Babel (2006)

Seen on March 15, 2009 - A Netflix dvd

Based on the Mexican writer Guillermo Arriaga's novel and directed by the Mexican director, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel explores the idea that what happens in a remote corner of the world could have global ramifications sending ripple effects to far flung places. Almost an innocent act in an obscure place in Morocco of a Japanese tourist gifting a rifle to a shepherd has tragic and absurd consequences for an American tourist couple there and this results in an unfortunate effect on their children back home as well as on their Mexican baby-sitter. The whole series of events triggered by one absurd occurrence having effect in several different parts of the world, fall into a pattern in this film. But in this pattern there is one inexplicable lose end which concerns the Japanese girl and her sexual frustration. But the idea of the movie is good. The director could have dispensed with the lone loose end. Or is it possible that with this loose end the director is adding significance of the apparently unrelated events by calling the whole a babel? We liked it for exploring the idea of gratuitous absurd fate of man.
This film won 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Lang. Film. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett played lead roles in it.