BABEL (2006) *** Somewhere out there, there's someone-probably a buch of 'em-who think this is the greatest movie ever made. I won't have any difficulty in that conversation, everything about it is very, very well done. It's covering the same ambitious and willfully undefined philosophical turf as Magnolia , but much better: wherever you are, if you're in the Valley, or Tokyo, or the Moroccan desert, or a USA-Mexico border check...we're all in this together. Misunderstandings come easily, patience is a virtue. You're not only making it harder on yourself, but you're doing that too. These few, tangentially related, personal stories don't lend themselves to greater global understanding, they demand it. There's a very strong communication that we're all-one people-at a crossroads, and we've started down the wrong path. There's also that sense that it's not too late, and that we have everything we need to do it right. The helicopter shot. The scenes between Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are...well, not everything you'd want, because there's little positive about them...but when film lovers watch them through the ages there will be no disappointment, or sense of opportunity lost. When Brad loses it, he's absolutely brilliant. Their performances are great, unquestionably, but they're not even the best ones in the film, they don't even stand out. The Moroccan actors are all amazing, and young Boubker Ait El Caid is just unbelievably great, the best of all. The old Moroccan lady, her face. Alejandro González Iñárritu puts together an exceptional film, the juxtaposition of Morocco's open spaces and a Tokyo disco, hospitals and weddings, none of it is obvious and none contrived. Rinko Kikuchi, her father, the cops...film's a fucking festival for those who are all into feeling everyone's pain. Gustavo Santaolalla 's music is just incredible, all of it. Iñárritu integrates it so into the scenes, but when you catch a breath you realize it's all out there, an integral part of what's happening. Stand alone brilliant, but perfectly played. So, yeah, I have time to listen to anyone tell me why this is all so great.
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