I’ve seen it. I must confess to not having paid serious attention at all times. (Was I reading, or typing? I’m not sure.) It was interesting, but not great; well-made, but not classic.
If I may fuse all three comments made so far into one: I really liked it because of its relentless sadness (I have a sad jones) and because it was well-made. I did think, though, that some of the stuff towards the end was too political–in that it was overtly political and not tied, at least for me anyway, believably to the film’s characters.
A couple of days before seeing it, my friend Andy and I watched Crash, and we both came out feeling like the “seemingly unrelated stories that all tie together in the end” genre was pretty much played out. We talked about how we’d like to see a movie where there were these different storylines that never really tied together - the equivalent for these types of movies, I guess, of going with the poignant sad ending rather than the convenient but unrealistic happy one.
And then we saw Babel and realized why more people don’t do what we had just described. Don’t get me wrong - the acting was wonderful, and the movie was beautiful. But in absence of some kind of catharctic tie-in at the end, I finished the movie with a profound feeling of “who cares?” and a disappointment that the movie was so long and so heavy handed.
I’ve seen it. I must confess to not having paid serious attention at all times. (Was I reading, or typing? I’m not sure.) It was interesting, but not great; well-made, but not classic.
We watched it last night. I really enjoyed it.
It was long and left me feeling sad, anxious.
If I may fuse all three comments made so far into one: I really liked it because of its relentless sadness (I have a sad jones) and because it was well-made. I did think, though, that some of the stuff towards the end was too political–in that it was overtly political and not tied, at least for me anyway, believably to the film’s characters.
Oh, and I thought it was pretty to look at, too.
I loved Amores Perros and 21 Grams, but I was kind of disappointed with Babel.
A couple of days before seeing it, my friend Andy and I watched Crash, and we both came out feeling like the “seemingly unrelated stories that all tie together in the end” genre was pretty much played out. We talked about how we’d like to see a movie where there were these different storylines that never really tied together - the equivalent for these types of movies, I guess, of going with the poignant sad ending rather than the convenient but unrealistic happy one.
And then we saw Babel and realized why more people don’t do what we had just described. Don’t get me wrong - the acting was wonderful, and the movie was beautiful. But in absence of some kind of catharctic tie-in at the end, I finished the movie with a profound feeling of “who cares?” and a disappointment that the movie was so long and so heavy handed.
I wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t.
I’m glad you’ve resumed posting and commenting here, Joshua. Your observations seem to spring from a genuinely independent intellect.