BABEL

A couple’s tragic vacation becomes an international incident in director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s latest, BABEL. Just like Inarritu’s last two pictures, 21 GRAMS and AMORES PEROS, BABEL’S tale is told in non-linear fashion with several storylines. The main storyline involves Richard and Susan, a married couple on vacation in Morroco. While traveling via bus, Susan is hit in the neck by a stray bullet, which comes from a young Morrocan boy who foolishly decides to use a commercial bus as target practice. Not only does the incident begin rumors of terrorism, but Richard and Susan’s predicament creates further complications back home with their children in San Diego.

BABEL plays like an internationally attuned version of CRASH. Both films involve issues of prejudice, miscommunication and mankind’s self-centered nature. Where CRASH spoke to these issues in the microcosm of Los Angeles, California, BABEL addresses these problems through multiple countries, cultures and languages. It twists conventional storylines, including teen angst, a family wedding and a couple’s vacation, into an emotionally gripping, riveting and unconventionally thrilling picture. The direction and performances are dead-on for the material. Inarritu expertly weaves three storylines in four different countries and three different languages, and Pitt, Blanchett and a cast of relative unknowns provide the necessary realism and intensity. Pitt’s Richard is the heart and soul of BABEL, providing us with a face and understanding of these issues. His good looks are hidden behind a rough beard and chiseled face, displaying a man distraught by his wife’s injury. BABEL is one of the best films of 2006.

Grade: B+