Year: 2006
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Page: 944
The gorgeous, confronting, suspenseful film Babel takes the viewer on an elaborately weaved roller-coaster ride of death, drama and humanity. The ensemble cast present a raw, emotionally complex story that reveals how life can be so subtly and intricately linked.
Babel is complex to say the least, taking place simultaneously (yet somewhat out of sync) in four different countries. The cast is large, and the story is larger, with drama and despair taking place in the lives of all characters. From the beginning it is clear that director Alejandro González Iñárritu was attempting filmic grandeur. Massive shots of the desolate Moroccan mountains contrast brilliantly with the metropolis of an anonymous Japanese city. Not only that America and Mexico are thrown into the mix as the film begins to feel like a travel show, being taken through the screen to places all around the world. However that’s where the comparisons end. The film is focussing on death, being the final film in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Death Trilogy. It is clear from the outset that death is going to make its way into each of these character’s lives in some way or another.
What is not so clear from the beginning is how each of the four plot lines arelinked. The lives in the film are all so immensely different that it is difficult at first to think of how they might be linked. This creates a sense of intrigue, and the film becomes all the more gripping as small details become known about the interlinking of the characters’ lives. Slowly, slowly the plots unfurl and the blurry lines between nations and nationalities become clear. The story is powerful and interesting, and the way the film manages to link the different lives is magnificent. However the link with Japan is slightly tenuous, and this does make the Japan subplot feel somewhat out of place. Despite this the overall story is strong. The fluidity of time and space only heightens the intrigue and the simple alternation of location becomes such a powerful way of building suspense. Furthermore the decision to leave the film open-ended and choosing not to wrap everything up nicely only extends the viewers’ thought process further.
The film is a visually stunning piece of work. The cinematography is wonderful and successfully presents amazing views of Morocco and Japan, and to a lesser extent Mexico and the United States. The foreign locations are the focus of this film, and it is clear in Mexico and the US that less attention is paid here. Morocco’s desolation and isolation almost becomes a character within itself, providing a harsh environment as a backdrop to death. The creation of intrigue and suspense throughout the film enhances the story’s influence, and as such it becomes a gripping and sometimes shocking film that can work to really move the viewer. The use of music (and occasionally the use of complete silence) becomes a powerful tool in enhancing the emotion and drama, and it is particularly commendable.
Whilst the message of the film is not immediately known, it slowly becomes apparent that a message of humanity has been threaded throughout the various plots. As the characters work through their struggles we see that despite a person’s location or nationality, they are always a part of some sort of far-reaching aspect of humanity. These characters, so distant and different, yet linked unknowingly, are all products of the same earth, and this is the message that comes through in the end, even if it leaves many of the storylines unfinished.
Babel is a powerful film, and one that makes the mind think. The lack of a Hollywood ending leaves the viewer wanting more, yet also offers an ending that the viewer can assume. Ultimately the impact of the pure humanity being presented on the screen is that which is most powerful, and it is that which makes the viewer think.
