Day
34 Babel [2006]
Screenplay Guillermo Arriaga
Director Alejandro González
Iñárritu
Cinematography Rodrigo Prieto
Music Gustavo Santaolalla
Leads Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García
Bernal
Production Anonymous Content, Zeta
Film, Central Films, Media Rights Capital
IMDb 7.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes 69%
Nice
to see Iñárritu’s name on the DVD cover before watching a film I had heard
little about. After such success with The Revenant, I was looking
forward to seeing some of his earlier films. This one told three stories in
different corners of the world that are all interlinked. They happen out of
sync, which means we are left slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together.
However, that is not what the film is about, the fact the stories are all
connected just makes the film itself more interesting than it would have been
had we known at the beginning how all the characters are connected. I’m not
sure I explained that too well, you’ll have to watch it for yourself to
understand. Anyway, we follow goat herders in Morocco, specifically two
brothers who are given a gun to shoot coyotes. We also follow a deaf Japanese
girl in Tokyo who is struggling with boys and has a bad relationship with her
father. Finally, we follow the Mexican babysitter of two kids in San Diego,
whose parents are away on holiday in Morocco. All three stories are brilliant short
films in themselves. I won’t give anything away but I think the Tokyo story is
the most compelling, even though most of one’s attention is drawn to the
Morocco story. It’s hard to pick anything out in particular that makes this
film good, as you can see in the ratings it’s just a great all-rounder.
Acting 3 / 4
Writing 3
/ 4
Cinematography 3
/ 4
Music 3
/ 4
HWF rating 3
/ 4