And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:6-9

In the current political climate with a war against terror and strict border controls, the distinctions between the different tribes of man have been raised to a heightened awareness. We unfortunately do not see the world as made of up like units, but instead of vast cultural gulfs and incomprehensible differences. While many have taken “Babel” as a political statement, it does more than films like Crash and Syriana, even though they bear many similarities. All three films have multiple narratives and include controversial topics as plot elements, but where Crash and Syriana have evident political agendas, “Babel” is about the joy of humanity and how we all, despite language and cultures, are subject to the same alienation, despair, and hope.

Like the previous collaborations between director Alejandro González Iñárritu and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, the film is constructed from multiple narratives. Unlike Amores perros and 21 Grams, however, there is no specific event that unites these tales. Much like the tangential stories of a David Mitchell novel, the four segments of “Babel” are loosely connected and span multiple continents and languages. In Morroco two boys shoot a tour bus with a rifle; also in Morroco, a couple on vacation is wounded and searches for medical help in a rural village; a Mexican nanny takes two American children across the border into Mexico to attend her son’s wedding; in Tokyo, a deaf-mute girl searches for understanding and closure after her mother’s suicide.

While these stories are propped on the current political climate and deal heavily with illegal Mexican immigrants and the American perceptions of the Middle East, “Babel” does not use these to condemn, but instead to create a realistic picture of the suffering that pervades the modern world and that despite the distances between us, we are all of the same race and can find hope and relief in that. This message, this humanity, is communicated by the flawless performances from every member of the cast and beautiful and patient directing. As expected Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael García Bernal give wonderful performances, but the weight of the film falls on the unknown actors and actresses who form the international ensemble. Iñárritu takes incredible care to let the images speak and has great patience to let the camera drink in the various locales and characters without littering the film with dialogue. The cinematography is breathtaking and I would urge anyone reading to go and see this film on the big screen before it is too late.

“Babel” is not an easy film to sit through and is a devastating emotional blow. But out of the myriad of suffering is born a hope and joy that is well worth the journey.