AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Abegail Noëlle
While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
adam-may-bower
'Babel' is a well-acted melodrama, with four separate stories, that may be compelling, but don't exactly fit well with each other. The whole intent of this film was to tell four different stories of people across the globe, and then connect them all. While three out of the four stories do connect nicely together, the fourth plotline about Japanese girl Chieko stands out far too much from the rest of the film and is poorly tied, with an insignificant connection. The three 'key' stories, involving Yussef and Ahmed (played by Boubker Ait El Caid and Said Tarchani) in Afghanistan, joined by Richard and Susan (played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) as well as Amelia (played by Adriana Barraza) in Mexico all fit well together and display a captivating and sorrowful story. The characters are directly involved with one another, and they are even set in a similar desert climate which gives similar aesthetics and enhances the feeling of connection. In stark contrast, the story about Chieko (played by Rinko Kikuchi) is set in the modern city of Japan and is loosely connected to the others. Her storyline may be a good one in its own right, but it ultimately doesn't fit with the rest of the puzzle that is the film. However, this disconnect is not to the demise of the film as it is redeemed by the fantastic acting, with Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt, Mustapha Rachidi and Adriana Barraza being clear highlights. Alejandro G. Iñárritu's direction is brilliant as this film is filled with captivating shots of the different settings and the cinematography is striking. The real highlight of this film is in the soundtrack, by Gustavo Santaolalla. The music is extremely effective in provoking the emotional response intended for its audience and is certainly deserving of it's Oscar win. Overall, this film is an epic piece of misery, that is only let down by its hit-and-miss attempt at telling different stories that are meant to connect well.
Nadeeshan Tennage (nadeeshantennage)
'Babel' is an authentic portrayal of the depletion of humanity and the terrible negligence of basic human values.
The narrative of the movie moves along a spectrum of extreme emotional depth and execution of the the underlying morals in a deeply disturbing turn of events.
The plot follows an accident faced by an American tourist which leads upto the unfolding of 3 different narratives which depicts 3 diffrent scenarios surrounding 3 different communities.
Director Alejandro González Iñárritu masterfully manages to create the link between the 3 different scenarios by layering the thread of linking the narratives by giving the audiences to view the plot from 3 different scopes each which leads up to the scenarios depicted under each sub plot.
The most amazing aspect of this is that the director has managed to layer the sub plots with abundant suspense all throughout the movie and rigorously emotional acting performances.
Rinko Kikuchi who plays a young deaf Japanese girl creates maximum impact by coating the performance with enough emotional intensity and a marvelously convincing performance.
Her pain of being treated differently is reflected through her glowing eyes in almost every scene she's in.
Adriana Barraza's performance is no different and would make you reevaluate the core values a human should possess.
The only negative aspect about the film that I witnessed are its confusing timelines surrounding the sub plots and the link between them leading up to the disturbing key event.
The film would wreck you emotionally and disturb you to your heart's core which is exactly why you must see this film.
beardblack
Everything about this movie was contrived, gratuitous and small minded. Never having viewed a Alejandro González Iñárritu film before, there will be no wasted time on one again.
adamcarter-63372
Babel is a flat out bad movie. The movie's main message is that pain is universal. We all suffer and we all go through hardships no matter who were are or where we come from but outside of that it has nothing else to say. The film poorly tries to weave four stories together of people that are suffering. However, we cannot truly connect with any of these people because we are not given time to get to know them. The characters themselves are as thin as a bed sheet. There is nothing else interesting about them outside of their main conflict. The movie came off incredibly pointless. Think of it this way. Imagine walking out onto your driveway and finding a bleeding cat dying right in front of you. Now imagine in a faraway place some unknown strangers starving to death. The bleeding cat is going to be more relevant to you even though several people starving to death is much worse. Why? Because it is something you can see and feel right in front of you. It is something you can have an impact on. The movie is more like the starving people than it is the bleeding cat. Babel comes off as misery porn. Simple as that. We watch a woman shot through the neck and bleed out, a child die in front of his father, and a young girl almost rape a man because she could never get a sexual release. If you are going to make me watch this kind of material, you need a strong and powerful payoff. This movie has none. Babel could have been a stronger movie if it had only focused on two stories and had given more time to develop stronger characters. This idea could work for a TV show, but not for a feature film. The only idea this film has is that pain is universal. But guess what? I didn't need Babel to tell me that.
