Venus Rising

Film & BooksIssue: Capricorn 06

Babel

Based on the biblical story of the Tower of Babel where God punishes human ambition by causing everyone to speak different languages so they cannot complete their task, the movie “Babel” gives us the context necessary to actually see the cultural and psychological misunderstandings that keep our world in a state of chaos. In just about every element of film-making, this movie achieves shocking success, and in my opinion, is the most intelligent and innovative film of 2006.

Directed and co-written by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Babel” weaves together three stories in three different countries, Mexico, Morocco, and Japan, in a similar style as last year’s Oscar award winning “Crash,” but does so with much greater insight and brilliance.

All three stories revolve around an American couple played by Brad Pitt and my favorite actress, Cate Blanchett, who are vacationing in a remote area of Morocco and suddenly find themselves in desperate need of medical care. With no ambulances and no hospital near by, they become dependent on the kindness of strangers in a remote Moroccan village. The tension that ensues so effectively displays the tension between the average American vs. the third world yet does not go to the same extremes as the polarizing vignettes in “Crash.”  The other stories that surround the incident explore the same concept of running into trouble by crossing borders physically, culturally, and psychologically, yet they compassionately emphasize the very basic human need for greater understanding and empathy. Having traveled to many third world countries myself, I applaud Inarritu, who is Mexican, for what appears to me as a fair and even-handed depiction of the positives and negatives of each culture.

The powerful scenes in “Babel” are not easy to sit through, and they provoke a cathartic response that will not allow the viewer to relax or escape. So, it is not an easy film to watch, but it is definitely worth the trip. In fact, this film is a landmark achievement in that it depicts the confusion inherent in our world in a way that is so real, its truth cannot be denied.