Babel - Review

Review of Babel

I have seen two of Alexando Gonzalez Inarritu’s earlier movies – Amores Perros and 21 Grams (both with the writer Guillermo Arriaga). I liked both of them immensely, especially 21 Grams for its structural complexity, for its top rate acting, for its moral clarity. Inarritu has reached a kind of auteur status after his two movies – for his structural innovativeness, his micro-cosmic moral world view and the great work he extracts from his photographer and editor who have as much a role to play in his success.

Babel covers similar issues though not the same terrain as some of his earlier movies. It has 4 interconnected stories – some connections stronger than the other.

· One story has a Moroccan villager who buys a rifle to guard his flock of sheep and gives it to his kids who playfully shoot at a tourist bus while practising with the rifle.

· The second story involves an American couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) who are in that tourist bus and Cate Blanchett gets hit by the bullets.

· The other is about the kids of Pitt and Cate who are at home in the U.S with their Mexican nanny who takes the kids with her to Tijuana in Mexico to attend a marriage driven by her nephew (the Mexican face we all recognize, Gael Garcia Bernal)

· The last story has a deaf and dumb Japanese girl who is trying to handle her adolescence and her handicap and whose attempts to get a boyfriend are leading her to sexual frustration and suicidal thoughts. This is the weakest link of all, where the girl’s father, a big game hunter, had once gifted the rifle to his guide on a shooting trip in Morocco. Now that is one heck of an example for Chaos theory.

The shooting of the American tourist becomes an international incident attributed to terrorists and the Moroccan police launches a hunt for the terrorists. Brad Pitt tries desperately to save his wife which leads him to a remote village in Morocco and the hands of a veterinarian. The Mexican sojourn throws the nanny into a tragic immigration issue.

The movie starts off with a great premise and promise. Inarritu is tackling wider issues with his own brand of storytelling, but on a larger scope than earlier. Inarritu discusses issues like immigration, communication, teenage angst, globalization etc. in Babel, and does start off well. He holds us in thrall for the first hour, but soon you feel bored as you know what is going to happen – yes some liberal servings of misery are dished up.

My problem with Babel is the sense of gloom and misery which flows as an undercurrent through the various stories. You can sense that something ominous is about to happen in every next scene (will the girl jump off the building, is the kid going to be shot, are the kids going to die in the desert, is Cate going to die in the village). No misunderstandings please – I do like tragic movies and tragic endings, but Babel is like 4 tragic movies. In fact the best and worst story of the lot is the Japanese part, best because it is not as dark as the others and worst because it could have been handled so much better if the scriptwriter and director did not bring out a fatalistic twinge to it too.

Such a mood is alright in a horror movie but not for a sensitive exploration of human issues. This is particularly true in non-linear narratives like Inarritu’s. In a linear story line which has conflict and resolution as two book ends you are comfortable in the thought that the conflict has occurred and let’s relax for the resolution. In a non-linear narrative what has occurred might just be the resolution and what just awaits for you is conflict and more conflict. I really would like to see how comic scripts are handled in such narratives or is it only suitable for stories enveloped in despair.

Another issue I have with Babel is that Inarritu is too interested in giving neat ends to the stories and closes out the loops. For instance, the movie could have ended when the helicopter takes Pitt and his wife away from the village. I was surprised that it didn’t and we had to bear some more hospital scenes.

Technically, the movie is top notch especially the photography, bordering on a handheld indi style which provides a gritty edge to the story. The editing is a bit slack and I could have easily envisaged cutting out 20-30 minutes from the movie. The music is by Gustavo Santaolalla (who won an Oscar last year for Brokeback mountain). It sounds somewhat similar to his score there, but I could not complain. The acting is wonderful especially all the lesser known (to us) actors – Adrianna Barazza (the Mexican nanny), Rinko Kikuchi (the Japanese girl) and above all the adult and child actors who play the Moroccan family really steal the show for me.

Unlike 21 grams which was one movie shown as a jigsaw puzzle or Amores Perros which had three different stories, Babel tries to be both and the ambition becomes the cause for the downfall. I did some search on the net and in the Genesis, Babel apparently is a tower of ambition which drives mankind to ruin. It seems quirky that Inarritu used that title, does it stand for the stories he is telling or does it refer to himself and his ambitions ………….