Babel (DVD)

In Babel, a tragic incident involving an American couple in Morocco spar ks a chain of events for four families in different countrie s throughou t the world. In the struggle to overcome isolation, fear, and displaceme nt, each character discovers that it is family th at ultimately provides solace. In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out – detonating a chain of events th at will link an American tourist couple’s frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an a ccidental crime, a nanny il legally crossing into Mexico with two Americ an children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the poli ce in Tokyo. Sep arated by clashing cultures and sprawling distances, ea ch of these four disparate groups of people are nevertheless hurtling to wards a shared destiny of isolation and grief. In the course of just a few days, they will each face the dizzying sensation of becoming profou ndly 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 a s to the very depths of connection and love. In this mesmerizing, emoti onal film that was shot in three continent s and four languages – and tr averses both the deeply personal and the explosively political – acclaim ed director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Amores Perros) explor es with shattering realism the nature of the barriers that seem to separ ate humankind. In d oing so, he evokes the ancient concept of Babel and questions its modern day implications: the mistaken identities, misunder standing s and missed chances for communication that, though often unsee n, drive our contemporary lives. Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Gar cí a Bernal, Kôji Yakusho, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi lead an intern ational ensemble of actors and non-professional actors fro m Morocco, Ti juana and Tokyo, who enrich Babel’s take on cultural diversity and enhan ce its powerful examination of the links and fr ontiers between and with in us.