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Just saw Babel....

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saw the 1st 25min so far.

all i have to say is there's more non english than english so far (arabic, spanish). and i'm totally confused.

in fact, i was thinking of turning on subtitles to get a translation, including the sign language
 
It's about children and parents. It's the third movie by the director, the first one was thematically about the difficulties of love (amores perros), the second was about coming to terms with death (21 grams).

The Pitt and Blanchett story had a lot to do with them being unable to deal with a child's death (which crosses over into 21 grams).

The Mexican mom was going to her son's wedding. Or nephew, something like that.

All of the stories were only loosely connected and were just different stories about a particular group of kid(s) and parent(s) and overall a story about what being a parent or kid is like.

IMO, Amores Perros was a flat out masterpiece, 21 grams was really good, and this was good, but the weakest of the three.
 
did they really kill a chicken in this movie? (mexican wedding scene where he pulls off the chickens head)

looked damn real to me

also, at the end:
What was the letter the deaf girl gave to the cop?

edit:
Why did she lie about her mother's death?!
 
Rather than make another thread on this movie, I just decided to bump this one. I saw Babel last night and really liked it. I realize it's not the first movie to use the intertwined plots approach, but I still enjoyed it. I went in not knowing anything about it other than that it was directed by the same director who did 21 grams, which I also liked. I think I'll have to check out Amores Perros now.
 
I think the point of movies like this (same type as Syriana) are to be so confusing and pointless that the audience assumes their own ignorance and accepts the movie as good because they can't figure it out. All I know is, Departed was infinitely better than Babel, or the Queen, or Sunshine. Haven't seen Iwo Jima yet, but I'm guessing it's probably better than that. I'm going to boycott the academy if they don't give Scorsese his Oscar.
 
The story telling technique was interesting, the acting was well done but I feel like its overall message is unclear. All in all it felt like a cheaper, quickly hacked together version of Crash.
 
Originally posted by: Rebasxer
I think the point of movies like this (same type as Syriana) are to be so confusing and pointless that the audience assumes their own ignorance and accepts the movie as good because they can't figure it out. All I know is, Departed was infinitely better than Babel, or the Queen, or Sunshine. Haven't seen Iwo Jima yet, but I'm guessing it's probably better than that. I'm going to boycott the academy if they don't give Scorsese his Oscar.
Click to expand...

At least Syriana is some what a thriller. You want to find out what happen and how all these tiny bits intertwine with each other. To a certain extend, Babel is like Syriana. But I found Syriana much more interesting.

On the other hand, Babel was long and exhaustive. You can quickly figure out whats the interaction b/w all these stories is. The mute Japanese girl bit was sort of pointless since his father's gun was causing rest of the happenings (she really has nothing to do with the rest of it). They should cut this movie down to 1 and half hour. The slow camera direction really doesn't fancy anyone neither.

The theme of the movie is about miscommunication. Miscommunication in society. Human interaction in all different levels (U.S. assume the attack was terrorist attack, U.S. custom assume the Mexican is a criminal/kidnapper, the mute Japanese girl being misunderstood...etc). If this was a novel, it would've been GREAT. But unfortunately, its a movie. So there is "supposingly" an entertainment element to it. But there's none. I was not entertained during the long exhaustive 2 and half hour.
 
Originally posted by: JEDI
did they really kill a chicken in this movie? (mexican wedding scene where he pulls off the chickens head)

looked damn real to me

also, at the end:
What was the letter the deaf girl gave to the cop?

edit:
Why did she lie about her mother's death?!
Click to expand...

Assuming is a suicide note or some sort. That she is about to jump off the balcony...
 
Originally posted by: iversonyin
Originally posted by: JEDI
did they really kill a chicken in this movie? (mexican wedding scene where he pulls off the chickens head)

looked damn real to me

also, at the end:
What was the letter the deaf girl gave to the cop?

edit:
Why did she lie about her mother's death?!
Click to expand...

Assuming is a suicide note or some sort. That she is about to jump off the balcony...
Click to expand...

That's what I thought.. or maybe a note saying her father abuses her. I wish they would have said what it was on the DVD extras or something.
 
The OP just doesn't get movies, I think. I just finished watching Babel and it blew my mind! I agree the first 44 hours were a little slow, but the next 72 hours went by as if in a week! You need to watch out for the subtleties...that's where the movie really gets you! That Japanese guy in the photo...wow! that was really the Japanese girl's dad!!!! My favorite part was towards the end...when they started rolling the credits...so I could come and post about the single worst movie I've ever seen in my life :| What a fvcking waste of time.
 
Originally posted by: swimscubasteve
The movie sucked! Amores Perros was way better. Same exact idea was used for Babel, it was just utterly hosed.
Click to expand...

Babel didn't suck, but I liked both Amores Perros and 21 Grams a lot better. 21 Grams was the best of the trilogy, IMO.
 
Babel is just Crash done internationally. Both films sucked hard but the Hollywood liberals eat that type of crap up.
 
Yet another time my point is proven: I generally like movies people don't (If I remember right, I liked Babel.) And don't like some of the ones people love. 😕
 
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: swimscubasteve
The movie sucked! Amores Perros was way better. Same exact idea was used for Babel, it was just utterly hosed.
Click to expand...

Babel didn't suck, but I liked both Amores Perros and 21 Grams a lot better. 21 Grams was the best of the trilogy, IMO.
Click to expand...

Honestly, I thought Babel was just atrocious. Scatterbrained, pointless it relied on popular actors and hype to get people in the theater.

21 Grams was very good as well. I just loved the intensity of Amores Perros.
 
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: swimscubasteve
The movie sucked! Amores Perros was way better. Same exact idea was used for Babel, it was just utterly hosed.
Click to expand...

Babel didn't suck, but I liked both Amores Perros and 21 Grams a lot better. 21 Grams was the best of the trilogy, IMO.
Click to expand...

It sucks because it take him 3 hours to communicate a simple idea. Its long and exhaustive. Its NOT thrilling or entertaining in anyway.

A movie should be entertaining + communicative of what the director want to paint/say/communicate. This movie SUCKS as an entertainment piece.
 
You all just aren't intelligent enough to understand it, so you say it sucks.
Just kidding, it really does.
Biggest waste of time I've ever spent on a movie, and I sat through Titanic.
 
a partial translation of the note can be found in the wikipedia entry for the movie.

watched the movie with subtitles/captions on, if i watched it with them off, are the translations for the foreign languages and signing not supposed to be there? i got translations for most of what was going on.
 
Originally posted by: iversonyin
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: swimscubasteve
The movie sucked! Amores Perros was way better. Same exact idea was used for Babel, it was just utterly hosed.
Click to expand...

Babel didn't suck, but I liked both Amores Perros and 21 Grams a lot better. 21 Grams was the best of the trilogy, IMO.
Click to expand...

It sucks because it take him 3 hours to communicate a simple idea. Its long and exhaustive. Its NOT thrilling or entertaining in anyway.

A movie should be entertaining + communicative of what the director want to paint/say/communicate. This movie SUCKS as an entertainment piece.
Click to expand...

Yeah.. and? An entertainment piece? Who are YOU to say what a movie should be anyway? You think Babel is the first movie in history to be presented like this? News Flash: This movie is very similar to Crash and Crash WON Best Picture last year. Leave the theories on how movies should be made to the professionals, just because you don't like a movie with deep character development and open-ended plot lines doesn't mean it "SUCKS".

This is how the director does things apparently, it's up to you to appreciate it or not, regardless of if you like it. There are plenty of movies I don't like because of their style/format but still recognize them as a good work. Why does a movie have to be "thrilling" to be good? Aren't you tired of these bland, predictable, cookie-cutter movies with no redeeming value? Tell me what you consider to be an 'entertainment piece' so I can paint a picture of what you consider to be good.
 
overall theme of the movie:
miscommunication, its negative effects, and the amelioration thereof.

edit for the public school kids:
amelioration (noun )- the act of relieving ills and changing for the better
 
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