When one man purchases a rifle for his sons to shoot jackals with, he unknowingly starts a chain reaction that affects the lives of three other families around the world.
A poor Morroccan farmer buys the gun for his two sons to keep the sheep safe from carnivores. Instead, they waste ammo on a tour bus, wounding a woman (Cate Balnchett). Her husband (Brad Pitt), must find a way to save her. Meanwhile, their two children lay in the care of an illegal immigrant, Amelia (Adriana Barraza) who is their nanny. Because the children’s parents don’t make it home on time, Amelia is forced to take them to her son’s wedding in Mexico. The only trouble is that they don’t make it home all right...
Finally, in Japan, a young deaf-mute girl, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), struggles with the challenges of not being able to speak or hear. Longing for companionship and loving most of all, she delves into a world of sexually promiscuity which she hopes will help attract someone to fill her lonely void.
The four stories that make up Babel all fit together, each connecting to the other stories, much like Robert Altman’s masterpiece, Nashville. The whole picture is well edited together, and even though the Japanese story feels tacked on, it nevertheless still connects to the rest of the film. It is this story that is the most heartbreaking of the four. Chieko’s point of view is told with haunting realism. At points in the film the sound is lost and we are forced to view her life through her deaf ears.
Completed with terrific performances by Rinko Kikuchi and Adriana Barraza (both nominated), as well as Brad Pitt in one of his best performances, Babel will leave you wondering if the film itself is trying to tell us something about life, love or even the world in general. We never find out. The moral message is left for us to guess.
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
The Departed; Letters From Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; The Queen
Is the movie worth your time to watch?
8.5/10 23-02-07
