dpz301

i got Crash 100%, but as popcorntreect said, Babel showed us how the world works on an international platform as Crash did in LA. everyone in both movies was guilty of something, perhaps racism or classism, or something else.

The Bus

Please. Crash couldn't even hold Babel's coattails.

Patman

Thing about Babel is that some of the people were simply guilty of stupidity and a lack of common sense.

Shack1212

I personall hated Babel. Pretentious, long, and overdramatic. Seriously, a morrocan jacking off to his sister, the kid smashing his gun against the rocks, the mexican wedding with kids chasing chickens around, Pitt making out with a dieing just peed Blanchett, oh my. We get it, we're wrong and we can't communicate... sigh.

hardercore

Great criticisms there. You should look into a career - "this movie was so poor, Pitt makes out with a just peed Blanchett!"

redskull

SPOILERS, obviously...



Question about the film: Why were Pitt & Blanchette's characters vacationing in Morocco? They were talking with each other about it late in the movie as he was holding her in his arms, but they were speaking in such breathy, choking whispers that I honestly couldn't make out the dialog. I got the impression they had a child who died or was killed, so they went there to heal? Is that even close? Anyone?

slop101

I thought about this movie some more, and the more I think about it the less I like it.

Like Crash (though not nearly as bad), It's a lazy, dishonest film.

Consider this:
The nanny needs to get rid of the kids THE DAY AFTER their mom is shot. IOW, the day after she's on every news channel in the world. And no one is willing to help out? There are no neighbors who have seen this on the news? And where are the camera people waiting at their house?

But the nanny needs to make the retarded decision to take the kids to Mexico and make the further retarded decision to get in a car with a drunk driver who will make further retarded decisions... all carefully set up to get Inniratu's "point" across - whatever that is...

Which brings me to another problem: The portrayal of the non-americans thourghout the movie, where it seems like ALL the bad decisions and wrong-headedness came from foriegn characters, and the whites were just victims.
Examples:
- the farmer's kids shooting at the bus (who would do this anyways?)
- the incest going on in that family
- the dad's decision to run instead of surrendering and explaining
- the nanny taking the kids to Mexico
- the nephew's drunkeness, "short-cut" and horrible behavior at the border
- the japanese girl's desparate acts

and on and on... Meanwhile, Pitt, Blanchett and their kids do nothing but suffer.
What was the point to all this? I found no point at all. Stupid vacation destinations might get you stuck with stupid fellow vacationers and shot by stupid, horny kids trying to see if "the bullets are lame"?

A lot of stuff just didn't make sense.

I kept asking myself why the nephew would kick them out of the car? What was the point of that, other than to strand them in the desert? It seems to me like Inniratu had a bunch of idea he wanted to express and themes he was interested in but didn't really have a through-line for the whole film. I don't see there being a single, coherent theme that unites the entire picture.
Instead we've got:

- Not all American injuries in other countries are terrorist attacks.

- Even deaf Japanese girls are sexual beings who struggle with the loss of their mothers.

- U.S. Border Patrol officers are assholes, and our immigration policies are often too harsh on hard working domestics.

Could make for interesting stuff, but not in this movie, as it was way too lazy and all over the place.

PopcornTreeCt

You put it in better words than I did, Slop101. You summed up my feelings.

I don't know what the director was trying to say. I think he was supposed to be building up sympathy for the Mexican characters, the two Morrocan children, and the Japanese girl. And along with that feel the same frustration and helplessness that Pitt and Blanchett were going through. But only 1 of those emotions connected with me. The very last shot of the two boys stretching their arms out on the mountain cemented this opinion. These characters are the "villains" of the movie and here the director is portraying them as the innocent victims. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that so failed to connect with its audience. I've never seen a movie where the audience and director disagreed on who the heroes and villains were.

dpz301

it's funny to me that pitt and blanchett and their family are the ones i connected most with and they are the ones you see the least of.

InnocentBlood

saw it over the weekend. liked it so much that it made me want to see the director's first 2 movies again

hippie68

From what I understood, they had a child that may have died from SIDS.
One of the children was afraid to go to sleep because they thought the same would happen to them and at one point of the movie, Kate's character stated the baby "just stopped breathing."
As far as their vacation, I think it was just that. She was still angry at the fact that he left after their child died.

Kubrick4277

I saw this film with a friend of mine back in November and until now really felt that it was different (more realistic) than "Crash," but there was always something biting at me that made me think that it was a little too much like "Crash." It has the same set-up as "Crash" (in that everything affects everybody in the film which, in effect, was stolen from other films (Robert Altman's "Short Cuts" comes to mind)). Also, the situations aren't very realistic but are convenient to enhance the story. The fact that all the news stations (almost immediately) are reporting the shooting of an American tourist in a foreign land and yet nobody that knows this family is trying to help them (or the nanny who is desperate to go be with her son for his wedding (which by the way, in Brian Orndorf's review of this film, Gael Garcia Bernal was referenced as the actor portraying her son, but he was actually her nephew (sorry, I had to get that off my chest...I hate when people review things inaccurately!)). It also didn't make a lot of sense why the nephew (conveniently) had issues with authority and would end up getting chased by the border patrol. Honestly, is that realistic?! The more I think about it, the more I realize my friend was wrong in his opinion of this film. I'm not even going to bother talking about stupid incestuous kids shooting at buses or a horny, deaf girl who just wants to be loved. That's just too much! I sure hope the Academy thinks twice before naming this Best Picture. If I could have my way, I'd give "The Departed" all 5 awards it was nominated for. Scorsese deserves it and so does that film for not being like every other film (even though it was adapted from another film ("Infernal Affairs"). That's all I have to say.

Shannon Nutt

Finally saw it this weekend, and was unimpressed. It may be a "good" movie, but it's far from an Oscar caliber one.

I did notice the person who did the music used the SAME music that's on every episode of "Deadwood". Guess he was too lazy to compose something new?

Also, I'm interested in hearing others thoughts regarding the ending, specifically:

dpz301

Rizor

Just what I figured. Don't know if I'm right.

Tarantino

I saw it this morning for the first time.

Put me in the group that didn't like it (for the same reasons popcorn stated above). I got it, I just didn't think it was a very good story. It didn't connect with me one bit.

= J

MrE

Comparing BABEL to CRASH does a major disservice to both movies ... and sheds no light on either. Oddly enough Popcorn does as good a job (with the exception of thinking the Americans are sane) as the OP, but doesn't appreciate his own analysis ... how many movies can make you appreciate how the world works? Amores Perros or 21 Grams would be my first recommedations for this director, but I wouldn't be ashamed to add Babel. It's obviously struck a chord ... or a nerve ... and that's no bad thing.

cros

Maybe I'm not on the level of you reviewers, but I didn't like this one at all. I thought it was slow and boring, and the scenes about the chick weren't even that interesting.

To be honest, I couldn't even relate with the character in the scenes that the sounds are cut off.

Oh and btw, I also think you're all pronouncing the title incorrectly.

(Liked Crash, but I think you all have the theme of the movie incorrect. But that's a whole 'nother thread in itself.)

Oh, and I appologize for posting before reading the thread. Had I known this was a flame on Babel, I would have never posted my opinion.

Noonan

I'm also in the camp of people who didn't like this movie. I actually almost fell asleep during it. I felt it was all over the place. The stories didn't tie together well and I didn't find myself feeling for any of the characters except for the kids trying to get back home. They had no choice but to be in that situation. I was very glad when it was over. And I really liked both Crash and 21 Grams.

fryinpan1

I finally saw Babel on HD DVD Monday night. Overall, it was a good movie - acting, directing, editing, music, etc. However, it is not a movie that I would want or need to rewatch.

TimeandTide

Exactly.

Saw Babel on the eve of the Oscars. (And a well-deserved win for score, IMO). Loved it, but can't imagine ever re-visiting it.

Lateralus

Babel Will Make You Vomit
By Mack Rawden: 2007-05-04 00:39:50


What’s colorful, pretentious, and smells like Benihana? Give up? Japanese people vomiting after seeing Babel. Apparently, the overacted Brad Pitt shitfest has been so poorly received by Japanese audiences that it has actually caused many of them to unload their stomachs during theatrical viewings. I know this sounds like some outrageous and possibly tasty joke, but there’s nothing funny about the Land of the Rising Sun’s citizens doing their best Karen Carpenter impersonations. OK… maybe it’s a little humorous. Fine, it’s hysterical.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, as many as fifty moviegoers have experienced at least some form of nausea during or after viewing the Oscar winner. In particular, it seems to happen during a club scene featuring the film's Japanese schoolgirl character.

This hurling epidemic has even caused theater owners to hand out leaflets warning Babel fans of the explosive problem. It’s kind of like the first day of Calculus class when the professor tells you, “Look to your left. Now look to your right. Statistically, one of you will receive worse than a C-, and one of you will drop the class.” I’m not even sure which one is worse: vomiting Kobe beef all over your film date or blowing a thousand dollars because you can’t solve differential quotients.

Rumor has it that the spewing derives from audience reaction to the strobe lights; however, I have some serious doubts. Most likely, people just threw up after realizing they paid 42,000 Yen to sit through Babel.


I can't agree more.

starliteyes

I finally saw this film last night and have to agree wholeheartedly with both Hahn and Slop101. I found the majority of characters in this film, including the Americans, insolated in some way. In the case of the Americans, I saw:

-- a couple who could not communicate with each other and so became isolated
-- a family isolated in their own community and somewhat from their own family as evidenced by the fact that they did not have neighbours who could help out (they were relying on a sister or sister-in-law to fly in and help? and then for whatever reason she doesn't because ??? )
-- an american woman's fears and prejudices towards anything not American, physically recoiling at anything Moroccan, even attempting to refuse help from a local doctor
-- the contrast between the kindnesses and help extended by the local villagers to the selfishness and fear of a group of American tourists who choose to abandon fellow American humans in dire straits
-- the silent understanding the old woman showed by giving the American woman the smoke thing
-- the lack of understanding on the husband's part when he offered the tour guide money rather than understanding that the tour guide had helped for no other reason than it was the right, human thing to do

Regarding the nanny story, for me it raised the issue of a mother having to leave her own children for the sake of making a living where she is taking care of another mother's children. How excruciating that must be! I did not think her son looked very old and wonder how young he was when she left? Her lack of rights was also shocking to me considering she had lived as a law-abiding citizen for 16 years in the States.

As for the youngest boy peeping at his sister, for me it raised the question of what happens to the growing children of isolated families that have little or no interaction with other families with children? Where or how do they channel that natural curiosity and emerging sexual energy?

While I didn't love the movie and found the connections between the different stories somewhat slippery and lacking in honest emotion, it did raise some thought-provoking questions.... Then again, there is a lack of emotion and a sense of distance in isolation.

jfoobar

Babel failed to establish any emotional connection with me at all. Too bad because I loved 21 Grams.

cranberries fan

I like it alot and I would and will watch it again cause I own it.