Babel (2006)
Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Written by: Guellermo Arriaga and Alejandro González Iñárritu (idea)
Things I liked:
I love the bilingual communication between Amelia and the children. Mostly because it’s something you see quite often with kids whose Nanny speak a different language.
Nice transition directly from the two boys in Morocco running into the children playing in the US.
The wordless scene on the bus right before the shooting drags on long enough to make you really uncomfortable which helps put you where Richard and Susan are. Nicely done.
I love the establishing shots of Mexico, though with the loud musical overlay it borders on stereotypes. But holy crap can you understand how those two white bread children were so overwhelmed by it. Especially once the chicken killing started.
The moment when Chieko gets dissed by the guys for being deaf is so mortifying it instantly sort of makes up for her being such a bitchy teenager. Then she goes around flashing her cooch in restaurants and you realize she really is crazy but there might be good reason for it.
I thought the moments where things went silent so we experienced the world as Chieko were very nice. You don’t (or at least I don’t) think about things like what a nightclub is like when you can’t hear anything.
There was something really touching about Richard helping Susan pee. It was the kind of moment that makes you think, “This is what love/marriage is really about. Having that someone you care about so much that you’re willing to let them help you with something that personal.”
I like that the filmmaker doesn’t treat us like we’re stupid and need to have everything explained to us. They don’t have someone say, “Oh, Chieko is a disturbed girl because she’s a teenage girl with a disability who doesn’t know how to deal with her mother’s suicide.” We can figure it out on our own, but a lot of films would have had someone say that to us in case we didn’t.
Things I disliked:
In the scene where Richard and Susan rushed into Tezarine the camera work kept me focused on villagers and I needed a little more focus on Richard and Susan.
Okay, the other tourists on the bus seemed a little unrealistic. I can absolutely believe that in such a situation there would be some people who would demand the bus leave, but I really do think that there would also be at least a couple who would be more understanding. Perhaps it would have worked if I saw more genuine concern for their own safety on the part of the tourists, but instead, what the film seemed to be showing me was that the large British man was an asshole for no real reason and no one else cared.
It dragged. By the whole helicopter montage I couldn’t even care that much anymore; I was just ready for it to be over. And it’s not just the length, because two and a half hours really isn’t that long when you consider I sat through a Lord of the Rings marathon and loved it. It was just the pacing.
I didn’t make much of an emotional connection with the characters (other than Amelia and to a certain extent the children). Maybe I wasn’t really supposed to, but for me I really need to care about the characters to care about the movie.
Other observations:
Instantly establish Yussef as the cooler brother, not just because of his ability to shoot, but because of this more Western style clothes and his punk ass spying on his sister. And it really kind of pisses me off that Ahmed wound up dead all because of his brother.
Starting off with an image of a preteen boy masturbating while watching goats establishes the grittiness of the film.
Overall: I didn’t care for it. It was well done and an interesting concept. I’m glad I saw it, but I don’t have any inclination to see it again and wouldn’t necessarily recommend it. It’s not bad, just not my cup of tea.
Rating: Three out of five jars of peanut butter.
