Not Reviewing Babel.
We all know it’s from the maker of Amores perros (2000). It was set in 4 different languages and we were expecting great cinema.
Many must have seen it. A friend of mine saw it before me. He said…”there was no respite.” I did not bother to ask for an explanation as to what he meant. I took a couple of friends along. They have never seen Amores Perros and the friend who has heard of it though Yuva was a remake of Amores Perros. They are not cinema fanatics but definitely enjoy one on the weekends.
They were warning me as last time I had strongly recommended Casino Royale and they were mighty disappointed. No gizmos, no mad man with more gizmos to take over the world…..this was no Bond movie. I was not highly rated as a person who recommends entertaining cinema.
We all went for Babel none-the less. On the way I told them what Babel meant. Even I came to know of it as I read the reviews. The film started. They are seeing random visuals of this boy peeping thru a stone wall. A girl undressing. The boy jerking off….what the hell. But as the film progressed the murmurs and the comments died down.
It was interval and we went into a rather smoked up smoking area. The place and the fumes were threatening me enough to quit smoking. I ran out. I saw my friends and asked them what they felt. I expected them to spite venom for wasting their Saturday night and most importantly 150bucks [150=one quarter No1.]. They did not say much. Went back in.
Show got over. Now I was sure there would be more. As we walked out of the exit. The usual practice is to check out the good ones [girls/women] who came to watch the film in close proximity [something to compensate the multiplex ticket rates…more than a movie experience as they themselves advertise] and to shamelessly eavesdrop on what they say after the movie. Some did not know what the point was. Why go to Japan and why is this girl removing her undergarments at any given cue. Some liked the Mexican story. I hear a women say “when that women asks how are the children and the police officer replies…that’s none of your business….and the women says I have known them since they were born…I bath them…I feed them breakfast and dinner….and breaks down… ”..That sure brought a lump in my glands too.
We went to the parking lot. Still silent. These guys are like stingers…..one skip and they will haunt you with their version of your act for life…I still get stinkers like we could have played “mendicoot” than watch Casino Royale. For Babel they had nothing much to say. One said it disturbed him. One said he felt shaken. One friend said he needed lots of coffee and “dum”. That was review enough for me.
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Felt that it is not a great movie..but still some how makes u engrossed in the characters and their life…The story involving the mexican maid was my fav. Also Brad Pitt ACTED for a change.
Disagree. Actually, Im not even sure what your opinion on the film was. Personally, I found the film to be a very mature and original step towards understanding the latest implications of the world being a flat place. The myth of Babel is exactly reflected in our inability to understand Japanese pop teen greetings, or the Mexican wedding tradition, or Bernal’s reaction to the delicate situation around the border or Blanchett’s character’s complete helplessness as she watches herself be stitched up by this crude doctor or pisses in an empty tin can, just few hours after she refuses to even use the dirty ice. We all respond to different situations differently. I love travelling and I don’t always understand why people do what they do, I sure like to see it though. People don’t even brush the same way in India, Mexico, the Caribbean and London. Its what makes this world interesting, our economic quests baffling and a movie like Babel relevant.
here is ma take on BABEL
i wanted it to be a thread but OZ never replied :((
anyways here is my review :-
Babel:
I loved the film ….. and enjoyed it thoroughly ..
Good one vasan
the point of this article was to share my experience with watching babel with people who are more into priyadarshan than polanski….who are used to a definite style of story telling…a plot…mid and conclusion…if babel could effect them….i thought it was a good one…hence i was not talking of the film as such..but just the experience of watching it with people who would generally not go for such films. i felt it broadened their taste adn now they want more…..I did my bit for cinema i felt that day.
GAWD! People love to watch explosions rather than emotions. Babel is just Innaritu Gonzalez material from start to finish. IF you dont like the unconventional non-linear and interleaving storytelling, then you won’t rate his movies high.
And I have to mention this scene, its just pure cinematic magic to send chills Down Your Spin. Yeah I am talkin’ about the deaf Japanese girl dancing in disc..Innaritu suddenly stops the music to show us how it feels to be deaf. It’s so wierd in a disc. You could sense the pain.
I sympathized for the Japanese girl. Rinko Kikuchi will HAUNT you, just like Naomi watts in 21 grams!
i had mixed feelings about this one.. i loved amores perros way more..
thilak, i agree about kikuchi’s scene at the nightclub.. the way the music went in and out really gave me a sense of being in her shoes..
vasan, nice take on going to a movie like this with people that wouldn’t normally go to a movie like this.. it’s one thing to review a movie the way you interpret it, but you clearly state in the title that you’re “not reviewing babel” and proceeded to give us their opinions.. though i’d love for you to expand on why they felt what they did at the end of the movie, if they themselves aren’t sure, then i can’t imagine you’d be able to add on more to their take on the movie.. see if you can casually bring this up with them and get an insight as to why they felt about the movie the way they did.. unless of course, you feel that their reactions were indeed “review enough” for you..?
hey striker,
you are right…..that was probably the first impulse response….which I feel is the purest….ya…I probably would bring this up…lets see….I would like to show them amores perros and see …I think they might stick to Babel as the Mexican story had a lot of pull to it…maybe anyone can relate to it. lets see…who know