3.18 - BABEL (2006) & (Mis)Communication

The next Ińárritu offering — and the last in a ‘trilogy’ that began with AMORES PERROS — is the 2006 film BABEL. We have fairly similar takes on the movie, and this is followed by broader discussions about language, Westernisation, and the purpose of the film.

Next Week
Our final Ińárritu film is 2014’s BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VALUE OF IGNORANCE), available on Amazon

This Week’s Media
HOW NOT TO BE A BOY (2017): Robert Webb
THE BABYSITTER (2017): McG, Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving

Recommendations
PACIFIC RIM (2013): Guillermo del Toro, Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam
THE NEON DEMON (2016): Nicolas Winding Refn, Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks
13 ASSASSINS (2010...not 2013, as confidently asserted): Takashi Miike, Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada
UTOPIA (2013-14): Marc Munden, Adeel Akhtar, Paul Higgins

Footnotes
First this week, I’ve searched long and hard for the origins of the ‘Trilogy of Death’ label, to no avail; answers on a postcard... This review is broadly positive, at least with respect to the Japanese narrative strand of the movie. This is a good introduction to the idea of ‘the idiot plot’. Finally, here’s more on the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel, to which the title refers.