Babel

Brad Pitt is one busy man these days. He's got 8 movies coming out in the next 2 years. Take that and add Angelina Jolie as your girlfriend, and you've got a hell of a lot on your plate. One movie he's making that looks perticularly interesting is called Babel. It looks like it has serious potential, but don't take my word for it, watch the trailer yourself.

It stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Gael Garcia Bernal (the guy who's in The Science of Sleep who I think is an incredible actor). But what makes me really excited to see it is the director, Alejandro González Iñárritu, who did both Amores Perros and 21 Grams, both GREAT movies. Coming Soon gives us the synopsis:

Armed with a Winchester rifle, two Morrocan boys set out to look after their family's herd of goats. In the silent echoes of the desert, they decide to test the rifle... but the bullet goes farther than they thought it would.

In an instant, the lives of four separate groups of strangers on three different continents collide. Caught up in the rising tide of an accident that escalates beyond anyone's control are a vacationing American couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett), a rebellious deaf Japanese teenager and her father, and a Mexican nanny who, without permission, takes two American children across the border. None of these strangers will ever meet; in spite of the sudden, unlikely connection between them, they will all remain isolated due to their own inability to communicate meaningfully with anyone around them.

It sounds like one of those movies you go see because it looks good, and walk out speechless. You walk out of the theater and get all the way out to your car without saying a word, and just kind of soak it in. Those are the kinds of movies I really like. The last movie I remember that did that to me was Crash, and V For Vendetta got close. Both are on top of my list of favorites. You know, someday I think I should create a list, a physical list, of my favorite movies. Lists are always fun, and to be honest I'm not sure what would be on, say, my top 20 list. Anyways, back to this movie.

The tagline of the film is that from the trailer: "If you want to be understood...listen." The meaning behind that quote is interpretable, but sounds to me like commentary about global understanding and how that can impact its people. Very Crash-esque sounding if you ask me. The trailer speaks pretty powerfully, and if both Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett bought it enough to star in it, it's probably pretty powerful stuff. Both of them are great actors, and with this storyline backing them up, I have high hopes for this movie.