Babel

BABEL (15)
D: Alejandro González Iñárritu
UIP/Paramount Vantage (Jon Kilik, Steve Golin & Alejandro González Iñárritu)
USA/Mexico/France 🇺🇸 🇲🇽 🇫🇷 2006
143 mins
 
Drama
 
W: Guillermo Arriaga
DP: Rodrigo Prieto
Ed: Stephen Mirrione & Douglas Crise
Mus: Gustavo Santaolalla 
PD: Brigette Broch
 
Brad Pitt (Richard Jones), Cate Blanchett (Susan), Gael Garcia Bernal (Santiago), Koji Yakusho (Yasujiro Wataya), Adrianna Barazza (Amelia), Rinko Kikuchi (Chieko Wataya)
 
A dramatic, thought provoking ensemble piece, set in separate countries using different languages, yet the stories are all interlinked.
In Morocco, two boys are playing with a loaded rifle and accidentally open fire, injuring tourist Cate Blanchett, whose husband Brad Pitt battles to save her life.
Meanwhile, a Mexican housekeeper in California takes the children she is caring after to her son's wedding in Mexico, but they become stranded when returning stateside.
The third story follows a deaf Japanese student whose life has seemingly fallen apart following the death of her mother.                      
Despite this ambitious film taking place over such diverse communities and culture and having a language barrier to overcome, it works incredibly well.  The stories don't interlink as seemlessly as you expect them to, but it does demonstrate a butterfly effect theory which many would take for granted.
All the performances are great but Adrianna Barazza as the Mexican housekeeper torn between her duties and family commitments and Rinko Kikuchi as the hearing-impaired Japanese schoolgirl are the standouts.
8/10

Babel
Babel
Did You Know:
Since each story was filmed at different times and on different continents, some of the cast members never met their counterparts until the film's premiere.