Babel

An ambitious shot in the dark. It has some moral ideas, but they’re wrapped in an insanely lengthy filler that pretends to be an artistic rebellion against the traditional narrative, but it's just a few classically punctuated episodes in an aimless structure. The actors are excellent and some scenes are very strong, but that's not enough. 2 ½*. (08/06/2018)

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)

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)

Iñarritu abandons the time fragmentation of 21 Grams and, as in his first film, tells several intertwining stories. The Mexican episode is probably the weakest, with relatively little emotional impact, while the Japanese one seems to have fallen out of another film, but thanks to the likeable lead actress it’s one of the most enjoyable. Great emotions take place in Morocco, with the story of a shepherd and his sons that escalates with great urgency at the end, while the fate of the injured American woman is gripping in places thanks to the great performances of the central duo Pitt – Blanchett, whose circumstantially forced intimate moments are among the film's strongest. The Moroccan episodes are clearly worth 5*, the other two 3*, but if I had to compare, Iñárritu's previous 21 Grams had much more emotional charge overall, at least for me. (02/05/2007)

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)