Babel, the latest film by Alejandro González Iñárritu, is fantastic. Everyone should go see it... that is unless all you like to watch are vapid meaningless films that don't make you think or feel. If, like me, you enjoy wallowing in a sea of pathos for two and a half hours, you'll love it.
If you've seen Amores perros, then you should expect more of the same from this film, albeit on a larger scale. While Amores perros focused solely on Mexico City, Babel, encompasses Morocco, Japan and Mexico. The technique of interweaving several only moderately related stories is continued, just as it was in Amores perros and in 21 Grams, although Babel is certainly more linear than 21 Grams and the connections are much more than just a passing on the street. The soundtrack is remarkable, and contains the same strumming guitar used so effectively in Amores perros.
No one comes out of the film unscathed. And while I come away with my disdain for the US strengthened even more, it's really not the point of the film at all. The people are who are focus on, which is really how the world should work. Any time the government is involved (Moroccan as well), it is obvious that the good of the people really has nothing to do with their goals.
The film is filled with loneliness and despair, but I can only think that most of it is unnecessary. Oddly, the two who have the easiest time connecting are the Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett characters, in the middle of Morocco, far from anything or anyone they hold dear, wandering in the desert in search of their souls. The prospects are much more bleak for the rich deaf girl living in Tokyo, who can't find a boy to love her. And, of course, are the bleakest for the Mexican caretaker who lives in San Diego and crosses the border with the kids under her care to go to her son's wedding. Even the kid who shoots Cate Blanchett seems to have a rosier outlook than the deported old Mexican lady.
Let's certainly build some more walls to keep her kind out!
But I digress. The film isn't a political soapbox - that's just me. Go see it. Support a filmmaker who's making art and who isn't making Nacho Libre. Please.
If you've seen Amores perros, then you should expect more of the same from this film, albeit on a larger scale. While Amores perros focused solely on Mexico City, Babel, encompasses Morocco, Japan and Mexico. The technique of interweaving several only moderately related stories is continued, just as it was in Amores perros and in 21 Grams, although Babel is certainly more linear than 21 Grams and the connections are much more than just a passing on the street. The soundtrack is remarkable, and contains the same strumming guitar used so effectively in Amores perros.
No one comes out of the film unscathed. And while I come away with my disdain for the US strengthened even more, it's really not the point of the film at all. The people are who are focus on, which is really how the world should work. Any time the government is involved (Moroccan as well), it is obvious that the good of the people really has nothing to do with their goals.
The film is filled with loneliness and despair, but I can only think that most of it is unnecessary. Oddly, the two who have the easiest time connecting are the Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett characters, in the middle of Morocco, far from anything or anyone they hold dear, wandering in the desert in search of their souls. The prospects are much more bleak for the rich deaf girl living in Tokyo, who can't find a boy to love her. And, of course, are the bleakest for the Mexican caretaker who lives in San Diego and crosses the border with the kids under her care to go to her son's wedding. Even the kid who shoots Cate Blanchett seems to have a rosier outlook than the deported old Mexican lady.
Let's certainly build some more walls to keep her kind out!
But I digress. The film isn't a political soapbox - that's just me. Go see it. Support a filmmaker who's making art and who isn't making Nacho Libre. Please.
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