Review of Babel (2006) by Jesse B — 29 Jul 2010

Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu made a very good film in "21 Grams". In that film he used multiple story lines to develop the notion of how lives converge and sometimes "crash" into one another. It was a human story which weaved its intricate web, playfully around bounds of time, beginning somewhere in the middle and working its way all over the place until a satisfactory conclusion is revealed in the middle(?). His next film, "Babel", fallows a similar weave (if you will) accept this time he takes us on a journey of the world instead of a single city; Japan, Morocco, the United States and Mexico are the destinations of choice. However, with similar themes and construction, Inarritu misses the boat with this one, as he seems to use the concept of multiple stories as a way of avoiding the development of any one of the characters.

The most interesting character (in fact, the only one of whom I did, in fact, like) is a Japanese school-age girl who cannot hear. Yes, she is deaf. She hangs out with friends who are also deaf, people which she feels most comfortable around as they all are able to "speak" the same language. She pines after a teenage boy who has friends of their own. They can hear.

The idea begins to emerge concerning the separation of people on the basis of communication (or lack-thereof). She is also separated from her single father (who lost his wife to suicide), although he seems to desperately wish to connect with his alienated daughter. Alas, his busy professional life too often gets in the way of their relationship and she resents that fact, even if she is unwilling to see it. In order to be feel accepted, the girl resorts to extreme sexual advances, although there is no intercourse which is ever shown or that takes place. She is still only a naive, lonely teenager and only wishes to recognized as a fellow human being who needs love. Exposing herself to the young men she's attracted to, she begins to discover new depths to her loneliness.

Now, you are probably wondering, "This sounds like an amazing movie! Why only two stars?" Trust me, both of those stars belong solely to the story which I have just conveyed. Remember, there are three other stories to be had. And that is where the film truly falls apart. Dir. Inarritu crams too much into this two and a half hour film-- cutting out in the middle of one story to go to the next-- and never truly develops any of the characters beyond a certain level. In fact, the very device of the cutting to different stories almost seems as an excuse for the filmmaker not to involve us to deeply into any one story. He is trying to build a mosaic, but fails in involving us in the other patches of the quilt.

I would have liked one, ninety minute film on this girl and the exploration of her character without all of the inane plot developments and coincidences which we are fed throughout. Rinko Kikuchi is the young actresses name. By watching her performance, you would automatically assume that the actress, herself, is deaf. We never once suspect that she is just that good of an actress.