2008 Woodie Awards
No fall for Babel
Danny Acosta
Issue date: 11/21/06 Section: Detour
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The tragedy is once again triumphant. Babel reinvents the tragedy for modern audiences by sticking with ancient themes. Like most tragedies, it is unrelenting. Babel is as silent as waters. This absence of sound is visually assaulting. What is spoken is necessary and unheard.
Babel follows the intricacies of an international incident. Richard (Brad Pitt) and his wife Susan (Cate Blanchett) are on a bus in Morocco when Susan is shot. Susan begins to bleed to death in a nearby village. Richard attempts to work with the American Embassy, but no help is in sight. It is here that the story of a rural Moroccan family, a Mexican housekeeper, and a Japanese teen deaf-mute intersect.
The setting bounces from middle-America to the heart of Mexico to Japanese hot spots and the depths of nowhere in Morocco. With each scene, Director Alejandro González Iñárritu builds cliff hangers worthy of season finales. When he returns to what seems to be long forgotten, it is swift. He never neglects emotion. He concludes scenes by berating audiences with the visceral emotions of the complex characters.
Babel's ensemble cast has both star power and screen-stopping performances from newcomers. Brad Pitt plays at a higher level in his small, critical role. Gael García Bernal grips viewers with tension in his role as Santiago, an intoxicated, loving nephew.
Mohamed Akhzam proves the actor's best tool is the face. The pain he portrays with short looks matches that of Adriana Barraza, who never appears on screen with him, but pours out the tragedy through her eyes in a way audiences have rarely seen.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu returns with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. The pair collaborated on two Academy Award film contenders: Amores Perros (2000) and 21 Grams (2003). In typical Arriaga fashion, the narrative is complex and non-linear, but maintains rising action and at times achieves heart-breaking heights. The duo tells the story in large, divided scenes. This contributes to what can make for a mess of a film. While Babel constantly shifts through seven languages (including sign language), Iñárritu bolsters the notion that film is an international language through his lucid storytelling. For 142 minutes, they explore a simplistic yet profound human tragedy-communication breakdown.
Babel will be a hot topic during Oscar season. The buzz generated will come and go. But as the camera fades out in the last scene, there is a stunning realization that these stories are as overbearing as forever. These stories do not come and go. Unfortunately, they may go unheard.
Babel follows the intricacies of an international incident. Richard (Brad Pitt) and his wife Susan (Cate Blanchett) are on a bus in Morocco when Susan is shot. Susan begins to bleed to death in a nearby village. Richard attempts to work with the American Embassy, but no help is in sight. It is here that the story of a rural Moroccan family, a Mexican housekeeper, and a Japanese teen deaf-mute intersect.
The setting bounces from middle-America to the heart of Mexico to Japanese hot spots and the depths of nowhere in Morocco. With each scene, Director Alejandro González Iñárritu builds cliff hangers worthy of season finales. When he returns to what seems to be long forgotten, it is swift. He never neglects emotion. He concludes scenes by berating audiences with the visceral emotions of the complex characters.
Babel's ensemble cast has both star power and screen-stopping performances from newcomers. Brad Pitt plays at a higher level in his small, critical role. Gael García Bernal grips viewers with tension in his role as Santiago, an intoxicated, loving nephew.
Mohamed Akhzam proves the actor's best tool is the face. The pain he portrays with short looks matches that of Adriana Barraza, who never appears on screen with him, but pours out the tragedy through her eyes in a way audiences have rarely seen.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu returns with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. The pair collaborated on two Academy Award film contenders: Amores Perros (2000) and 21 Grams (2003). In typical Arriaga fashion, the narrative is complex and non-linear, but maintains rising action and at times achieves heart-breaking heights. The duo tells the story in large, divided scenes. This contributes to what can make for a mess of a film. While Babel constantly shifts through seven languages (including sign language), Iñárritu bolsters the notion that film is an international language through his lucid storytelling. For 142 minutes, they explore a simplistic yet profound human tragedy-communication breakdown.
Babel will be a hot topic during Oscar season. The buzz generated will come and go. But as the camera fades out in the last scene, there is a stunning realization that these stories are as overbearing as forever. These stories do not come and go. Unfortunately, they may go unheard.