Babel

Alejandro González Iñárritu and Guillermo Arriaga complete their "Death trilogy" in this new film, Babel. Their previous work on Amorres Perros and 21 Grams gave them the budget to produce an ambitious work originally concieved as spanning 7 continents. Due to screen time and budgetary concerns, the film shows 3 parallel narratives on 3 continents, whose otherwise unrelated characters' lives interact due to a single occurence--an inciting incident that takes place on a mountain. Like the Biblical story referenced in the title, the film addresses the lingusitic and cultural barriers and commonalities of humanity, though reminding us that in our technological, terroristic and globalized world, we are increasingly brought together and separated by our choices.

This film is topical, compelling, circumspect and uncharacteristically unique. Technically, it is flawless with excellent performances by all the actors. Expect to read some subtitles and go to the bathroom beforehand, screen time clocks in at 2:20.