babel

last week i saw 'babel'. and liked it very much. it was intensely rivetting.and exquisitely performed.directed by alejanetro gonzalez innarito,the story is about a married american couple richard(brad pitt) and susan(cate blanchett) who travel to morocco on a holiday.susan is accidentally shot by an arabian boy while they are travelling in a bus through the interiors of morocco.the arabian boy's father tends goats and in order to protect the goats,the boy's father buys the boy and his brother a gun. susan,who is bleeding profusely and is badly injured,is rushed to the nearest village where the local doctor gives first aid,removes the bullet and tries to reduce the pain.all this is taking a lot of time and susan loses lot of blood.the incident thoroughly shakes up richard and he tries very hard to save the marriage which was not going too well.meanwhile, the copassengers are getting agitated and want to leave without any further delay.

a deaf and mute teenage girl in tokyo called chieko realises that due to her handicap she does not get any attention from boys. she craves for love and along with her friend she indulges in heavy partying and disco-dancing.she also resorts to sexually provocative behaviour with a police officer who is investigating her father's arms dealings.her mother had committed suicide by falling off from an apartment in a mutistoreyed building.she is close to her father who is very protective of her.

amelia,nanny for the children of richard and susan heads for mexico to attend her brother's wedding. though she is refused leave, she decides to go. she has no choice but to take the children along with her.her brother escorts her but on their return her drunken brother gets into a brawl with the immigration officer and fails to show proper immigration papers of his sister.she is arrested for illegal entry into usa.

this is an interconnected story involving the struggles of the characters in three continents and six languages.the ensemble of different backgrounds and languages -morocco,mexico,japan and usa makes the film lively.each character is facing a serious problem and has to find a way out of the seemingly hopeless situation he or she is in.

we live in troubled times.though the world has shrunk and become a global village,we fail to speak out frankly and our mutual communications are weak and ineffective at a basic level.man built the tower of babel to reach paradise and become god.god became upset,destroyed the structure and pushed the people back to earth,scattered them all over and made them speak different languages. we have different religions,different languages,different communities.relationships between father and son,father and daughter,husband and wife,brother and sister are complicated.

'babel' shows how an accidental crime affects the lives of people in three continents.all these events are shown brilliantly by the director ably supported by guillermo ariaga who reels out a crisp script. and he keeps the audience spellbound till the end. an excellent story directed excecptionally well with sombre music in the background.very good cinematography by rodrigo prieto,and music by gustavo santolalla.it is a snapshot of our troubled times sensitively narrated by the director.babel is a moving marvel and a likely winner in the 'oscar' for the 'best picture of the year' award.