Something to ‘Babel’ About

babel-posterUsually, when one decides to venture to a movie theater or watch something at home, they tend to either look to attain a cheap laugh or to be scared out of their pants. It seems the art of great storytelling has been lost from the imaginations of modern movie makers in an attempt to cash in comic book-inspired or animated movies that always pull in huge audiences.

However, there are films left that manage to tell a phenomenal stories and don’t feature any animated penguins or English double agents. “Babel,” directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, shares the story of a few families interlocked in one unbelievable tragedy, pulling no punches in telling this remarkably touching and deep tale of circumstance.

The single element that is responsible for Babel’s depth and richness are the many twists and turns that envelop the plot development [Those familiar with films like Crash and Pulp-Fiction will feel right at home because of this]. As a matter of fact, sometimes it feels that “Babel” could have been four separate films, due to the amount of depth, intrigue and drama each lend to the entire plot as a whole.

Also helping the plot development are solid performances by Hollywood big-wigs Brad Pitt [Seven, Fight Club] and Cate Blanchett [Lord of the Rings, The Aviator] who play a troubled American married couple on vacation in Morocco that are brought to the brink of disaster to only find themselves more in love with each other than ever before.

Despite the performances of Pitt and Blanchett however, Rinko Kikuchi steals the hearts of the audience as the young Chieko, a deaf/mute Japanese teenager trying to find herself in a world that can’t accept her for who she is. This ability to have such a diverse cast in various locations all over the world also lends to the film’s quality and in the process, gives every viewer watching something they can relate to and are interested in.

Simply put, films like this don’t come around often and because of that, “Babel” is a must-see. The acting is great and the plot is so strong and heartfelt that many may find themselves going to the theater to see it again. Those looking for a great movie that will have them talking at the water cooler the next day, need to look no further; “Babel” will make you think and will make you wonder why more movies aren’t made the same way.

enablingAlejandro González Iñárritu’s 2006 epic, “Babel,” is certainly worthy of praise. With brilliant acting on all counts and a uniquely complicated plot, this cleverly-named tale traces a series of storylines in direct correlation to one another – a tangled spiderweb of various cultures and languages, like the tower of its eponym.

It is not, however, without its problems. A particularly vivid happenstance manifests in Chieko Wakaya’s extraordinary ability to match a song’s rhythm despite her inability to hear it – better than many of those endowed with hearing. Although it can be argued that the character is simply extremely perceptive and visually matches her neighboring dancers, the excuse would be a weak one at best.

Despite this oversight, the film’s sheer complexity easily thrills even the most skeptical viewer, as it simultaneously and warmly weaves an array of cultural storylines at a time of their political opposition. In this, he ultimately proves that people are simply people and we are all united by our definitively human wishes.

A must-see, “Babel” is a celebration of the human condition.

-Olga Privman

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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