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Movies / On DVD / Babel
Babel

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Babel (2006)

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Reviews Counted:190

Fresh:130

Rotten:60

Average Rating:6.7/10

Consensus: In Babel, there are no villains, only victims of fate and circumstance. Director Alejandro Gonzalez Iņarritu weaves four of their woeful stories into this mature and multidimensional film.

Rated: 15

Runtime: 2 hrs 23 mins 1 sec

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:19-01-2007

Synopsis: BABEL is the crowning achievement in the trilogy from the unstoppable creative pairing of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, which also includes AMORES PERROS... BABEL is the crowning achievement in the trilogy from the unstoppable creative pairing of screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, which also includes AMORES PERROS (2000) and 21 GRAMS (2003). Building upon its predecessors' method of weaving together disparate storylines, BABEL reaches new heights of ambition with a tale that, in the absence of traditional narrative and protagonist, relies on numerous incredible performances to evoke an affecting relevance by framing contemporary issues in very human struggles and mistakes. Richard and Susan (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) are a wealthy couple from San Diego who are vacationing in Morocco in order to heal after the death of their young child; their other two children are at home with their Mexican maid, Amelia (Adriana Barraza). In a complex shift of ownership to which the audience is privy, a rifle finds its way into the hands of a local herdsman's young sons (Said Tarchani and Boubker Ait El Caid), who recklessly take a shot at a tour bus and catch Susan in the shoulder, causing her to nearly lose her life. The distraught Richard calls home to tell Amelia of the situation, who promptly departs for Mexico to attend her child's wedding, with Richard and Susan's children in tow. Disaster thus multiplies, with the situation in Morocco ascribed to terrorists in the media, while Amelia meets with the harsh immigration policies of the Bush administration. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, a widower (Koji Yakusho) tied to the rifle in question attempts to deal with his memories and his raucous, promiscuous, deaf daughter (Rinko Kikuchi). Nearly every performance of the film is devastating, offering an intimate, emotional experience that would approach melodrama if it weren't rendered so realistically. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto's color palette masterfully captures the muted tones of the harsh natural landscapes of Morocco and the Mexican border, as well as the fluorescent lights of Tokyo that denote another, though equally barren, end of the spectrum. The misunderstandings born of cultural, language, and class barriers are on par with those that occur between family members, depicting a world that, while connected in the least expected of ways, is also faced with a deep-seated crisis that threatens to alienate humanity from itself. [More]

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mahima Chaudhry

Starring: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Gael Garcia Bernal, Mahima Chaudhry, Shilpa Shetty, Koji Yakusho, Said Tarchani, Adriana Barraza, Boubker Ait El Caid, Rinko Kikuchi, Peter Wight, Peter Walter, Trevor Martin, Matyelock Gibbs, George Oumansky, Michael Maloney, Abdelkar Bara, Mustapha Rachidi, Elle Fanning, Nathan Gamble, Michael Pena, Jamie Mcbride

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Screenwriter: Guillermo Arriaga Jordan
Producer: Steve Golin, Jon Kilik, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Corrine Golden Weber
Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla
Studio: Paramount Classics

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Reviews for Babel

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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An impressive, beautifully acted work with a tragic sense of life. The formality of its structure controls a seething anger.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
01/27/07
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

Well acted and handsomely photographed, but still extraordinarily overpraised and overblown, a middlebrow piece of near-nonsense: the kind of self-conscious arthouse cinema that is custom-tailored and machine-tooled for the dinner-party demographic.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/20/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You can't make the same film three times and not expect people to carp. Go and see it with politically-minded friends and thrash it out afterwards over coffee.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
01/17/07
Matthew De Abaitua
Matthew De Abaitua
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Babel can be unnecessarily convoluted, ultimately though it's the stark simplicity of the dilemmas faced by each character that hits home, wherever that may be.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
01/16/07
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If misery is your pornography, Babel is your holy grail.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 1 Comment
01/16/07
Dave Calhoun
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For all its contrivances, Babel offers a gripping treatise on fate, chance and language with an epic sweep that leaves you marvelling at its ambition.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
01/15/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Total Film

Well structured, but rather cold.

Full Review Source: Sunday Mirror [UK] | comment 1 Comment
01/15/07
Mark Adams
Mark Adams
Sunday Mirror [UK]

It may be too slow for some tastes, but Babel remains emotionally bruising but compulsive viewing.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/04/07
Ian Freer
Ian Freer
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The entire ensemble cast give terrific performances, particularly Kikuchi, whose heart-breaking performance is simultaneously shocking, funny and moving.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/03/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Iņárritu and Arriaga continue their three-pronged approach with this powerfully moving drama.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/28/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The gimmick-machinery whirrs, but the human beings in it can't breath

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/28/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga have fashioned their ideas with conviction and obvious care.

Full Review Source: JWR | comment Comment
06/30/09
S. James Wegg
S. James Wegg
JWR
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
02/27/09
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Brian Marder
Brian Marder
Hollywood.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jonathan Kiefer
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

Babel...belongs to an unfortunately proliferating genre that might be called the higher kitsch.

Full Review Source: Style Weekly (Richmond, VA) | comment Comment
06/01/08
Thomas Peyser
Thomas Peyser
Style Weekly (Richmond, VA)

...language acts more as a means to distance and isolate us than aid in our understanding of one another.

Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
BrandonFibbs.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
all

Latest News for Babel

August 12, 2008: Rinko Kikuchi Hears Sounds of Tokyo Opens in new window
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