Babel (2006)

Director:

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Writers (WGA):

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)
Guillermo Arriaga (idea) ...

Release Date:

10 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

If You Want to be Understood...Listen

Plot:

Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.

Plot Keywords:

Deaf Mute | Child With Gun | Illegal Immigrant | Father Son Relationship | Nudity

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 25 wins & 75 nominations

Cast

Brad Pitt	...	Richard
Cate Blanchett	...	Susan
Mohamed Akhzam	...	Anwar
Peter Wight	...	Tom
Harriet Walter	...	Lilly
Trevor Martin	...	Douglas
Matyelok Gibbs	...	Elyse
Georges Bousquet	...	Robert
Claudine Acs	...	Jane
André Oumansky	...	Walter
Michael Maloney	...	James
Dermot Crowley	...	Barth
Wendy Nottingham	...	Tourist #1
Henry Maratray	...	Tourist #2
Linda Broughton	...	Tourist #3

Also Known As:

Babel (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use.

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

France | USA | Mexico

Language:

English | Arabic | French | Spanish | Japanese | Japanese Sign Language | Berber

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Malaysia:18PL | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Brazil:16 | Ireland:16 | New Zealand:R16 | South Africa:16 (LN) | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 | Norway:15 | Netherlands:12 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Hong Kong:IIB | USA:R (certificate #42677) | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Japan:PG-12 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Argentina:18 | Germany:16 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Iran:18+

Filming Locations:

Azabu-Juban, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Almost all of the film, even the driving scenes, was shot using a hand-held camera.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Mexican lady is lost in the desert with the kids, she decides to stop under a tree so the kids can rest. At this moment, one can clearly see that the women is barefoot. Once she talks to the boy and starts walking away (leaving the kids behind) one can see that she is wearing shoes.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Hassan: It's almost new. Three hundred cartridges. The guy who gave it to me said you can hit as far as three kilometers.

Movie Connections:

Features "The Mighty Mouse Playhouse" (1955)

Soundtrack:

Mujer Hermosa

Poetry

Alejandro González Iñárritu's direction is brilliantly layered and intricately woven. He deftly uses different film stock, imagery, sound, and stories to weave a single tale out of four disparate ones, a talent he's shown in other films.

The story by screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and Iñárritu has one incident ricochet around the globe, and peeling back the layers of culture to show the frustrating inability to communicate, and the poignancy and universality of familial love.

Each story is complete, but a series of snapshots that leave as many questions as answers. As the stories unfold, the backstories and the futures of the characters are chock full of possibility and pain. As one commenter during the Q&A said, it was frustratingly beautiful. Each storyline deals with family and conflict from the inability to communicate or to understand.

All the performances are incredible, and very touching. Brad Pitt did an excellent job, and the always outstanding Cate Blanchett, a powerhouse actor if there ever was one, has the least screen time of any of the leads. Few can do so much with so little. But the really outstanding performance is Rinko Kikuchi as a deaf-mute Tokyo teen.

To say any more would possibly lesson the experience, so let me just say this: it may seem confusing at times, but by the end, it will seem like poetry.