Babel (2006)

When the Mexican Oscar favourite Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu made Babel, he was at a crossroads in his career. Having garnered international success with the violent thriller Amores Perros and won over critics with the chronology of 21 Grams, Iñárritu began the transition to European arthouse. But the resultant film is a shallow and distasteful pastiche of arthouse cinema, which drips with self-importance and meaninglessly wallows in human misery.

Babel is structured around four interlocking stories across the globe, involving American tourists, Moroccan boys, a deaf Japanese teenager and a Mexican nanny. While on holiday in Morocco, one of the tourists, played by Cate Blanchett, is shot by a boy messing about with a rifle and is taken to a hospital by her husband (Brad Pitt). The Mexico and Japan stories are equally as depressing, as a teenager is bullied by peers and neglected by her father and as a nanny attempts to cross the US-Mexican border without parental permission.

Despite its accomplished director and promising cast, including Gael Garcia Bernal and a young Elle Fanning, Babel is a huge disappointment. Clocking in at a bum-numbing two and a half hours, It carries the pretentious air of a filmmaker who is disillusioned in thinking his film is deep, challenging and meaningful.

However, it’s the Japanese storyline which does the film its biggest disservice. An exercise in human depravity, Iñárritu revels untastefully in a teen’s desire to lose her virginity, while her fear and shame comes to the forefront in a bizarre and misjudged climax. I know, it sounds like great fun.

The majority of Babel’s acclaim and success has come from critics who do not understand the difference between art and trash. This film undoubtedly fits into the latter category. With the exception of the handsome photography and score, Babel has been wildly overpraised, and I’m just glad people have started to re-evaluate it as Iñárritu’s faux pas. This film really does leave a bad taste in the mouth.