Babel (2006)

babel
Rolling Stone
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details
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Rating: R
Release Date: Oct 27, 2006
Running Time: 142 mins.
Additional Notes: dialogue English, Spanish, Arabic, Japanese, Berber, subtitled English
Country Of Origin: United States
synopsis
Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Morrocan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. In the silent echoes of the desert, they decide to test the rifle but the bullet goes farther than they thought it would. In an instant, the lives of four separate groups of strangers on three different continents collide. Caught up in the rising tide of an accident that escalates beyond anyone's control are a vacationing American couple, a rebellious deaf Japanese teenager and her father, and a Mexican nanny who, without permission, takes two American children across the border. None of these strangers will ever meet; in spite of the sudden, unlikely connection between them, they will all remain isolated due to their own inability to communicate meaningfully with anyone around them.
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reviews
Source
rating  PETER TRAVERS - October 20, 2006
The Bible says God was angry when man tried to reach heaven by building a tower (later named Babel); he stopped the work by devising different languages that made understanding impossible. Babel came to mean noise and miscommunication.

Some things never change. The gifted Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and his remarkable screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga - this film completes the brilliant trilogy they began with Amores Perros and 21 Grams - have applied the concept of Babel to the… Continued

Source
rating

Babel isn't the kind of movie with a high replay value, as its 142-minute running time alone makes for an antsy affair. But the film's power is such that you won't soon need to revisit it to remember its message(s).

Story

If time permitted, Babel would've had seven stories come together--one for each continent. As it stands, the film is set in three continents, which is more than enough to convey the world's vast discord and, ultimately, harmony. The first--and integral--story is set in the… Continued