Babel (review)

Babel

Last Wednesday, I got a free ticket into a not released movie by the name of Babel. After reading the back of the handout, I still wasn’t sure what the movie was about. Hell, I never even heard of the movie before I got the ticket. So, I didn’t have any preconceived notions about the movie.

In Morocco, an American couple is vacationing when something tragic happens to one of them. We, the moviegoers, get to see the lives of the people involved in this tragic incident from around the world. We observe how this American couple deals with incident, while also looking at the lives of two young Moroccan boys whom were involved in the incident. In Japan, we get a glimpse into a deaf young Japanese woman’s life, and we get to find out how her father is involved in the story in Morocco. In Mexico, a Mexican woman tries to get to young American children across the border to the United States. The movie handles the shifting storylines in a respectable way, yet some are more compelling than others.

Babel shows us the lives of these people in such a raw fashion that some people might be turned off by it. Each country has its people speaking in their native tongue, so that means people will be reading a lot of subtitles, you’ll even get Japanese Sign Language subtitles. People wouldn’t be wrong in saying that this movie feels like Crash, because there are many similarities to that movie. However, people should judge both movies separately, and give this movie a chance. Brad Pitt is amazing in this movie, as well as the other actors in this movie. When there are dull parts in the movie, the good acting takes us through to the end. It doesn’t matter what language people are speaking, because we see their emotions.

With a harsh R-rating, and Full Nudity, some people will be turned off. In the end, I found the movie enjoyable and it gave me a peek into other cultures around the world, while telling a dark story. Note: Not all the questions in the movie are answered, and they are left up to the viewer.

Grade B (It was free, so this might play a factor in my Grade)

Pitt: “Do I have to do Cool World II?”

Pitt’s Agent: “It’s that or Troy II: Arrows, We Don’t Need No stinking Arrows.”
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This is the deaf girl, and she spends most of her time naked or high during the movie, and I am not making this up…