Babel (2006)

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)

Writers:

Guillermo Arriaga, Guillermo Arriaga (idea)

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal

Won 1 Oscar. Another 42 wins & 135 nominations.

Cast

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

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

american | mini skirt | public nudity | female rear nudity | female full frontal nudity | 

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Taglines:

Pain is universal... But so is hope.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

West Video [Russia]

Country:

France USA Mexico

Language:

English Arabic Spanish Japanese Berber languages French Russian Japanese Sign Language

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Вавилон

Filming Locations:

Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$389,351, 29 October 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$34,302,837

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$135,330,182

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Anonymous Content

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

17 days before shooting was to commence in Morocco, none of the characters had been cast. The production crew made an announcement in the nearest town via television and radio and in the mosques that actors were needed. Within the next 24 hours, over 200 people showed up hoping to participate. Almost all of them are in the final cut of the film, both as principal characters and as extras.

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Goofs

When we first see Amelia, she is receiving a call from Richard. She asks him to find someone to care for his children so she can attend her son's wedding in Mexico. He says it's impossible(Susan has been shot in Morocco). Much later, after we have seen Susan airlifted to a hospital, we see the same call, from Richard's end, in which he tells Amelia that "Rachel" is coming to care for the children, so that Amelia can go to the wedding.

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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 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #8.140 (2010)

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Soundtracks

El Pachangon
Los Incomparables
Efrain Gonzalez Gonzalez
Lopez Herrera Musical, S.A. de C.V.

User Reviews

Excellent, bloody; well-communicated film

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel weaves four disparate and seemingly unrelated tales into a distinct, gritty narrative about the importance of communication - and what can happen when it goes awry. The movie is oftentimes difficult to watch, with ultrarealistic cinematography and gutsy, honest performances from its entire cast, particularly Oscar-nominated actresses Adriana Barraza (Amelia) and Rinko Kikuchi (Chieko).

Told nonlinearly, the movie describes the travails of a troubled married couple with a tour group in Morocco, played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Something in their past has driven them apart, and to help deal with the problem they have taken a trip together. Meanwhile, the sons of a shepherd fight over who's the better shot with their new rifle and fire a blast at the couple's tour bus, critically wounding Susan (Blanchett).

Richard (Pitt) calls home in San Diego to notify the nanny of their children, Amelia; Amelia is in a bit of a bind, because she expected the parents home so she could attend the wedding of her son in Mexico. With Richard and Susan not returning soon, and with no one else available to watch the children, she takes them with her to the wedding.

In Japan, a deaf-mute Japanese girl acts out in reaction to her mother's suicide, which she discovered; the virginal Chieko becomes a huge sexual flirt, even removing her panties in a crowded restaurant to flash older boys. Chieko craves human contact but feels that the world's even more shut off to her now than ever before, and she sullenly shuns even her father's attentions.

It should go without saying that this film really isn't for everyone. It's gut-wrenchingly tough to watch at times, especially when Susan's wound is being treated. You can readily imagine how it'd be if you, an unworldly American, were suddenly in dire need of expert medical attention in a part of the world that wasn't really famed for it. That's enough to strike terror in me already, and I haven't even mentioned how Richard and Susan are awaiting help to arrive in a small, impoverished village with no running water or electricity - and only one person who can speak English to them.

How exactly these stories are commingled becomes evident as the movie progresses, but it's not all elegantly laid out for the viewer to immediately grasp; this is accomplished in part by the nonlinear storytelling. We see a scene near the end of the movie that is a mirror image of one from the beginning, except told from a different character's perspective. That's a tribute to the wonderful camera-work and editing by, respectively, Rodrigo Prieto and the team of Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrone.

Barraza turns in a powerful, heart-breaking performance; at one point, she's stranded in the middle of the Sonoran desert with her two young charges clad in her dress from the wedding. Dazed by the blistering heat, Amelia cannot gain her bearings in the blazing heat, and she despairs. Then she makes a critical decision with devastating consequences.

Kikuchi is absolutely mesmerizing as the silent Chieko. Without uttering one word, she's able to convey a vast array of emotions, from loneliness to hostility to love to lust to affection. She's alternately serene and violent, in charge of and captured by her impediment. Chieko resents her father, her volleyball teammates, and most of all every so-called normal person who looks at deaf-mutes as monsters, creatures to be scorned and taken advantage of. Like Barraza, Kikuchi's role called for a difficult sacrifice: plenty of nudity.

Babel is a spellbinding, multifaceted story with towering, passionate performances by all of the leads. It's full of moxie and stark realism, and despite some minor plot implausibilities, it's a true feather in the cap for Inarritu.