Babel

Babel is a story woven together from four apparently disparate threads. An American couple go touring in Mexico; a goatherd buys a rifle to protect his herd; a long-time housekeeper takes her employer's kids on holiday in San Diego; a Japanese man, losing his wife to suicide, tries desperately to communicate with his deaf daughter. What it is about, as such, is hard to define; it is a little about the fabled butterfly effect, a little about families, and love in adversity, a little about hardship and wealth, and a little about personal identity and loneliness. What is certain, though, is that you will leave with a sense of the commonality of humanity. What "Babel" tells us is that we are not really so different, and that is beautiful, because it means nobody is ever truly alone.

Babel is well-shot and has been commended for its use of silence as well as sound. You will be impressed by the acting; a lot of the cast are amateurs, brought in to give a more realistic, less Hollywood feel to the film- and it works well. On the whole, a must-see; not everyone will enjoy this film, but everyone will appreciate it.

Pete Fossey