Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Latest
    • 3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)
    • 3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
    • 3625. Ode To Joy (2019)
    • 3624. One Chance (2013)
    • 3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)
    • 3622. The Polka King (2017)
    • 3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)
    • 3620. Friendzone (2021)
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Home
    • Blog
      • All Posts
      • Best Of The Year
        • Best Of 2015
        • Best Of 2016
        • Best Of 2017
        • Best Of 2018
        • Best Of 2019
        • Best Of 2020
        • Best Of 2021
        • Best Of 2022
      • The Decade In Review
      • Box Office Analysis
      • James Bond
      • Oscars
      • RANKED
      • Star Wars
      • The Big Questions
      • Top 10
      • World Cinema
    • Ratings
      • Top 250
      • Top 100 Foreign Films
      • Bottom 50
      • 0 – 1.9
      • 2 – 3.9
      • 4 – 5.9
      • 6 – 7.9
      • 8 – 10
    • Genres
      • Action
      • Anthology
      • Animation
      • Christmas
      • Comedy
      • Crime
      • Documentary
      • Drama
      • Fantasy
      • Film-Noir
      • History
      • Horror
      • Kids’
      • Musical
      • Psychological
      • Romance
      • Sci-Fi
      • Short
      • Silent
      • Sport
      • Superhero
      • Survival
      • Thriller
      • Western
    • Release Year
      • 2020s
      • 2010s
      • 2000s
      • 1990s
      • 1980s
      • 1970s
      • 1960s
      • 1950s
      • 1940s
      • 1930s
      • 1920s
    • Country
      • Afghanistan
      • Argentina
      • Australia
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Brazil
      • Cambodia
      • Canada
      • Chile
      • China
      • Colombia
      • Costa Rica
      • Czechoslovakia
      • Czech Republic
      • Denmark
      • East Timor
      • Faroe Islands
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Georgia
      • Greece
      • Hong Kong
      • Hungary
      • Iceland
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Ireland
      • Israel
      • Italy
      • Japan
      • Latvia
      • Lebanon
      • Laos
      • Malaysia
      • Mexico
      • New Zealand
      • Nigeria
      • North Korea
      • Norway
      • Paraguay
      • Peru
      • Philippines
      • Poland
      • Romania
      • Russia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • South Africa
      • Soviet Union
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Thailand
      • Turkey
      • Uganda
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
      • Uruguay
      • Vietnam
      • Zambia
    • About
    The Mad Movie Man
    You are at:Home»Review»1213. Babel (2006)

    1213. Babel (2006)

    0
    By The Mad Movie Man on January 11, 2016 140-149 mins, 2006, 6 - 7.9, Drama, Jan 16, Movies Of 2016, Review, United States
    7.5 Really grim
    • Acting 7.4
    • Directing 7.7
    • Story 7.5
    • User Ratings (0 Votes) 0

    Starring: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi

    Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

    Running Time: 143 mins


    Babel is an American film following the devastating events surrounding four families across the world after tragedy hits one of them while on holiday in the Moroccan desert.

    This is a seriously grim film. With almost no moments of real happiness, this reaches near-Requiem For A Dream levels of depression, and so can be often a really tough watch. Despite that, it’s such a well-directed and well-acted film, and its extremely dark tone is so strong it’s almost impossible to look away from, and that ultimately makes for a pretty engrossing watch.

    The plot is almost like an anthology, following four different stories that all seem completely apart, but are just linked in some way or other. Fortunately, that format works really well in this story, and it’s easy to get really intrigued in the various events going on all around the world, and the fact that they are different stories means that the film keeps feeling fresh as you go along.

    Because bear in mind that this is nearly two and a half hours long, and it doesn’t move at what you would call breakneck pace. However, having these various different stories means that, even if you’re not so intrigued in one part of the story, which does happen, you can look forward to the return of other plots, and that means that it’s so much easier to stay interested in what’s happening in what I would otherwise see as an excessively slow-paced and pretentious film.

    Moving onto the performances, they’re pretty fantastic. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (in arguably the smallest story of all four) are very good, Rinko Kikuchi is hugely unnerving in her role, and Adrian Barraza, whilst not immediately impressing, grows and grows as the film goes on, and in the end gives an absolutely sterling performance.

    But what’s best about this whole film is Iñárritu’s direction. With slow takes, massive wide shots and POV scenes, there’s something unmistakably hypnotic about his techniques. From start to finish, I found Babel visually mesmerising, and Iñárritu’s beautiful and engrossing directing was easily a key factor in keeping me intrigued with the film, so huge credit to him there.

    Finally, let’s talk about how grim this film really is. As I said before, it’s almost never positive, and no matter how bad I thought it could get, there always seemed to be something worse just on the horizon to make it an even more depressing film.

    Is that a good thing? Well, on the one hand, the extreme darkness of it all is just as hypnotic and eye-catching as Iñárritu’s direction, and that is definitely the prevailing effect of the atmosphere. On the other hand, however, there are moments where the story seems to be going to such dark places, and yet it doesn’t seem like there’s any reasoning behind it. Generally, it’s an effective tone, but there are moments where I felt I was being emotionally devastated by the film, and yet wasn’t getting any more insight into the developing plot.

    Overall, Babel is an impressive film. It’s certainly not a nice watch, but its impressive performances, story and directing all come together to make a truly captivating watch, and that’s why it gets a 7.5 from me.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The Mad Movie Man
    • Website
    • Facebook
    • Twitter

    The Mad Movie Man, AKA Anthony Cullen, writes articles and reviews about movies and the world of cinema. Since January 1st, 2013, he has watched and reviewed a movie every day. This is the blog dedicated to the project: www.madmovieman.com

    Related Posts

    7.1

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    Follow Me Online!
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Tumblr
    New Releases
    5.3
    January 17, 2022

    3620. Friendzone (2021)

    7.1
    January 10, 2022

    3612. The Lost Daughter (2021)

    8.0
    January 7, 2022

    3609. Licorice Pizza (2021)

    7.2
    January 7, 2022

    3608. Lamb (2021)

    7.4
    December 30, 2021

    3599. The King’s Man (2021)

    6.3
    December 29, 2021

    3598. The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

    8.4
    December 28, 2021

    3597. West Side Story (2021)

    6.3
    December 27, 2021

    3596. Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)

    Recommended Movies
    8.6
    Review
    September 10, 20140

    685. In The Loop (2009)

    8.3
    Review
    May 27, 20180

    2165. Perfect Strangers (2016)

    8.7
    Review
    July 11, 20170

    1820. Baby Driver (2017)

    8.5
    Review
    June 7, 20150

    984. Spy (2015)

    8.8
    Review
    October 2, 20130

    303. Children Of Men (2006)

    Popular Posts
    7.1
    January 24, 2022

    3627. I Believe In Miracles (2015)

    5.8
    January 23, 2022

    3626. The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)

    7.9
    January 22, 2022

    3625. Ode To Joy (2019)

    7.4
    January 21, 2022

    3624. One Chance (2013)

    6.3
    January 20, 2022

    3623. Falling For Figaro (2020)

    7.5
    January 19, 2022

    3622. The Polka King (2017)

    6.0
    January 18, 2022

    3621. Spies In Disguise (2019)

    © 2022 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.