nobody asked…

It starts mysteriously. It comes at you fast and  furiously. It weaves whole cloth from disparate yarns. It confuses and delights. And it ends so very poignantly.

If you can see only one more movie this year, make it Babel. Until bringing it home from the neighborhood Blockbuster last weekend, I had never heard of it. While watching it, I was totally captivated by it. Since then, I have been haunted by the beauty, the mastery, and the lingering mystery of it.

It has been a very long time since I saw such a powerful human drama. This is one of those movies that you walk away from at the end with an understanding of the impact that superb direction can have. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Director, demonstrates a rare vision in the telling of these stories written by Guillermo Arriaga. The acting of Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji Yakusho, Rinko Kikuchi, and others combine to cast a powerful spell over the viewer. The haunting musical score by Gustavo Santaolalla brought him his second Academy Award.  Babel was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. All of the elements align to make this an intensely intelligent film.

If you have not seen it, please do so. If you have seen it, see it again. Something tells me that if I watched this one a hundred times, I would discover something new each time, and be eagerly anticipating the hundred and first time.