Babel
(2006)
R | 142-143 mins | Drama | 27 October 2006
Director:
Alejandro González IñárrituWriter:
Guillermo ArriagaProducers:
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Steve GolinCinematographer:
Rodrigo PrietoEditors:
Stephen Mirrione, Douglas CriseProduction Designer:
Brigitte BrochProduction Companies:
Paramount VantageAside from the title, production and distribution companies, all credits are at the end of the film. The closing credits state that the film was dedicated to director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s children “Maria Eladia and Eliseo…the brightest lights in the darkest night.” Acknowledgment is given to several companies for the use of Japanese television animation, commercial and program footage. Special thanks is given to dozens of individuals and associations who assisted at the various shooting locations, including His Majesty King Mohamed VI, Princess Lalla Hasna, Les Forces Armées Royales, residents of Taguenzalt, Japan Deaf Volleyball Association, Instituto Nacional de Migración and Presidencía Municipal, Jorge Hank Rhon.
Babel is set in four diverse locations and illustrates each location's distinctive culture: San Diego, CA; a small village just south of Tijuana, Mexico; a farming community in Berber-speaking Morocco; and affluent Tokyo, Japan. González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga chose to present the film’s scenes out of chronological order and to juxtapose the action among the various locales, thus enabling them to control the resolution of each group of characters at different locations at the end of the film.
On the film’s official website, González Iñárritu stated that he was inspired to make the film during a 2003 visit to Japan during which he encountered deaf-mute citizens dealing with difficult communication issues. In addition, his immigrant status as a Mexican who had recently moved from Mexico City to the U.S. just before the 11 Sep 2001 terrorist attacks prompted him to create one story specifically revolving around U.S.-Mexico border issues and to create a web of international diplomatic circumstances among the various stories. Further, he explained that the film was ...
Aside from the title, production and distribution companies, all credits are at the end of the film. The closing credits state that the film was dedicated to director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s children “Maria Eladia and Eliseo…the brightest lights in the darkest night.” Acknowledgment is given to several companies for the use of Japanese television animation, commercial and program footage. Special thanks is given to dozens of individuals and associations who assisted at the various shooting locations, including His Majesty King Mohamed VI, Princess Lalla Hasna, Les Forces Armées Royales, residents of Taguenzalt, Japan Deaf Volleyball Association, Instituto Nacional de Migración and Presidencía Municipal, Jorge Hank Rhon.
Babel is set in four diverse locations and illustrates each location's distinctive culture: San Diego, CA; a small village just south of Tijuana, Mexico; a farming community in Berber-speaking Morocco; and affluent Tokyo, Japan. González Iñárritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga chose to present the film’s scenes out of chronological order and to juxtapose the action among the various locales, thus enabling them to control the resolution of each group of characters at different locations at the end of the film.
On the film’s official website, González Iñárritu stated that he was inspired to make the film during a 2003 visit to Japan during which he encountered deaf-mute citizens dealing with difficult communication issues. In addition, his immigrant status as a Mexican who had recently moved from Mexico City to the U.S. just before the 11 Sep 2001 terrorist attacks prompted him to create one story specifically revolving around U.S.-Mexico border issues and to create a web of international diplomatic circumstances among the various stories. Further, he explained that the film was an expression of the tragedy of being unable to be touched by love or sentiment.
Although HR production charts stated that the film was shooting from 2 May to late Sep 2005 solely in Morocco, a 27 May 2005 Screen International article stated that after shooting in Morocco from May to mid-Jun, the production planned to move to Mexico and was scheduled to shoot in Japan in mid-Nov. González Iñárritu and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto used several techniques to ensure the authenticity and distinctive quality of each location. According to a 10 Nov 2006 HR article, the filmmakers used several different types of film stock to make each location distinct, including three-perf Super 35mm, 35mm, 18.5 anamorphic and Super 16mm. According to an 8 Sep 2006 WSJ article, when the film began principal photography in Morocco, González Iñárritu had recently replaced most of his professional actors with non-professionals from the area including a shepherd, carpenter and two young boys for the four key roles. In Japan, González Iñárritu hired actress Rinko Kikuchi, who then taught herself sign language for the lead role; however, all of the other deaf-mute characters were deaf-mute girls with no professional acting experience.
As related in the Bible, Genesis.11, in the city of Babel, humans attempted to build a tower to the heavens, thus angering God, who then created disunity among them by giving them different languages. To convey this sense of troubled communication, the filmmakers used many cultural conflicts between countries and used several languages in the film including Berber, English, Spanish, Japanese and sign language. Subtitles were used for all non-English dialogue in the English-language release. In addition, the Japanese deaf-mute characters used notepads to write their thoughts down for each of the characters who did not sign. Although these were not translated for the audience, characters' reactions to the notes usually alluded sufficiently to the content. Several Tokyo sequences are almost silent, giving the viewer a chance to understand the perspective of a deaf-mute character negotiating the world with limited sensory abilities.
The film’s official website notes that costume designer Michael Wilkinson contributed to the authenticity of the Moroccan scenes by trading newly purchased clothes with villagers for their own clothes to use in the shooting. Composer Gustavo Santaolalla was drawn to an instrument called the ude, an ancestor to the lute and guitar, and sounding much like the Japanese instrument koto, to connect the Arab, Spanish and Japanese locations.
As González Iñárritu stated in several interviews, Babel was the final film in a trilogy of films on which he collaborated with writer Arriaga, beginning with the 2000 film Amores Perros and the 2003 film 21 Grams. A 30 Oct 2006 Var article reported that producers Jon Kilik and Steve Golin placed an advertisement in NYT asserting that, although the collaborative team had decided to end their partnership, rumors attesting to arguments over creative authorship of the film were unfounded. According to a 3 Nov 2006 Entertainment Weekly article, the rumored disagreements centered on Arriaga's feeling that he should receive more credit for his involvement in developing the film.
Babel was the first film released by Paramount Vantage, a newly formed subsidiary of The Paramount Motion Picture Group, a division of Viacom. When the picture was released, it received mixed reviews. Some critics felt that the multiple interwoven stories made popular by such films as the 2001 film Traffic (see entry) and the 1999 picture Magnolia, merely created "narrative gimmickry," according to the Village Voice review. Other critics, such as Ray Bennett of HR, praised the filmmakers for "brilliantly weaving" the stories and creating compassion for characters from different cultures.
Babel was selected by AFI as one of the Movies of the Year. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Score and was nominated for Best Motion Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Achievement in Film Editing. González Iñárritu was nominated for Best Director, and Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Babel won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture--Drama and received nominations in the following categories: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Barraza and Kikuchi) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Brad Pitt). The film was nominated for BAFTA awards in the following categories: Film, Achievement in Direction, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound.
In addition, Babel won the Best Director award and Technical Grand Prize for Film Editing at the Cannes Film Festival. The Screen Actors Guild nominated the film for Best Ensemble Cast and Adriana Barraza for Best Supporting Actress. The picture received a nomination by the Writers Guild of America for Best Original Screenplay; the Producers Guild nominated the film for the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award; and González Iñárritu was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Directorial Achievement in Feature Film. The National Board of Review honored Kikuchi with an award for Breakthrough Performance. Babel was also listed on several best films of the year list, including NYT and LAT.
On the vast, barren hillsides of Morocco, goatherd Abdullah buys a rifle from his neighbor Hassan, then orders his adolescent sons Yussef and Ahmed to use it to kill jackals attacking the herd. While tending the goats that day, Yussef, at Ahmed’s prompting, tries proving Hassan’s claim that the gun has a three-kilometer range by taking a potshot at a passing tourist bus. Seeing the bus stop, the boys race home but do not tell their parents about the incident. Meanwhile, American Richard, who is vacationing with his wife Susan in Morocco, calls his home in San Diego where Mexican nanny Amelia is staying with the couple’s children Mike and Debbie. When Richard insists that Amelia remain with the children, she quietly protests that she must attend the wedding of her son Luis in Mexico. Despite knowing that crossing the border with the American children is illegal, Amelia decides to take them with her to the wedding, accompanied by her reckless but charming nephew Santiago, who drives them. Earlier at an outdoor café in Morocco, Richard is still convinced that their Moroccan vacation will help him and his wife reconnect after the sudden death their infant son Sam; however, Susan’s lingering depression and resentment continues to divide them. Soon after boarding their tourist bus, Susan reaches out for Richard, but is suddenly hit by a bullet that crashes through the window. In Japan, after deaf-mute teenager Chieko is thrown out of a volleyball game for her insolent behavior, her father Yasujiro, knowing that his daughter is acting out over her mother’s recent suicide, patiently reminds her that he misses his wife, too. Soon after at J-Pop Special club, Chieko ...
On the vast, barren hillsides of Morocco, goatherd Abdullah buys a rifle from his neighbor Hassan, then orders his adolescent sons Yussef and Ahmed to use it to kill jackals attacking the herd. While tending the goats that day, Yussef, at Ahmed’s prompting, tries proving Hassan’s claim that the gun has a three-kilometer range by taking a potshot at a passing tourist bus. Seeing the bus stop, the boys race home but do not tell their parents about the incident. Meanwhile, American Richard, who is vacationing with his wife Susan in Morocco, calls his home in San Diego where Mexican nanny Amelia is staying with the couple’s children Mike and Debbie. When Richard insists that Amelia remain with the children, she quietly protests that she must attend the wedding of her son Luis in Mexico. Despite knowing that crossing the border with the American children is illegal, Amelia decides to take them with her to the wedding, accompanied by her reckless but charming nephew Santiago, who drives them. Earlier at an outdoor café in Morocco, Richard is still convinced that their Moroccan vacation will help him and his wife reconnect after the sudden death their infant son Sam; however, Susan’s lingering depression and resentment continues to divide them. Soon after boarding their tourist bus, Susan reaches out for Richard, but is suddenly hit by a bullet that crashes through the window. In Japan, after deaf-mute teenager Chieko is thrown out of a volleyball game for her insolent behavior, her father Yasujiro, knowing that his daughter is acting out over her mother’s recent suicide, patiently reminds her that he misses his wife, too. Soon after at J-Pop Special club, Chieko and her friend Mitsu flirt with several boys from across the restaurant, but are soon ridiculed when the boys find out they are deaf. Outraged at being treated like a “monster” and desperate for some kind of communication, Chieko flashes the boys with the “real monster” under her skirt. Meanwhile, in a small, dusty Mexican village, dozens gather to attend Luis and Patricia’s wedding. At first shy and bewildered by the different culture, Mike and Debbie soon join other children from the village in capturing chickens to slaughter for the celebration, which continues long into the night with dancing and music. Hours earlier, the Moroccan tour bus pulls to a halt as Richard screams for someone to help his wife. Far from a city, tour guide Anwar suggests driving the bus to his home town Tazarine, where the American, Australian and European tourists are immediately filled with animosity toward the villagers, whom they assume must be terrorists. Leaving the tourists on the bus, Richard carries Susan into Anwar’s house and calls his sister Rachel, ordering her to contact the American embassy. Meanwhile, when the only doctor, a veterinarian, pulls out a crude needle and thread to sew up Susan’s wound to prevent her from bleeding to death, Richard and Anwar must hold the terrified Susan down for the procedure. At the same time in Japan, Chieko, after being thrown out of her dentist’s office for trying to kiss him, returns to her luxurious apartment building where she meets two detectives looking for her father. Chieko takes Detective Kenji’s card, although she is wary of his intentions after the recent police investigation into her mother's death. After learning from their father that a tourist was killed on a bus by terrorists, Yussef and Ahmed hide the gun in the hills. Nearby, Police Captain Alarid and his men brutally interrogate Hassan, until he tells them he sold the gun to Abdullah and explains that the gun was given to him by a Japanese hunter as a gift. Returning home from hiding the gun, Yussef and Ahmed are stopped by the police. Yussef misleads them in their quest for Abdullah and races home where he admits to his father that he shot the gun, but accuses Ahmed of prompting him. Desperate to deflect his father’s wrath, Ahmed blurts out that Yussef has been watching their sister Zohra undress. Equally angered by the shooting and Yussef’s breach of family code, Abdullah lashes out at the boys. In Tazarine, the tourists rudely refuse the villagers’ offers of food and tell Richard he has only thirty minutes until they leave without him and Susan. While Moroccan television reports that the U.S. government overreacted by insinuating that the shooting was terrorist-related, Anwar’s mother gingerly holds Susan’s head to help her smoke a pipe containing drugs to soothe her excruciating pain and hysteria. At a Japanese park, Chieko and Mitsu meet Haruki, the cousin of a teammate, and two other boys, who speak slowly enough for the girls to lip-read what they are saying. Assured by their friendliness, the girls get high on drugs and whiskey and traverse the city in a giggling bliss with the boys, ending at a disco, where Chieko is disillusioned when she sees Mitsu making out with Haruki. Arriving at home, Chieko then asks the doorman to call Kenji, to whom she was attracted earlier. In Morocco, the police spot Abdullah and the boys fleeing in the hills and start shooting. The three take cover behind rocks, but when Ahmed is shot in the leg, Yussef, seeing no other way to save his family, shoots at the officers, wounding one. Meanwhile in Mexico, despite Luis’ protests that Santiago is drunk and has a police record, Amelia, with no other way to return to San Diego, loads Mike and Debbie into his car. At the border, an officer, seeing the white children with the obviously drunk Santiago and fearful Amelia, searches the car and demands that Amelia show them a letter of permission from the children’s parents. Incensed and afraid, Santiago speeds away, then drops the now-weeping Amelia and children in the desert far from any road, promising to return for them after he has lost the police, who are in close pursuit. Back in Tazarine, after hours of waiting, Richard grows more frustrated upon learning that the American Embassy is sending a helicopter, having stopped the ambulance for fear of further “terrorist acts.” When the belligerent tourists then accuse him of endangering their lives, Richard hits one of the men, prompting the group to commandeer the bus and leave. In Japan, Chieko, who believes the police are still investigating her mother's suicide, tells the detective that she saw her mother jump from the balcony. Seeing the picture of Yasujiro hunting in Morocco, the detective is shocked by the family tragedy and tries to explain that his questions are about an unrelated matter. As he attempts to leave, Chieko tries to seduce him by returning to the room nude. When the detective pushes her away, Chieko bursts into tears at another rejection and miscommunication. After he comforts her with a long embrace, Chieko writes him a note, insisting that he read it later. On the hillside in Morocco, officers shoot and kill Ahmed, prompting Yussef to bash the gun against a rock and then walk bravely toward them with his hands held high in surrender, crying “I killed the American” and begging them to save his brother. Meanwhile at Anwar’s house, Susan and Richard finally cry together for Sam, absolving each other of any wrongdoing. After sleeping on the desert floor, Amelia and the children awaken to a desolate landscape that is soon unbearably hot. Forced to leave the children under the shade of a tree with no water, Amelia continues alone for help. Hours later, Amelia stumbles across the sand to chase down a passing patrol vehicle, but the officer immediately arrests her on suspicion of kidnapping, expressing little sympathy for her pleas to save the children. Later at a police facility, Amelia is told the children were found. The officer continues that, although the children could have died in the adverse conditions, Richard has declined to press charges against her. Despite Amelia’s pleas that she has lovingly reared the children since birth and has lived in the U.S. for sixteen years, the officer coldly states that because she is an illegal resident, he is recommending voluntary deportation, threatening further action against her if she refuses. Soon after, Amelia meets Luis in Mexico and cries in his arms at the loss of her American life. In Tazarine, as the helicopter descends to pick up Richard and Susan, Richard attempts to repay Anwar for his kindness, but he gently refuses. Reaching a hospital in a nearby city, dozens of reporters and camera crews descend on the couple, anxious to cover the “injured American.” Once in the hospital, Richard calls Amelia, ordering her to stay with the children despite her son’s wedding. At the sound of his children’s voices on the phone, he weeps helplessly. At the same time in Japan, Kenji, seeing Yasujiro in the lobby of the apartment building, asks about the gun in the photograph, explaining that it was registered to Yasujiro and was used in an attempted murder. Yasujiro says he gave it to Hassan as a gift and, although concerned about Hassan, is more grateful to hear that he is not implicated. When the detective then offers his condolences to Yasujiro for his wife’s fatal fall from the balcony, Yasujiro orders him to leave, informing him that his wife shot herself and Chieko was the first to find her. Moments later, as Kenji sees a television report on Susan’s recovery and reads Chieko’s note, Yasujiro, finding his daughter nude on the balcony, tenderly embraces her and sobs with her over their incredible loss and loneliness.
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