21 Grams

Starring:Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Danny Huston, Carly Nahon, Claire Pakis, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Nichols (III), Charlotte Gainsbourg, John Rubinstein, Eddie Marsan, Loyd Keith Salter, Antef A. Harris, Melissa Leo, Marc Musso, Teresa Delgado, Trent Dee, Tony Guyton, Wayne E. Beech Jr., Keith Lamont Johnson, Clea DuVall
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Brilliantly conceived, superbly directed, and beautifully acted, Babel is inarguably one of the best films of 2006. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu and his co-writer, Guillermo Arriaga (the two also collaborated on Amores Perros and 21 Grams) weave together the disparate strands of their story into a finely hewn fabric by focusing on what appear to be several equally incongruent characters: an American (Brad Pitt) touring Morocco with his wife (Cate Blanchett) become the focus of an international incident also involving a hardscrabble Moroccan farmer (Mustapha Rachidi) struggling to keep his two young sons in line and his family together. A San Diego nanny (Adriana Barraza), her employers absent, makes the disastrous decision to take their kids with her to a wedding in Mexico. And a deaf-mute Japanese teen (the extraordinary Rinko Kikuchi) deals with a relationship with her father (Koji Yakusho) and the world in general that's been upended by the death of her mother. It is perhaps not surprising, or particularly original, that a gun is the device that ties these people together. Yet Babel isn't merely about violence and its tragic consequences. It's about communication, and especially the lack of it--both intercultural, raising issues like terrorism and immigration, and intracultural, as basic as husbands talking to their wives and parents understanding their children. Iñárritu's command of his medium, sound and visual alike, is extraordinary; the camera work is by turns kinetic and restrained, the music always well matched to the scenes, the editing deft but not confusing, and the film (which clocks in at a lengthy 143 minutes) is filled with indelible moments. Many of those moments are also pretty stark and grim, and no will claim that all of this leads to a "happy" ending, but there is a sense of reconciliation, perhaps even resolution. "If You Want to be Understood... Listen," goes the tagline. And if you want a movie that will leave you thinking, Babel is it. --Sam Graham

Beyond Babel

Other Interweaving Storylines on DVD
Other DVDs by Director Alejandro González Iñárritu
Why We Love Cate Blanchett

Stills from Babel (click for larger image)

Product Description

In Babel, a tragic incident involving an American couple in Morocco sparks a chain of events for four families in different countries throughout the world. In the struggle to overcome isolation, fear, and displacement, each character discovers that it is family that ultimately provides solace.

In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out-- detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couple's frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children, and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo. Separated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, each of these four disparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling towards a shared destiny of isolation and grief. In the course of just a few days, they will each face the dizzying sensation of becoming profoundly lost - lost in the desert, lost to the world, lost to themselves - as they are pushed to the farthest edges of confusion and fear as well as to the very depths of connection and love.

In this mesmerizing, emotional film that was shot in three continents and four languages - and traverses both the deeply personal and the explosively political -- acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Amores Perros) explores with shattering realism the nature of the barriers that seem to separate humankind. In doing so, he evokes the ancient concept of Babel and questions its modern day implications: the mistaken identities, misunderstandings and missed chances for communication that-- though often unseen-- drive our contemporary lives. Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Kôji Yakusho, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi lead an international ensemble of actors and non-professional actors from Morocco, Tijuana and Tokyo, who enrich Babel's take on cultural diversity and enhance its powerful examination of the links and frontiers between and within us.

Customer Reviews:

Mish mush.......2007-06-29

There are several different stories here only slightly related dealing with several different families in separate countries. Nothing that went into a whole. Some of the individual stories were touching. I particularly liked the Moroccan boys story. However overall it left me wondering what is the point of the story.

The acting is above average. Not surprising as it has some good actors. The filming is good.

Dry.......2007-06-26

Brad Pitt must be hard up for some money. Angelina's new kids must be costing him a fortune because this is the worst role he has ever taken. I think he's a great actor, love almost all of his other movies, but this one??? I'm not sure where to begin because, frankly I'm not sure what the story was about. Some lady, his wife or girlfriend, gets shot on a bus in Morroco or some place like that. Then some Mexicans try smuggling Brad Pitt and his lady friends children into Mexico... Border guards thought it was fishy that a couple of Mexicans were cruising around with some white kids so they busted the Mexicans and left the children to rot in the desert. Let's see... what else happened that made some sort of sense... This Mexican or Arabian fellow bought an illegal rifle and let his sons use it. They decided to use it to shoot at a bus, subsequently shooting Brad Pitts lady friend. And here's the kicker: a Japanese chick who was deaf gets naked for absolutely no reason! They show her at the club eaten some drugs, and next thing you know she's in some swank Tokyo condo gettin naked. I think that scene is what the whole movie was about and definitely worth the one star I gave it.

Farce.......2007-06-20

Let me start by saying that I really like this movie a lot. I think the point is very clearly stated in the preview, but not in the movie itself, although it's clear from watching the movie. The communication barriers we all deal with, and our prejudices against one another affect our lives, and make life hard, and painful, where there does not have to be any pain, or misunderstanding.
Cate Blanchett is a phenomenal actress, and does an outstanding job here, as the wife of Brad Pitt who gets shot in Morocco while riding on a bus. She is shot by two young boys, playing with a gun, and terroristic sirens sound off throughout the world. There are some other events happening in the movie too, with their children, and the original owner of the gun who is in China. Somehow they are all intertwined which makes for a compelling story. Each having their own struggles and issues, and communication related barrier. The original owner of the rifle has a deaf-mute daughter he has trouble communicating with after her mother commits suicide. Very well done, except one major complaint.
There are some very sexually explicit scenes involving children that were pretty much unessecary in making this a great movie. I personally, think it's tragic for people to accept having scenes like this in movies, that make it somehow acceptable. It's not ground breaking, it's just violating. And, I always thinks it's a bit of a farce when this is included in a movie that otherwise would be phenomenal on it's own merit. It just seems like a weak way to include some "shock" factor, when it's not needed, and dumbs down the movie. I could care less to see that, and didn't understand it's place in the movie, except to push the envelope. That could have been done in more valuable ways. Hence, why my rating is only a 3. But, otherwise, the storyline is great, and very interesting. I like movies that have a lot of moving parts, and stories happening in many places. Definitely one you should not miss.

The trouble with films like "Crash...".......2007-06-17

The film industry sees a success and realizes this is potentially a gold mine for more similar stories. Of course, they've got to add a twist--in this case, more languages, more locales and more cultures. As in the old saw: too many cooks spoil the soup, too many languages and locales spoil the story.

And--while there is always going to be a character or two who doesn't think in a movie, this one was riddled with folks who could have prevented their mishaps with just a little bit of common sense:

why would parents leave their kids in the care of a nanny who clearly isn't up to the task? I don't have children, but if I did, and I could afford a nanny, that person would be able to communicate and think much better than their employee

why would the illegal nanny take two American kids across the border?

why would the American couple go to a Muslim country, which is hostile where they spoke none of the language?

why would anyone let an intoxicated person drive--particularly at an international border?

One person's blunder can make an interesting plot device. Two people's blunder starts on comedy. Three? I can only shake my head so long at a movie before I am ready to give up. I made it to the end, but honestly I didn't think it was worth it. Very glad this was only a rental.

It is not about communications, it is about stupidity.......2007-06-17

I really cannot appreciate how this film is being portrayed by movie critics as a drama about human miscommunications. In my opinion, it is about human stupidity, period.

For example,

1) After September 11, it is stupid to take vacation in Muslim country, where the locals may be hostile. Like it or not, US heavy-handed tactics in punishing the terrorists did create a lot of enemies in the Muslim world.

2) It is stupid for an illegal aliens working in the United States to cross the border. I cannot imagine how the nanny can return to the States without any identification.

3) It is stupid to let her nephew Santiago drive since he is apparently intoxicated.

But the movie did remind us one thing: i.e. in this post 911 world, if an institution/administration/government/individual is being labeled by the U.S. government as terrorists (with or without evidence), you are going to be in big trouble.

Three stars for this timely reminder.

3) It is stupid to let her nehphew Santigao drive since he is apparently intoxicated.

Average customer rating:

Impressive! Ambitious!
Three Tragedies
A Walk On The Razor's Edge Between Life and Death
Melodramatic Soap Opera
How much does your soul weigh?

21 Grams
Starring: Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , Danny Huston , Carly Nahon , and Claire Pakis
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Amores Perros
Traffic
Babel
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House of Sand and Fog

ASIN: B0001CNRRU
Release Date: 2004-03-16

Amazon.com

Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive, The Ring) in 21 Grams. Del Toro (Traffic, The Usual Suspects) delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and compelling. The movie overreaches for metaphors towards the end, but that doesn't erase the power of the deeply felt performances. --Bret Fetzer

Description

The emotionally and physically charged lives of three people, a college professor (Sean Penn), an ex-con (Benicio Del Toro) and a young mother with a reckless past (Naomi Watts), collide unexpectedly in this gripping suspense thriller.

Fate brought them together. Now vengeance will take them to the heights of love, the depths of revenge and the promise of redemption. Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts give the finest performances of their careers in the film that is "tantalizingly alive!" - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Customer Reviews:

Impressive! Ambitious!.......2007-05-07

I was tempted to entitle this review, "Too clever by half" but I would have been guilty of the same....Another title that came to mind was "Needs Heart Transplant" but I rejected that for the same reason.

On the positive side, most of the acting is superb. Sean Penn is never less than great and he does not disappoint here. Benicio de Toro's performance was beyond brilliant. Naomi Watts was the weakest in my opinion. (I loved her in The Painted Veil.) She relied on looking pale and blank and tensing her jaw too many times to show any number of emotions and somehow I found her just blah. She looks good, though, so men might overlook her pallor. I think any number of other actresses would have done a better job. Kate Winslett and Julianne Moore both come to mind. Melissa Leo, as del Toro's wife was perfect in her role.

The story is smart. It's full of thought provoking elements. Perhaps too many to be digested in the space of one film. This might be a good opener for a discussion group on any number of subjects: addiction, religion, abortion, marriage, suicide, heart transplants, etc.

That brings me back to "ambitious." There's nothing wrong with that, but I was so overwhelmed with the intensity of the content, that I numbed out, and by the end, I really didn't care about any of them. Except Jack Jordan (del Toro's character) and his family.

I found the technique of cutting back and forth in time more confusing than intriguing. As others have mentioned, it seems largely for the sake of being arty. A little mercy for the viewer would have been welcome. It did all come together, but too late in the film, for my taste, and by that time, I had stopped caring. If it had been filmed in a more sequential way, I think I would have been able to sustain my ability to keep my heart open to these characters. Also, the ratio of misery to joy was severely imbalanced, in my opinion and this had the effect of numbing me.

I agree with another reader who complained that the characters played by Penn and Watts were not fully written. Penn's, especially. He's portrayed as a real cold character, but when he gets the heart (transplant) of the good, famiy loving man, he warms up....but only to the widow of the dead man, not to his own wife, who wants desperately to stay in the marriage and have his child. Penn, by his natural humanity, makes us care about him, but that's a gift I think he gave to the script.

The Watts character didn't hold together much for me. She's portrayed as the loving wife, mother, sister and daughter, but then there is another, darker part of her that I think we should have seen earlier in order to make sense of her later meltdown. True, she was given an enormous blow, but others have suffered similar things without resorting to drugs and murder.

I have to give special mention to Jack Jordan, (del Toro). The character is written with great depth and compassion and acted accordingly. I was only going to give this film three stars but for that I add a fourth. He is the one, troubled as he was, who comes through with the real heart.

Another reader wrote that "the intricate screenplay isn't half as smart as it thinks it is" and I think he has a point. It seems that the goal of the film is to impress. If you want to be impressed, and don't mind being de-pressed in the bargain, then this might be the film for you.

Three Tragedies.......2007-04-25

Alejandro González Iñárritu usually mixes three stories together, (Babel, 21 grams, amores perros).

The score in this feature creates the bitter mood that envelopes the entire endeavor. A mathematician, a widow, and an ex-con someone become entwined in a rollercoaster of emotions and tragedies.

It will keep you guessing, its one of the most depressing films that I have seen, yet it creates a scar that you will never forget.

A Walk On The Razor's Edge Between Life and Death.......2007-03-31

"Though not depressing, because nothing this good is, the film is haunting -- a walk on the razor's edge between life and death." Liam Lacey

For the first half hour I was confused trying to figure out the characters and how one minute Naomi Watts looked like a lovely woman and housewife, and the next a coke addict. Alejandro González Iñárritu has directed this engrossing and fascinating film which glides back and forth between past and present, slicing time as if it were a ribbon. As a matter of fact as a critic stated; the movie is like a mirror broken into hundreds of pieces and put back together one piece at a time.

Naomi Watts is an illuminating presence. She can by a glance depict her mood and feelings. Sean Penn needs only to move his body and look for us to know he is the man. Here's Benicio Del Toro, who above all shows us his true colors. A man who has found Jesus but still can't get away from his former life of tattoos, violence and crime. A man's death, a man's life and a man responsible. All three cover the waterfront of this story.

Stephen Hunter has said that "21 Grams", which refers to the weight that a body eerily loses at the instant of death," could be construed as the weight of the soul -- is a pure theological argument, playing two theories of grace off each other." A movie with so many messages that we wonder how to put this all together. What does this all mean? Why do we care and why should we?

"21 Grams" begins with an image of birds in an urban landscape, suddenly breaking into helter-skelter flight. That's Gonzalez Iñarritu's metaphor for chaos, for the possibility that life is random atoms splattered this way and that by other random atoms. That, too, is the narrative strategy: a confusing jumble of seemingly random scenes, beyond the capacity of human organization." Stephen Hunter

This is a movie that begs for discussion and pondering. How can we begin to understand the meaning and the message from the lives of three humans as 'screwed up' as these three are by their circumstances? What can we begin to learn? Alejandro González Iñárritu is a director of brilliance and it will behoove us to view all the films he has and will make.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 3-30-07

Babel

Amores Perros

Melodramatic Soap Opera.......2007-02-27

21 Grams is an outstanding example of a cinematic soap opera. Its non-linear plot is heightened by its melodrama.

How much does your soul weigh?.......2007-01-24

How much is a life worth? Modern folklore suggests that at the moment of death, when the soul leaves the body, the body loses 21 grams. Be sure to read a few reviews of this film: the complicated plot is told in a complex, non-linear fashion.

Average customer rating:

Impressive! Ambitious!
Three Tragedies
A Walk On The Razor's Edge Between Life and Death
Melodramatic Soap Opera
How much does your soul weigh?

21 Grams (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , Danny Huston , Carly Nahon , and Claire Pakis
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Amores Perros
Traffic
Babel
Mystic River (Widescreen Edition)
House of Sand and Fog

ASIN: B000FVQLJ8
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Impressive! Ambitious!.......2007-05-07

Three Tragedies.......2007-04-25

A Walk On The Razor's Edge Between Life and Death.......2007-03-31

Melodramatic Soap Opera.......2007-02-27

21 Grams is an outstanding example of a cinematic soap opera. Its non-linear plot is heightened by its melodrama.

How much does your soul weigh?.......2007-01-24

Charlie Rose with Naomi Watts; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Melissa Leo & Benicio Del Toro (December 19, 2003)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Naomi Watts; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Melissa Leo & Benicio Del Toro (December 19, 2003)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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21 Grams
Babel
Ellie Parker

ASIN: B000HBL1ZK
Release Date: 2006-08-15

Description

Australian actor Naomi Watts discusses her work in the film 21 Grams, which also stars Sean Penn, and reflects on her previous roles. Then, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and actors Melissa Leo and Benicio Del Toro discuss their work on the film.

Average customer rating:

21 Grams/Traffic Value Pack
Starring: Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , Danny Huston , Carly Nahon , and Claire Pakis
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu , and Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Amores Perros

ASIN: B0002234FO
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Average customer rating:

Impressive! Ambitious!
Three Tragedies
A Walk On The Razor's Edge Between Life and Death
Melodramatic Soap Opera
How much does your soul weigh?

21 Grams [Region 2]
Starring: Sean Penn , Naomi Watts , Danny Huston , Carly Nahon , and Claire Pakis
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video