“Babel”

By Andrew Smith
FlipSide film critic

I am quite wary of Hollywood’s attitude of rewarding movies that make grand, portentous social statements. While I have nothing against these kinds of films, I grow frustrated when Hollywood hails and hypes them at the expense of other, less “important” movies.

Occasionally, however, such films do deserve the praise bestowed upon them. For 2006, the most noteworthy of these was the multi-narrative, multilingual epic, “Babel.”

Much like 2005’s “Crash,” “Babel” is an expansive, ambitious piece, weaving together four narratives, taking place on three continents and communicated in five languages.

The brainchild of Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga, “Babel” focuses on the frustrations of human discourse and the inability of people to communicate with one another. It accomplishes this with a storyline examining the butterfly effectwhere four seemingly unrelated storylines tie together in global, intangible ways.

The first involves two Morroccan farm boys, who have been given a rifle by their father to shoot jackals that prey on their sheep herd. Instead, they use it for target practice. In an attempt to test the rifle’s range, they fire on a bus making its way down a remote desert road.

This leads to the second narrative, involving American tourists Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett), on vacation in Morocco to sort out marital woes. The couple is aboard the bus, and Susan is on the receiving end of the thoughtlessly fired bullet. Shot in the neck, she is on the verge of death. The bus is forced to stop at the nearest village, which is hours away from the nearest hospital and populated with non-English speaking residents.

In another storyline, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), an illegal Mexican immigrant in San Diego, is a nanny for an out-of-town couple’s two children. When the father calls to tell Amelia that she must look after the children for an extra day, she is forced to take them across the border to Mexico so she can attend her son’s wedding. However, when she attempts to re-enter the States, she encounters suspicious border patrolmen, leading to serious consequences.

The final narrative unfolds in the heart of Tokyo. Cheiko (Rinko Kicuchi), a deaf-mute teenager, struggles to cope in a hearing, speaking world. Traumatized by the recent suicide of her mother and forced to live with her emotionally distant father, she seeks to experience love and affection of any kind. As a result, she embarks on a series of increasingly desperate and futile sexual escapades. How this storyline relates to the others is withheld until the very end.

Overall, “Babel” is a highly accomplished film. Each of the individual narrative threads is fantastic. Each storyline is thoroughly compelling, and the viewer comes to care greatly about each one.

The cast members — seasoned screen veterans and nonprofessional actors alike — are entirely convincing in their roles. There isn’t a single misstep.

And while the film itself isn’t a masterpiece, its technical work is. “Babel” is one of the most visually intoxicating films in years, boasting cinematography that is often nothing short of amazing, particularly in the Tokyo segments.

And speaking of Tokyo, that story deserves particularly high praise. By far the most effective, emotional and powerful narrative, Cheiko’s story truly touches the viewer. This is in large part due to Kikuchi’s powerhouse performance, which deservedly netted her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. This segment would have been strong enough to merit its own film, though it works just as effectively in “Babel’s” grand scheme.

However, “Babel” is not without its flaws. In truth, sit’s a perfect example of the parts being greater than the whole. The individual segments are great in their own right, but they do not add up to a perfect story.

The main problem is “Babel’s” overarching story. Iñárritu and Arriaga attempted to craft a universal story with universal themes, and for the most part, they succeeded. But in attempting to link the narratives together, they fell short.

Without giving away too much, I found that many of the devices used to show the narratives’ connections strained credibility, occasionally becoming outright unbelievable. This is especially true in the way the filmmakers attempted to tie in Cheiko’s story in with the rest of the film.

Overall though, such complaints are minor, and do little to diminish the film. In fact, they most likely won’t even occur to the viewer until after the movie ends. “Babel” has enough positives to warrant a very strong recommendation. Unlike other “message movies,” it is one I can fully stand behind.