Review of Babel (2008) by Cj W — 21 Sep 2013

Babel is one of the most original and interesting concepts that I've seen from a film released in the 21st century, and is probably one of the best films of the 2000's. The film does no less than try to encompass the whole realm of human communication and connection, and what were left with is a sprawling epic depicting disconnected people in an interconnected world.

This is the 3rd film in the Arriaga/Inarritu trilogy, which this screenwriter/director tandem has produced some modern classics like Amores Perros, and 21 Grams, but Babel is probably Inarrutu's most beautiful and elegant directorial attempt, and probably Arriaga's most luminous and insightful screenplay.

The first 2 were mainly study's of 2 different cultures, here it is a study of human language, and thus, the human condition. The story begins by showing us two children in Morocco who are playing with their new rifle, they shoot at a bus, hit a passenger, and catapult the whole film's narrative leading to a chain of human actions and connections.

Inarritu does an absolutely wonderful job at making the picture throb with human emotion, and basically, just creating truly realistic and human atmosphere. He shows us with fleeting emotional images of small gestures that carry more weight than any word, that language is not here to connect us, but to separate us.

Very few films can claim to have said as much about human communication as Babel has, and I definitely recommend a viewing.