Reviews: DVD

Babel

Directed by Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

This Oscar-winner touches a nerve in the global village that is taking shape as we speak. The multidimensional tale illustrates the importance of communication and interdependency when people from different cultures and languages converge.

Employing as many as six languages, including sign language, this third installment of a trilogy that weaves disparate storylines around a fateful accident boasts top-notch acting and an immediacy that belies the thematic ambitions of the filmmaker. A bit ponderous to some, it is, however, tinged with touches of fatalism and moments of tenderness.

More philosophical than last year's best picture Oscar winner Crash and less edgy than Amores Perros, Inarritu's striking debut in 2000. It is a message film with masterful fluency and undeniable relevancy.

Raymond Zhou

(China Daily 03/01/2007 page20)