If the previous entry was about a real Babel story, this one is about Babel, the movie, which I saw last night. I found film’s synopsis interesting and it won the Golden Globe Best Picture for drama, so the film got into my list of must-see movies. Fortunately, I was able to catch it before it gets booted out (only Gateway and some SM malls were screening it in the Metro).

In short, the film revolves around a central plot of a shooting of an American tourist in a remote part of Morocco. The story then delves into parallel yet connected subplots involving the Mexican nanny taking care of the American couple’s children in San Diego and Tijuana, and a rebellious deaf-mute Japanese teen girl in Tokyo.

It’s a very good film. Great and low-key acting by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett (as the couple), and Rinko Kikuchi (as the Japanese teen). Exceptional editing and cinematography. A wonderful soundtrack. And a really good six- degrees-of-separation parallel plot.

I loved how the film juxtaposes scenes from middle-class Mexico, upper-class Japan, and lower-class Morocco into a intricately woven tale depicting U.S. paranoia on terrorism, a Mexican marriage, U.S. paranoia on illegal immigrants, Japanese club and drug culture, U.S. media frenzy, desolate living conditions in Morocco, and suicide in Japan.

Unfortunately, while the film is great, it’s not something that I would want to watch again. It’s not depressing like one person has said in ClickTheCity.com, but I guess it’s not entertaining or moving or relating enough for me to really consider seeing it again.

Basing on the movie’s title, I guess it wants to make a point about the breakdown of communication from the personal level up to the international level. The movie subtly shows that theme but I didn’t leave the movie theater feeling I picked up something substantial.