7.4/10
285,562
966 user 259 critic

Babel (2006)

R | | Drama | 10 November 2006 (USA)
Trailer
2:32 | Trailer
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.

Director:

Alejandro G. Iñárritu (as Alejandro González Iñárritu)
Reviews
Popularity
2,310 ( 117)
Won 1 Oscar. Another 42 wins & 136 nominations. See more awards »

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Photos

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt ... Richard
Cate Blanchett ... Susan
Mohamed Akhzam Mohamed Akhzam ... Anwar
Peter Wight ... Tom
Harriet Walter ... Lilly
Trevor Martin Trevor Martin ... Douglas
Matyelok Gibbs Matyelok Gibbs ... Elyse
Georges Bousquet Georges Bousquet ... Robert
Claudine Acs Claudine Acs ... Jane
André Oumansky ... Walter
Michael Maloney ... James
Dermot Crowley ... Barth
Wendy Nottingham Wendy Nottingham ... Tourist
Henry Maratray Henry Maratray ... Tourist
Linda Broughton Linda Broughton ... Tourist
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Storyline

4 interlocking stories connected by a single gun converge at the end to reveal a complex and tragic story of the lives of humanity around the world and how we truly aren't all that different. In Morocco, a troubled married couple are on vacation trying to work out their differences. Meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. A girl in Japan dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a disability among many other issues, deals with modern life in the enormous metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. Then, on the opposite side of the world the married couple's Mexican nanny takes the couple's 2 children with her to her son's wedding in Mexico, only to come into trouble on the return trip. Combined, it provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking glass into the lives of seemingly random people around the world and it shows just how connected we really ... Written by Mac

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

A global disaster. See more »

Genres:

Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Cate Blanchett thought about turning down the role because she was going to spend most of her shooting time laying on the floor, she ended up agreeing because she wanted to work with Alejandro González Iñárritu. See more »

Goofs

When Chieko and Detective Mamiya are out on the balcony, there are no buildings close to hers when he is looking at the view they have from above the 30th floor. Later Chieko is on the balcony, nude, and her father comes to comfort her. As the movie ends, a long shot of their balcony is shown from their balcony's height and there are two buildings, one the same height, and one taller, right next to theirs that were not there earlier. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Hassan: It's almost new. Three hundred cartridges. The guy who gave it to me said you can hit as far as three kilometers.
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Connections

Referenced in The Salesman (2016) See more »

Soundtracks

The Joker (ATFC's Aces High Remix)
Fatboy Slim
Written by Steve Miller, Ahmet Ertegun & Eddie Curtis
Produced by Fatboy Slim
(p) Skint Records 2004
Editorial Musical Musart, S.A. de C.V.
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User Reviews

 
A coherent, impressive, well-made, insightful piece of work
25 August 2007 | by Nazi_Fighter_DavidSee all my reviews

"Babel" centers on several groups of people in 4 countries that are all connected by one freak accident… Alejandro González Iñárritu takes us from North Africa to North America to Asia… His film exposes four unconnected story lines that are eventually divulged to be inextricably linked to one another…

The first involves an isolated family of goat herders who live in the High Plateaus of the Moroccan desert where two young boys are testing a rifle's range handed by their father to protect their goats from jackals...

The second concerns a Middle-class American couple on a bus tour of Morocco trying to save together their damaged marriage…

Meanwhile, in the US, there is grave danger for an undocumented immigrant—a Mexican nanny as she tries to return to United States after she wrongfully decides to take her two blonde-haired young charges to her son's wedding across the Mexican border, despite her employers' sudden change of plans, that needs that she remains with them and miss the joyful occasion…

And on the opposite side of the world, we follow, in Tokyo, an alienated, confused deaf and mute teenage student, recovering from her mother's suicide, who eases her feelings of depression and loneliness by trying to win the friendship or attention of every man or adolescent who crosses her path… She flirts with sexual exhibitionism to attract the attention of her distant and uncommunicative father…

"Babel" tries to make a point and the point is that when people can't or won't communicate, unpredictable paths can lead to tragic consequences… It also tries to leave a message of how a 'shooting' from a simple 'gift' can set off a chain reaction of tragic events in three continents and four countries over which the different characters have exceedingly uncomfortable human emotion…

Out of the entire cast, it is only Rinko Kikuchi as Chieko who steals the movie especially when she transmits to her friends her mad decision of sexual aggressiveness, saying to all: "Now they're going to meet the real hairy monster." This scene remembered me, in some way, Sharon Stone uncrossing legs in "Basic Instinct."


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Country:

France | USA | Mexico | Morocco | Japan

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Babel See more »

Filming Locations:

Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$389,351, 29 October 2006

Gross USA:

$34,302,837

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$135,330,182
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

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