Babel (DVD)

Extraordinary movie in which several storylines are woven into a single dramatic tapestry. Very moving and wholly involving. Strong performances from Bradd Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

From the same director who brought us "21 Grams" (in my top 5 of all time), Bable is truely stunning. If you like films which make your senses work and not just films full of guns and TNT, then this is a must see. Piece

4 interlocking stories all connected by a single gun all converge at the end and 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 are.

After watching the first 2 films of Alejandro González Iñárritu's (AMORES PERROS and 21 GRAMS) i had a good idea what to expect. Well this one is the best of the lot.A slow burner that draws you in. Brilliantly filmed and acted and easier to follow than 21 grams,no boring scenes or stories which spoiled Amores Perros for me. Four storylines unfolding through the film, but you never feel lost and the way it has been edited is just right to keep your interest in all the characters.My favourite being the mute Japanese girl.This is not a film for every one.Just look at the reviews on Amazon! There are no happy endings,you got to do the thinking in this film.If you want to see your local multiplex blockbuster,then this probably wont be your cup of tea. If you like films coming from a different angle and not the usual mainstream trash watch this.

Babel is the final part of the trilogy created by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga following the excellent Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Like the two previous installments, Babel deals with the darker aspects of the human condition, interweaving various stories around a central theme. As its title suggests, Babel is a study of language and the confusion and mistrust caused by the inability to communicate. With its three central stories set in Morocco, Mexico and Japan, Babel shows how frustrations and problems with language are a global issue.

It's an absorbing topic. The same however cannot be said of Babel which, for nearly two and half hours, cuts from one despairing episode to the next. Inarritu and Arriaga offer a very bleak perspective of life. There is no respite from the unrelenting misery. Both are so insistent we get the point they offer nothing that might possibly detract from their purpose. The result is a hard one to stomach. Slow and serious aren't synonyms for good and Babel's laboured intensity should not unquestioningly be construed as profound.

The central story involves Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett), married parents of two young children who are attempting to overcome the recent death of a third child by vacationing in Morocco. Susan is shot in the shoulder when the coach she and Richard are traveling on is chosen as a random target by two young boys who are trying out a new high-powered rifle given to them by their goat-herding father. Back in California, Amerlia (Adriana Barraza), the Mexican nanny of Richard and Susan's children, is forced to take them across the border to Tijuana so she can attend her son's wedding. The third story involves a deaf-mute student Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) who's struggling to come to terms with her mother's suicide and the frustrations her disability imposes on her burgeoning sexuality.

All three stories are linked both by circumstance and theme to create a unifying motif. Inarritu's penchant for playing with time and jumping between the storylines has the effect of breaking tension rather than increasing it. Where Babel does succeed is showing how inadvertent actions can have devastating effects

exellent film saw it at the cinema and wanted to view again. wonderful story and characters. especially the asian girl attempts at seduction.

Dont just take my word. Its an amazing movie. 4 intertwining stories all with language problems contributing to the plot.

Execellent film to watch, will be watching it many time also very good value for money, would deal with again