PLOT: Inspired by the Biblical Tower of Babel saga, a series of loosely connected modern stories explore themes of miscommunication, profound parenting issues and the boundaries people impose because of cultural rifts of racism
The films of Mexican master Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu are an acquired taste, like a fine Bordeaux wine, and Babel is now the ultimate example.
Even more than Inarritu's first two projects, Amores Perros and 21 Grams, his new epic is rich in complexity and tart upon the tongue because of its emotional tannins.
Yet it matures wondrously and opens up to those willing to take this dark human journey with him.
I first saw Babel at its premiere in May at the Cannes Film Festival, where Inarritu won the best-director prize. Few days have gone by since when some idea, an image or the film's primal insight has not affected me in some small way.
This effect accumulates, deepening the experience. So I now appreciate the power of Babel to a greater degree than in May. The film played as a gala at the Toronto festival in September and opens its theatrical run today, inviting another visit.
Befitting its inspiration, Babel is a true global film.
It plays in several languages, primarily English, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic. It was filmed in Mexico, Morocco and Japan. The key cast members hail from the U.S., Mexico, Morocco, Japan and Australia. There are stars mixed with effective amateurs, including two Moroccan kids who will capture your hearts --and then break them.
The names range from Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, as an American married couple on holiday in Morocco; to the superb Mexican veteran Adriana Barraza and emerging star Gael Garcia Bernal, as kinfolk who run afoul of U.S. border rules; to Japan's Koji Yakusho and Rinko Kikuchi, as a father-daughter duo scarred by the loss of the mother.
Kikuchi is riveting as a deaf-mute who communicates, often in despair, with a whole other body language.
Each segment of the story is given equal weight, as each story is segmented and juxtaposed with the others. So this is not a "Brad Pitt movie" but a true collective -- although he is remarkable in his role as an anguished husband and father caught up in extraordinary circumstances, when a stray bullet causes a crisis.
Critically, the film's point-of-view, while conjured by Inarritu and his gifted screenwriting partner Guillermo Arriaga, has an enlightened, universal quality. They seem inspired by humanism and not nationalism, by dialogue and not demagoguery. It is as if all things good were possible in the world, if only people could rise above their petty behaviours and numbing prejudices.
Of course, they don't. So Babel is rife with tension, intrigue, tragedy, stupid mistakes and sometimes dire consequences. Babel has the taut clench of a thriller, even though it is a serious art-house drama. It could leave you exhausted -- it does run epic length -- and it could have your mind spinning as you reel out of the theatre.
But is that not the role of the best cinema?
BOTTOM LINE: Dark, sophisticated and challenging, this film is a stunning conclusion to Inarritu's trilogy that began with Amores Perros and 21 Grams. Babel's stories are involve parent-child issues, especially fathers. I guarantee each saga will haunt your dreams.
(This film is rated 14-A)
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