make. Moreover, I'm left wondering whether it would not have been best split into two different films - or at least one, because Chieko is truly deserving of her own film. 3/5
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Jan 26, 2007 03:26
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I liked the movie a bungh, though I wish I knew what the message the director was trying to convey is. Is he saying, "People are afraid of terrorism, but the real problem is kids who are ignored by their parents?" 4.5/5
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Feb 4, 2007 01:04
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I didn't really feel emotionally attached to any of the characters. I really wanted to like this movie, but it was almost totally empty for me. I got out of the theater and looked at the group I watched it with. We all just sorta blinked at eachother. "I don't really recall at any point being particularly moved or entertained by that movie." All I got was agreement. The acting was way above average, but the story wasn't there to back it up. 1/5 for good acting
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Feb 16, 2007 00:43
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Boneclinkz posted:I didn't really feel emotionally attached to any of the characters. I really wanted to like this movie, but it was almost totally empty for me. I got out of the theater and looked at the group I watched it with. We all just sorta blinked at eachother. "I don't really recall at any point being particularly moved or entertained by that movie." All I got was agreement. The acting was way above average, but the story wasn't there to back it up. Yeah I felt the same way. I thought the whole japanese girl portion was pointless and didn't fit in with the rest of the story. The ending was really not very well written. The only part I really felt attached to was the mexican family, probably only because I live in the san diego area and am mexican. The movie could have been something good and I was hoping/expecting it to be good but honestly I thought the ending made the movie really subpar. 1/5 as well
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Feb 16, 2007 10:33
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The Frogs posted:I almost completely agree. I watched this movie and the whole time I was tense because I kept wondering what was going to happen to certain characters and then at the end I was left with the feeling of well its over, but ..., well I guess its over, ok that was errr a good movie I guess. This is exactly how I felt. I was expecting a scene that ties the stories together in a fascinating way. But it never came. And the attempt to somehow tie them together (Oh I see, the Asian dude sold the gun to the Moroccan guy... uh, alright.) was pretty pitiful and just seemed forced. They might as well have not even attempted to tie the stories together and just left them entirely separate. That's how it ended up feeling anyway. But that wasn't my only complaint. If the stores had all been interesting, the lack of tie-together wouldn't have mattered so much. But the only story I was remotely interested in was the Moroccan father and the kids. Even the Pitt/Blanchett story did nothing for me. The Japanese story was bad too. I felt NOTHING for these characters. And don't get me started on the Mexican story. It was so contrived and goofy, and felt like a rejected side plot from Crash. The movie was not horrible, but it just wasn't what it could have been. I sincerely hope it doesn't the Best Picture Oscar. Every other movie on the list is more deserving than this one. Rating: 2.0
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Feb 21, 2007 18:18
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I saw BABEL at the Savannah Film Festival last year, where its writer was receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award (for writing no less). Looking at Arriaga's previous films (take The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada for example) and you will see that he prefers the idea of what I like to call, "non-linear story telling." In BABEL, Arriaga takes this non-linear idea and uses it to its fullest potential. If you've ever seen the episode of Home Movies where Brendon wants to film a movie backwards, then you already know the premise of BABEL. The story becomes garbled, incoherent, and almost un-relatable. The Film begins with the ending, followed by the begining, middle, back to the beginning, middle, end, beginning, end, middle and so on until the credits roll. There is not one story that is told from begining to end with parallel editing. In fact if there is a cut, its likely a cut in the film's timeline - in addition to the scene. This may lead to a more artistic film, but definitely not a better film. As was stated earlier, the Japanese portion is entirely irrelevant to the overall plot, as is the Mexican timeline. The same story could have been told in half the time by removing these aspects. The movie is also dripping with false controversy. It's like Arriaga is touching on issues without actually saying anything about them. Yes, a woman gets deported because she is illegal. Political? Yes, but did she deserve it? Watch the film. Terrorism. Shooting at busses may be the favourite passtime of young boys in Morrocco, but in the civilized world we tend to avoid the possibility of maiming someone just to settle a bet. So in a sense the children ARE terrorists and the Mexican woman DID break the law. Therefore any political statements like "America is ethnocentric in its views of foreigners" are really lost due to the actions of the characters. Which brings us to the next point of the characters in the film. Morroccan brothers, one with a lust for his sister, A pair of rich Americans on vacation in the desert, their downtrodden but good-natured Mexican housekeeper, and a deaf "please let me get laid" Japanese girl. All of these characters are connected, (except the Japanese girl) to the film through various and highly coincidental plot points, some realistic (Bradd Pitt and his housekeeper) some pretty far fetched (JAPAN!). Some movies have a surprise ending, BABEL has a surprise story. 1/5. Pretty Camera work and Nude scenes do not make a good movie. It needs a story!
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Mar 1, 2007 03:32
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As much as I wanted to love this film, I must agree wtih the detractors. Babel can best be summed up with the statement: "An incredibly well made film with nothing to say." The productive values, set pieces, score, acting, and dialogue was all top notch, but what was the point?
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Mar 1, 2007 23:30
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I believe that the story in the movie was just a vehicle to move things forward. The real point of the movie in my opinion was to make the audience sympathize with the characters even though they seem so different then ourselves. The loose connections between the stories I feel was a mistake because the stories really could just stand on their own and the connections really didn't add anything other than some distraction of what the movie was trying to do. 4.5/5
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Mar 12, 2007 16:38
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I just watched it and I was so bothered by the lack of an ending that I had to re-watch some scenes and start reading poo poo on the internet to get some closure which still escapes me. Why was the girl's story about her mom's death so different from her dad's? What was in the note the cop was reading? The Japanese story seemed so vaguely connected to the rest that I don't really get it. Did her mom kill herself with that rifle? I used spoilers because other people used them. I don't know what the gently caress was going on though, so I don't know that I actually spoiled anything. It was kind of a long, bummer of a movie that had no ending and very little of the communication problems that the title would imply. I give it a 2/5 because it was interesting while I was in the middle of it. It wasn't until the end that I realized I got gypped.
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Mar 25, 2007 07:52
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It's strange to see people complaining about how they couldn't find a hero or a straight moral message in the film, because I considered the missing protagonist and moral judgment a big part of the strongest themes the movie conveyed for me: cultural awareness and understanding. It would've been a terrible pity for it to be as blunt as Crash. The glimpses into the lives of the characters being so drastically changed worked wonders for me and there was always plenty of provocative and meaningful content that kept me occupied along the allegedly weak story. I don't really see what all the critics got so disappointed over. The plot and characters were realistic as could be, the timejumps not confusing at all if you're not retarded, the different stories are great and very well-working contrasts in my opinion and the ending well-orchestrated. The parts I liked least are the rave scene and the Chieko storyline's ending. I would've liked a bit more meat on the latter and less on the former, but the ending overall probably worked better like this. quote:Most films don't really serve a true purpose other than to entertain, but surely an emotionally charged film such as Babel could end with some kind of theme, or question to be answered. quote:It's like Arriaga is touching on issues without actually saying anything about them. quote:As was stated earlier, the Japanese portion is entirely irrelevant to the overall plot, as is the Mexican timeline. The same story could have been told in half the time by removing these aspects. quote:Therefore any political statements like "America is ethnocentric in its views of foreigners" are really lost due to the actions of the characters. quote:The sub-plot about the trip to Mexico is an obvious political stab and makes no bold or surprising point from a political perspective. The entire arc about the Japanese school girl was unnecessary and awkward when compared to the drama of the rest of the film. 5/5 Spoiled fucked around with this message at 20:46 on May 22, 2007 |
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May 18, 2007 18:55
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Immaculately directed and beautifully shot. Those are the only good things I can say about it. It was grippingly unpleasant, probably the most unpleasant movie I've ever seen. It would probably be enjoyable if you have no emotions at all and can completely separate yourself from the characters, but for everyone else, you'll be wondering after the first hour when things will start getting better. They don't. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and there's virtually no point. It exists only to be macabre and depressing. The three connected plotlines gimmick wasn't even that well-executed. One of the stories hardly has anything to do with the other two. The depiction of the American government annoyed me too, but not enough to affect my opinion of it. Not recommended to anyone who has feelings. 2/5
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Jun 14, 2007 06:48
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While I know many people were distracted from the emotional aspect of Babel due to the in-your-face political messages, being a hormonal, sappy woman, I ignored all of the propaganda bullshit, and concentrated mainly on each characters' ~*~feelings~*~! I felt that the overall theme throughout the movie was closeness through sadness. Each set of characters had some set of weird interactive issues. The Morrocan family was riddled with sibling rivalry and freaky near-incest. The Jones' were having marital problems and Susan was a high-strung paranoid bitch. Chieko simply refused to communicate with her father and was constantly creating drama for no reason at all. Amelia is arguably one of the most rational characters, but she still had her set of problems in that she had to directly deal with the Jones family's cold, sterile, emotionless lives. And then all hell breaks loose! Yuusef shoots Susan! Chieko sexually harasses anyone who looks at her funny! Santiago goes batshit insane for no readily available reason! It's the shittiest poo poo that could ever poo poo on poo poo ever. poo poo happens. It's depressing as gently caress and not everyone gets a happy ending. But in the end, despite everything, or maybe because of everything, each set of families is closer somehow. They have formed new bonds that are possibly stronger than what any of us could know. Susan learned how to not be a paranoid tightass bitch, and possibly learned how to trust people, especially her husband. The scene where he helps her pee is especially important. Even though she's dirty, grimy, soaked with blood and pee, he still holds her tightly and even kisses her passionately. Cheiko winds up having a mental/sexual breakdown, after which she inevitably finds herself crying and hugging her father. Yuusef reminisces about the good times he had with his older brother after he sees him get shot. He stops acting like a sociopath and does the right thing to save his father and probably the rest of his family by turning himself in. and Amelia... um. Well she gets to spend more time with her son. Plus she'll have Grandchildren soon. Yay! Family togetherness! So yeah. There is a lot of typical Hollywood-liberalization to Babel, but come on people. Be sappy. There's more to it than anti-American cynicism. 4/5
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Jun 14, 2007 07:18
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