Available at Amazon.com
Director :
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast :
Brad Pitt……….Richard
Cate Blanchett……….Susan
Gael GarcÃa Bernal……….Santiago
Kôji Yakusho……….Yasujiro
Adriana Barraza……….Amelia
Harriet Walter……….Lilly
Rinko Kikuchi……….Chieko
Trevor Martin……….Douglas
The Movie :
Ever since Traffic, it seems, there comes a film or two annually with a “message” featuring multiple storylines and an expansive cast. Two years ago there was Crash, a year ago Syriana and in 2006 Babel received the same sorts of critical acclaim the aforementioned films did. And while Traffic may be the best of the bunch, comparatively Babel is the homeless person’s Traffic.
Babel follows several storylines that all manage to intersect with one another in the end. Richard (Brad Pitt) has to deal with the shooting of his wife Susan (Cate Blanchett) and the difficulties therein. Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) deals with being deaf in a world designed against her, specifically her native Japan. Amelia (Adriana Barraza) is stuck at her employer’s home, where she works as a nanny, is stuck with their two children on the eve of a wedding she must attend. Her nephew Santiago (Gael GarcÃa Bernal) takes the children and his aunt over the border to Mexico for it, but faces unintended consequences when he tries getting them back.
And for all the hype surrounding the film, Babel is basically a two hour exercise in pandering a message with an all-star cast. The film suffers from the same problem that Syriana suffered from: it’s more concerned with hammering home its message than it is telling a coherent story. There are too many “talking points” moments in the film that have been substituted in for dramatic story-telling ones. It gets annoying early and often as moments that should help tell the various stories become politicized, trying to preach as opposed to engage the audience. It’s more of a screenplay deficiency than anything else; it’s as if someone opted to write an engaging story and add “talking points” to make sure the film’s “message” gets across. It’s Oscar pandering at its best or politicized film-making at its worst depending on your perspective, one can suppose, but it makes for a lackluster movie.
It’s a shame, really, as it contains a great, if unrecognized, performance by Brad Pitt. While the film boasts of two others getting Oscar nominations, Pitt is the main standout in this film. In perhaps his best work to date he goes against type as a man trying to find help for his wife. Pitt, normally the cool collected one, is at his best in Babel as he tries to keep it together emotionally and can’t.
The Audio :
Presented in a Dolby 5.1 format, the film at least has a good audio component. While the sound doesn’t separate as cleanly as one would hope with a 5.1 format, there are no real issues as everything comes through as good as it can. The problem, however, is that the sound is closer to using a 2.0 format and shunting everything to the right and left speakers as opposed through the five or more it’s able to use.
The Video :
Presented in a widescreen format, Babel has a relatively good picture. The film has several different locales, from the muted colors of Morocco and Mexico to the wondrous color of Tokyo, but the colors come through cleanly and clearly. Iñárritu’s vision comes through clearly, with no colors bleeding and the picture coming through clearly.
The Extras :
The Theatrical Trailer and several previews are included.
