Babel

Director Inarritu once again moves in a terrain he knows intimately, bringing several parallel storylines to the screen, which intersect at a certain point and with certain characters. He once again delivers heightened emotions, moral conflicts, clashes of values, and cruel dramas. This time, he also seeks to explore various cultures in a globalized world. Only the story from Tokyo didn't fit into the whole, although I understand that Inarritu couldn't resist incorporating into his film a panoramic shot of Tokyo illuminated by neon lights and thousands of bulbs. This section of the film reminded me more of Atom Egoyan's productions and deserves its own film. Overall, it seemed to me that, unlike his debut film Amores Perros, this film contains less energy and leans more toward beautiful camera shots capturing the rocky Sahara, wedding celebrations in Mexico, or the Nevada desert. However, it is such a visually mesmerizing spectacle that I have no problem awarding it five stars. Inarritu is one of the most talented directors of our time. Overall impression: 90%. (07/04/2010)

What I appreciate about Iñárritu is how he is able to sensitively tell the story of the hardships of an ordinary person. However, it’s also the same plot concept for the third time, which is unfortunate because about halfway through the film moves into the plane of expectation and the inevitable boredom that comes with it. This fact is reinforced by the relatively shallow and detached segment with Richard and Susan and especially the Tokyo segment, which is completely out of context. Fortunately, both are amply compensated by the story of the little Moroccan shooters (the best part of it for me). (11/04/2007)

Three Stories, or safe betting, for the third time. Alejandro González Iñárritu delivers exactly the same film again, and to some extent, we all fell for it again. Babel is undoubtedly the most artistic film in his career – or at least tries to be in overall composition, intellectual strength, use of music and silent scenes, handheld camera… The three stories are interwoven together in a somewhat simpler and more viewer-friendly form, which does not require such precise timing and sequencing of scenes, or the precision of the editor. Unlike the director's previous film, Babel can be easily understood on the first viewing. The acting is not revolutionary, rather standard, with many impressive scenes and a formal stylization that is appropriately minimalist, with few colors. It is economical, simple, and overall raw, but it feels somewhat clichéd. (08/17/2007)

Babel floats stylishly on the surface, but it fails to go any deeper. The content of the two main storylines comes across as half-empty, and the third storyline, though it holds the strongest potential, doesn’t add anything to them. If I gave 21 Grams four stars, I have to stick with three in this case. Nice visuals, great atmospheric music and good actors aren’t everything. P.S. Chieko should have jumped. (02/28/2007)

Iñárritu reached the peak in his journey through mosaics. I would like to say that he took the best from Amores Perros and 21 Grams and combined them together, but that is not the case. Nonetheless, Babel is still the director's best work. He managed to avoid a bit of the unfortunate confusion from his previous film, endowed all the storylines with emotional richness, and mixed everything in a way that from the first second, for more than two hours, I hardly breathed. And it wouldn't be Iñárritu if there wasn't some message present in his film. Babel almost screams for humanity, solidarity, and help, which in some moments brings tears to the viewer's eyes, while in others simply freezes them. (02/27/2007)