Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Rating:
Enetertainment Quotient: 20%
Genre: Drama/Thriller
Runtime: 142 min
Language: Japanese Sign Language / French / English / Spanish / Japanese / Berber / Arabic
MPAA rating: R for violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use.

Synopsis:

The story of this film is interwoven with 4 different incidents happened in four different countries (Morocco, Mexico, Japan and USA). Here are the storylines -

1. Two Arabic brothers are given a rifle by their father to protect their herd of cattle from jackals. The younger one is very aggressive and wants to test the range of bullet. He chooses a bus as a target from a faraway distance and shoots at it.

2. Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett) are US citizens traveling in Morocco. They are going through marital crisis. Susan gets shot during their bus journey in Morocco.

3. Kids of Richard and Susan are staying under the protection of their nanny Amelia (Adriana Barraza) in San Diego. Amelia’s son is getting married in Mexico. She is forced to take the kids along with her to Mexico as she could not get anybody else to take care of the kids. While traveling back from the marriage function, she is stopped by the cops at the border. Due to the foolishness of her nephew, she faces lot of difficulties.

4. Chieko Adriana (Rinko Kikuchi) is a deaf and mute girl in Japan. She hardly communicates with her father. Her mother attempts suicide and Chieko longs for human touch. She wants to find somebody who takes care of her, but nobody comes forward.

All the above mentioned stories are interconnected.

What I liked in the film?

I liked the non-linear kind of narration though it has come in many films in the last 10 years starting from Pulp Fiction. The performance of Adriana Barraza is great. The idea of showing people from four nations in an interconnected story is good. Music of the film is good.

What I did not like in the film?

The tragedies and explicit scenes in this film disturbs you -

1. Tragedies: The film has many tragedies which appear forced at times -

a. The family of Arab boys suffering for a mistake that is done inadvertently.
b. The nanny leaving kids in a remote area during mid-night
c. The Japanese girl’s inability to draw any attention from fellow youngsters

2. Objectionable scenes: The following scenes appear gross -

a. An Arabic boy masturbating after watching his sister changing cloths. His sister is blissfully aware of it.
b. A Japanese mute girl desperately trying for some human physical touch for which she does not mind baring her crotch for a dentist/cop/students.
c. An American wife admits that she peed in pants after being shot. And then husband interlocks her in a passionate kiss.

Similar films: Pulp Fiction, Crash, 21 Grams, Syriana

Oscars: Gustavo Santaolalla won Oscar for the Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

Tailpiece:
‘Babel’ is the 3rd part of director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s trilogy consisting of his earlier two films Amore Perros & 21 Grams. I liked Amore Perros for its non-linear narrative. Content wise, I feel 21 Grams is better among these three films.