More than words can say

Brad Pitt plays the lead role in Babel which opened in China this month.

The lauded multicultural drama Babel hit screens at selected cinemas in Beijing on Tuesday. It is the latest Oscar-nominated flick to open in Beijing this year and will be screened with Chinese subtitles.

According to the Biblical legend that inspired Babel, language is the barrier that keeps the world's masses from ascending as one. The film sees director Alejandro Gonzlez Inrritu weave together a multi-dimensional storyline, which spans three continents, four countries, and an array of languages and cultures.

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 anxious 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.

Director Alejandro Gonzlez Inrritu with Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi. File photos

"It's about people trying to communicate across barriers and borders of language in different situations in third-world countries," the director said in an interview just before the film opened in China. "For me, the story is about how vulnerable and fragile human beings are. I wouldn't have conceived this idea without being a director in exile living five years in Los Angeles outside my country. I know first hand how difficult it is to communicate."

Babel is the third collaboration between screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Inrritu whose previous films were the highly acclaimed Amores Perros (2000) and 21 Grams (2003). Like these hits, Babel features multiple stories that are linked together. The director explained that he developed the idea for Babel when they were doing 21 Grams. "We had to be congruent, not just in subject matter and content but in form, in order to keep it within a body of work that could be called a trilogy." The director said he tried to "deconstruct the narrative and play with the structure and time".

While the cast features well-known actors, like Brad Pitt, who knows their way around a movie set, one aspect of Babel that gives the film a striking sense of authenticity was Inrritu's decision to employ non-professionals in many of the supporting roles, including the children in both the Moroccan and the US-Mexican segments. "I wanted to go for the real thing," he explained. Integrating non-professional with established performers was difficult but worthwhile, he added.

According to Inrritu, he aimed to tell the stories in such a way as to express the perspective of the local characters. It is especially important, he said, for Western directors to shoot from the point of view of locals instead of their own preconceived perspectives. "In the Japanese segment, I shot from the deaf Japanese girl's point of view; my point of view has to be subordinated to the drama of the character."

He also said that he considered choosing Chinese actors for the role of the deaf-mute woman but ultimately chose Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi. "She is just so excellent. I had to pick her," he said.

Since premiering last spring at the Cannes Film Festival, where Inrritu won the Best Director prize, Babel has been received worldwide acclaim. Though it was on virtually everyone's Oscar shortlist, Babel won just one Oscar award despite seven nominations. "I was very disappointed," admitted Inrritu. "I thought Babel could have picked up two or three prizes. But that's the Oscars for you."

"Although Chinese language isn't featured in the film, I think audiences will still appreciate the film's message."

(China Daily 03/15/2007 page18)