Alejandro Gonzlez Inarritu has quickly established himself has on of the most renowned Mexican directors working in the United States. Babel, is the director's most recent work, and serves as his fourth collaboration with Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. Babel has I??rritu on the cusp of garnering top honors at next Sunday's 79th annual Academy Awards. The film is nominated for both best director, and best picture, while Guillermo Arriaga is nominated for best original screenplay.
Babel tracks four separate stories over three continents that are somehow tragically linked. Ensemble pieces, with multiple storylines, and non-linear structure have become increasingly popular, and increasingly rewarded by the Academy. Coupled with Inarritu's two previous films, Amores Perros, and 21 Grams, Babel completes the Mexican filmmaking team's trilogy of death and tragedy. Babel fails to deviate from the successful formula set forth in the previous films, and loses more originality given the recent success of films such as Magnolia, Traffic, and Crash.
The success of these films lies in the filmmaker's ability to successfully present multiple storylines and characters that interest the audience. This is especially critical when dealing with random tragic events, and the filmmaker's goal to show what some critics call, the "essential connectedness" of human beings. It is imperative that the motivations of the characters are understood, and that they are able to evoke emotion from the audience, when these "tragic" events occur. Unfortunately, this is where Babel fails.
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett play Richard and Susan, a troubled American couple on vacation in Morocco. Their first sequence together is at a restaurant where their problems are lightly outlined to the audience. We understand that Susan is slightly high strung, and Richard is a little more carefree, but clearly afraid of confrontation. We never truly get to essence of the couple's marital troubles, but this first exchange is supposed to serve as the setup for our interest in their reconciliation. In fact, a previous scene in the film pegs Richard and Susan has selfish white Americans who could care less about their Mexican housekeeper who raises their kids. While under intense stress, Richard hangs up on Amelia(Adrianna Barrazza) when she asks if someone is coming to watch the kids so that she can attend her son's wedding. Barazza's role as the caring Mexican housekeeper is the true standout performance of the film
The tragic actions of two Moroccan children lead to Susan and Richard's extended stay in Morocco. Consequently, Amelia is forced to take their kids to her son's wedding in Mexico. The events that follow highlight one of Babel's true strengths. Amelia finds herself lost in the dessert just over the American border with the two children. Watching two blonde, American children traverse treacherous terrain in the blazing sun serves as a commentary on U.S. immigration policy, One can only think of the number of Mexican children that die each year attempting to cross in to the United States, The film also indirectly shines a spotlight on Terrorism, and the inherit danger in gun ownership.
While Babel fails to present rich and diverse characters, the film captures the essence of each of its locations. Inarritu employed many of the same cinematic techniques that were successful in his other films to capture the grim realities of the story being told. Babel implements a lot of hand held camera work, over exposed frames, and natural lighting. All of these elements help to establish the uniqueness of each location. In some ways, Morocco, Mexico, and Tokyo serve as the film's richest characters. The film's photography is simply stunning, and the final shot of the film above Tokyo is worth the price of admission.
Babel has moments of brilliance, but all in all, the film is unable to achieve what it set out to do. The actions of the characters often seem unmotivated, and the film's two hour and twenty three minute running time still does not give the audience enough time to learn and care about the characters. The moments in the film that are supposed to serve as the emotional payoff for the audience are obvious, but these moments fall flat. I found myself wondering why I was supposed to care about the people on the screen. It would appear that as Inarritu becomes a bigger name in American filmmaking, and as the names on the marquee get bigger and bigger, his films lose a bit of the gritty reality that made Amores Perros a nominee for best foreign language film in 2000. No matter what the Academy says about the film on Sunday, Babel is simply an average film that capitalizes on a successful formula. The film fails to engage the audience, while everyone waits for the proverbial frogs to fall from the sky.