I understand that Babel rounds off the trilogy that Innaritu and his scriptwriter started with Amores Perros and 21 Grams. I must say that I'm a little relieved. After movies like Pulp Fiction, Adaptation and most recently, Crash, Babel might seem a little tiresome. After all, we've seen enough movies with this kind of narrative that following the plot is not much of a challenge anymore.
Those familiar with Innaritu's previous work, will know that the driving force of the narrative is the how the story switches between different groups of people who don't seem to be connected in any way, but are, and in Babel's case, some connections that are trifling. Richard and Susan - two American tourists on a visit to Morocco; Debbie and Mike - their children who are cared for by their Mexican nanny Amelia; Ahmed and Yussef - young Moroccan goatherds given a gun by their father to kill jackals who prey on their goats; Cheiko - a deaf-mute Japanese girl who is still dealing with her mother's recent suicide.
So, where do all these people fit in? Pay attention: While Richard and Susan travel in a tour bus in Morocco, Susan gets shot by a mysterious gunman. The sniper is in fact, Ahmed, who was testing the gun's range. Meanwhile, in Southern California, Amelia is trying to find someone who can look after Debbie and Mike while she hops across the border to attend her son's wedding. On the other side of the international date line in Tokyo, the gun is traced to Chieko's father, who gave it to Ahmed's father in thanks for guiding him through the Moroccan wilderness.
The running theme is that of miscommunication. That works wonderfully well in the two stories set in Morocco. The US government jumps the gun, branding Susan's shooting a terrorist act. The events that follow provide meat enough for a movie in itself, but the script requires that the story cuts back to two more tenuous connections that also would have been just fine as separate movies. In light of this, the movie has two stars, and they're not Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. They're Rinku Kikuchi (Cheiko) and Rodrigo Prieto (director of photography). Kikuchi proves that the year-long audition process for her role was worth it. She manages to convey the angst of a misunderstood teenager wrestling with several demons -- her mother's death, rejection from boys her age because of her disability, and the inability to connect with her father. Prieto beautifully captures the contrast between grimy, rocky Morocco and the almost sterile-looking Tokyo.
As for Brad Pitt's much talked about Oscar nomination for this movie, in my book, doing a George Clooney (growing a scruffy beard and showing a little gray) doesn't qualify as an award-winning performance.
Those familiar with Innaritu's previous work, will know that the driving force of the narrative is the how the story switches between different groups of people who don't seem to be connected in any way, but are, and in Babel's case, some connections that are trifling. Richard and Susan - two American tourists on a visit to Morocco; Debbie and Mike - their children who are cared for by their Mexican nanny Amelia; Ahmed and Yussef - young Moroccan goatherds given a gun by their father to kill jackals who prey on their goats; Cheiko - a deaf-mute Japanese girl who is still dealing with her mother's recent suicide.
So, where do all these people fit in? Pay attention: While Richard and Susan travel in a tour bus in Morocco, Susan gets shot by a mysterious gunman. The sniper is in fact, Ahmed, who was testing the gun's range. Meanwhile, in Southern California, Amelia is trying to find someone who can look after Debbie and Mike while she hops across the border to attend her son's wedding. On the other side of the international date line in Tokyo, the gun is traced to Chieko's father, who gave it to Ahmed's father in thanks for guiding him through the Moroccan wilderness.
The running theme is that of miscommunication. That works wonderfully well in the two stories set in Morocco. The US government jumps the gun, branding Susan's shooting a terrorist act. The events that follow provide meat enough for a movie in itself, but the script requires that the story cuts back to two more tenuous connections that also would have been just fine as separate movies. In light of this, the movie has two stars, and they're not Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. They're Rinku Kikuchi (Cheiko) and Rodrigo Prieto (director of photography). Kikuchi proves that the year-long audition process for her role was worth it. She manages to convey the angst of a misunderstood teenager wrestling with several demons -- her mother's death, rejection from boys her age because of her disability, and the inability to connect with her father. Prieto beautifully captures the contrast between grimy, rocky Morocco and the almost sterile-looking Tokyo.
As for Brad Pitt's much talked about Oscar nomination for this movie, in my book, doing a George Clooney (growing a scruffy beard and showing a little gray) doesn't qualify as an award-winning performance.