Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett

A tale of two deserts

Two arid terrains, intriguingly bridged by a Tokyo high-rise whose deaf-mute inhabitant, Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi, whose desperate measures are at the root of the theme) takes the legend of Babel to another compelling level, are the ideal backdrop for this magnificent morality fable jammed with action/reaction that occasionally strains credibility but, on balance, delivers enough knockout scenes to hold anyone’s attention for its generous running time.

In Morocco, the near-deadly accuracy of a single long-range bullet (fired by a boy with the same ignorant enthusiasm as those who toss rocks from super highway bridges and maim innocent lives) sets off a series of events that threaten the lives of the victim’s (Cate Blanchett who suffers with convincing agony and dignity) oh-so-innocent American children (Nathan Gamble, Elle Fanning) as their illegal-immigrant nanny, Amelia (Adriana Barazza—solid in her constant mothering) slips into Mexico for her son’s wedding.  But before you can say “kiss the bride,” the U.S. Border Police are chasing a drunken gringo-hating relative who abandons his Auntie and her charges in the California badlands to fend for themselves while he leads the cops astray.

Long before this action, a revolver to the head found its target and this collapsed mother was first discovered by Chieko, who never heard the blast but erupted into an internal one of her own with the suicide.  Soon the distraught teen is flashing her bush at fickle boys, an outraged dentist and a “hot” Japanese Detective who’s trying to track down her father.  Unable to speak and stone deaf, Cheiko’s desperation speaks louder than words to misunderstood or ridiculed youth everywhere.  Courageously, she strips bare and hurls herself into the arms of authority who is sorely tempted but manages to put his own desires ahead of her pain.  Sadly this becomes one of the least believable segments of the film—the daily onslaught of the powerful taking advantage of the weak has successfully poisoned the collective sense of decency even more than incessant pollution as spoiled the air that sustains us.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga have fashioned their ideas with conviction and obvious care.  The notion that while language, customs and politics are worlds apart, it’s the sense of family that glues humanity together for better or worse, (witness the early-scene argument between the relationship-at-risk couple—Blanchett with a gracefully aging Brad Pitt finally achieving intimacy as his wife nears death in another culture’s hut) that permeates every frame.  Rodrigo Prieto’s camera (the pull back from the tower of despair in a modern metropolis is unforgettable) reinforces the subtext with artful conviction, Gustavo Santaolalla’s score—particularly the isolation-rich guitar as the rest of the frantic, obscenely noisy world becomes mute—is a model of discretion.  But it’s the combination of non-linear narrative and the exemplary editing from Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione that that draw this Babel towards the heavens even as hell on earth becomes another “triumph” of the culture of globalization.

Director	Alejandro González Iñárritu
Producers	Steve Golin, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik
Writers	Guillermo Arriaga, Alejandro González Iñárritu
Original music	Gustavo Santaolalla
Editors	Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Cinematography	Rodrigo Prieto
Art Director	Rika Nakanishi
Set Director	Yoshihito Akatsuka
Costume Design	Michael Wilkinson
Main cast	Rinko Kikuchi, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Adriana Barazza, Nathan Gamble, Elle Fanning