Babel (2006) or, Every One Is Connected

11/25/2013

Babel (2006) or, Every One Is Connected

♥♥♥♥♥♥

Striking images lined with the title and ultra-simple tagline ('Listen') makes up this poster for Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu's Babel

When a couple of Moroccan boys accidentally shoot an American tourist, it starts an avalanche of events on different continents.

Babel is written by Guillermo Arriaga (En Defensa Propia (2015, short)) and directed by Mexican master filmmaker Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu (Amores Perros (2000)), whose 3rd feature it is. It is the 3rd and last film in Arriaga and Iñárritu's Death trilogy, also comprising Amores Perros and 21 Grams (2003).
Babel is a unique drawing of the times we live in; the tragedies, the hope and the people around the world, mostly seen as trying to do the right thing. Each working in their own fragment of the wildly divergent world, which is still being held together by some universal instincts and values that we seemingly all share as human beings. Babel lets us into the complexity of our world in the form of an emotionally wild sensual bombardment that took most audiences aback in cinemas the world over in 2006.
It is inventively carried out visually, (cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto (Barbie (2023))), story-wise and musically, (Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain (2005)) score is grand.) The film is extremely powerful, due, of course, in equal measure to the tremendous acting performances: Brad Pitt (Fight Club (1999)) gives one of his career's best performances, a gripping portrayal of desperation and grief. Adriana Barraza (Drag Me to Hell (2009)) plays the Mexican sitter with every ounce of her being.

Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu: The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2016

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Revenant (2015) - Nature outdoes itself in Iñárritu's showy, solemn macho-spectacle

The day after the day after... The Oscars 2015
Birdman (2014) - Iñárritu's clever, but cold showbusiness dramedy

Biutiful (2010) - Sad globalization stories from Iñárritu

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

21 Grams (2003) or, Hardcore Life

Love Is a Bitch/Amores Perros (2000) or, People = Bad, Dogs = Good

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 25 mil. $
Box office: 135.3 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 5.41 times its cost)

[Babel premiered 23 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 143 minutes. Shooting took place from May - December 2005 in Japan, including in Tokyo, Morocco, including in Casablanca, Mexico and in San Diego, California. Arriaga and Iñárritu fell out prior to the film's premiere; the former was saying that they were co-authors of the trilogy, while the latter stressed that he was the sole auteur behind the films, and consequently banned Arriaga from attending the film's Cannes premiere. The film opened #24 to a 389k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 1,251 theaters, grossing 34.3 mil. $ (25.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 14.9 mil. $ (11 %) and Spain with 13.9 mil. $ (10.3 %). The film was nominated for 6 Oscars (7 nominations), winning for Best Score. It lost Best Picture to The Departed, Supporting Actress (Rinko Kikuchi (Westworld (2018, TV-series)), Barraza) to Jennifer Hudson in Dreamgirls, Director to Martin Scorsese for The Departed, Original Screenplay to Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine and Editing to The Departed. It won 1/7 BAFTA nominations, 3 prizes in Cannes, was nominated for a César award, won a David di Donatello award, won 1/7 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy and won 2 National Board of Review awards and an AFI award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It additionally made in excess of 31.4 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. Iñárritu returned with To Each His Own Cinema (2007, segment) and theatrically himself alone with Biutiful (2010). Pitt returned in Ocean's Thirteen (2007); Cate Blanchett (Hanna (2011)) in The Good German (2006); and Gael García Bernal (Mozart in the Jungle (2014-18)) in Déficit (2007). Babel is fresh at 69 % with a 6.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Babel?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

11/25/2013

Babel (2006) or, Every One Is Connected

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