Babel (2006)

Cate Blanchett as: Susan Jones

Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Selected Cast: Brad Pitt, Gael García Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi, Elle Fanning & Peter Wight
Written by: Guillermo Arriaga
Release Year: 2006
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R

IMDb | Photos | Videos | ~~Official Site~~

Four interlocking stories all connected by a single gun all converge at the end and reveal a complex and tragic story of the lives of humanity around the world and how we truly aren’t all that different. In Morocco, a troubled married couple are on vacation trying to work out their differences. Meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. A girl in Japan dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a disability among many other issues, deals with modern life in the enormous metropolis of Tokyo, Japan. Then, on the opposite side of the world the married couple’s Mexican nanny takes the couple’s 2 children with her to her son’s wedding in Mexico, only to come into trouble on the return trip. Combined, it provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking…

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Behind the scenesRelated Videos

The second video is a playlist of DVD featurette, just click on the playlist icon on the upper right to see the other videos in it.

Quotes from Cate Blanchett

“I met Alejandro [González Iñárritu] and I really didn’t want to work. But he’s such a flatterer that I sucked it up and went to Morocco. And look, I’m so proud to be part of that film. I think it’s an astonishing vision.” (Cinemablend, December 2006)
“Babel… is all about the subtext. Even the way the film begins, with the sound of the man’s breath and his footsteps, you get the entire picture. It reminds you of the poetic power of Kieslowski, in which an image is at once realistic and profound and enduring. Alejandro [González Iñárritu] is a really intense film-maker. Very few could have maintained the same level of tension and anxiety and kept the stakes so high on set.” (The Guardian, January 2007)
“With Babel I was there because of Alejandro [González Iñárritu], who I love and admire and have wanted to work with for a long time. The more he talked about it, the more I saw the challenge of it. The challenge was having very little text and very little time but needing to convey the entire weight of a relationship, basically, in one dialogue scene, and quickly set up a dilemma with enormous weight and gravitas. The thing Alejandro and I spoke about was the quality of listening. On a prosaic level I was thinking, ‘How many times have I made this sound, I’ve got find another way to express the shades of pain.” (Premiere, October 2006)

Quotes from Others

Alejandro González Iñárritu on the film:
— “I wanted to explore the contradiction between the impression that the world has become wuite small due to all the communication tools which we have, and the feeling that human beings are still incapable of expressing themselves and communicating amongst themselves on a fundamental level.”

Quotes by Cate Blanchett’s character, Susan Jones

Susan Jones: “Richard, why did we come here?”
Richard Jones (Brad Pitt): “What d’you mean why? I thought you would like it.”
Susan Jones: “Really: Why are we here?”
Richard: “To forget everything. To be alone.”
Susan Jones: “Alone.”
Richard Jones: “You understand? We gotta call nine-one-one.”
Susan Jones: “Don’t leave me please.”

Trivia & Facts

Filmed in Japan, Morocco, Mexico and USA.
Cate Blanchett and the cast were nominated for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards while they won at the Gotham Independent Film Award.
The film won Best Original Score at the Oscars, more accolades here.
The film premiered In Competition at the 59th Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2006, Alejandro González Iñárritu won Best Director.
As of 2022, Cate Blanchett holds the record for most Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), and Don’t Look Up (2020).
As of 2023, Cate Blanchett holds the record for an actress with the most appearances in a Best Picture-nominated at the Academy Awards: Elizabeth (1998), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), The Aviator (2004), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Don’t Look Up (2020), Nightmare Alley (2020), and TÁR (2022).
Brad Pitt gave up one of the starring roles in The Departed (2006) (a film he co-produced) in order to participate in this film, as he’s a longtime fan of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s films.
Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt would reunite in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) directed by David Fincher two years later.
Since each story was filmed at different times and on different continents, some of the cast members never met their counterparts until the film’s premiere.
Only Richard and Susan Jones’s segment was shot on 16 mm film; the rest of the movie was shot on 35 mm. In the scene where the helicopter finally arrives at the village, there is a slight pause as the 35 mm format kicks in.