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In biblical times man attempted to build a tower so high, to reach God’s dwelling place. So when the Lord came down and saw what was happening, he said “…let us go and confuse their language, so they will not be able to understand each other’s speech.” This place came to be known as Babel because the Lord confused the languages(NIV Gen 11: 1-9).
Babel is a 2006 film produced and directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu with the help of Steve Golin and Jon Kilik. It was written by Guillermo Arriaga and has an ensemble of casts. The cast includes Brad Pitt, Kate Blanchet. The movie tells the story of four families in different parts of the world that are inexplicably connected to one gun. This gun ties all four stories in ways that are deeply suggestive. In a world that is separated by linguistic and cultural differences the only common language known to all.
The director attempts to show that regardless of where in the world you are in, and despite the cultural, geographical, and linguistic boundaries, a gun speaks the one language common to all men regardless of where you are from. This paper will focus on the argument that violence is the common language for all of mankind and that it connects people by irrevocably dividing them.
The film is about four families, inexplicably tied to each other by a gun. A Moroccan man buys a gun to keep for his sons to keep jackals away from his herd of goats. The youngest son decides to test the rifle 3 km range but accidentally shoots an American woman on a bus on vacation with her husband and even before the woman is shot the vacation was not going as smoothly as they intended it to. On the other side of the globe, their Mexican nanny is keen to attend her son’s wedding but was strictly told not to go as she was watching the children. Torn between loyalties, she decides to take the children to Mexico to attend her son’s wedding and drive back the following day but as fate would have it they encounter some problems. On yet another part of the globe, we find a young deaf and mute Japanese girl, whose world is entirely non-verbal, trying to deal with the death of her mother, her self consciousness and trying to deal with a father who does not know how to talk to her(Mac; Congdon).
The director in this film was to give a penetrating examination of the human condition marred by both miscommunication and pursuits of self-divinization. The climax of this movie happens when the young Moroccan boy smashes the gun. This is quite symbolic as it represents the renunciation of not only violence but also self-deification since the gun not only represents the occasional violence, the pursuit of deification, and the control of their destinies
The second climax happens when Richard, offers to pay the Moroccan who helped his wife but the man politely firmly, and politely refuses to take the money. He instead shakes his hand and this communicates a great deal as it shows that when humans exist in independence and dialogical rationality, life always triumphs over death, hate, and self-giving triumphs over the expectations related to goods and services. For the Chinese girl o the hand, her climax comes in the form of a hug from a stranger who responds to her emotional plight. In all four stories, these aspects of human nature come across quite clearly (Congdon).
The film uses the characters in the movie to portray these aspects of human nature. For instance, the Moroccan stranger who gives life-giving help to the American tourist’s wife portrays the inherent goodness of man although they could not understand each other, there was a language barrier between them.
On the other hand, after the American tourist was shot, the English-speaking passengers fail to demonstrate empathy and mutual concern for her but instead go on to cause an outcry claiming terrorist attacks which are further blown out of proportion by the media. This goes to show how man is quick to point fingers even in cases where it is not called for.
The Mexican nanny on the other hand, after encountering some problems at the border with border patrol officers, after the police notice that her nephew is acting funny. He has had too much to drink. Although the nanny has all their passports, she does not have a written permit from the children’s parents and this causes a problem. When the father does get back he is furious at the nanny but decides not to press charges against her.
The filmmakers made this film to address certain aspects of human characters about their surroundings and their prejudices. The filmmakers were attempting to bring to the attention of the world how regardless of where we are in the world some things are universal to all of mankind. For instance, war and guns will always mean death regardless of where in the world you are.
The film did however accomplish its goal of trying to show that there is a language that is greater than war or guns. Man only needs to listen and understand what is being communicated and break away from his prejudices. This is because communication need not be verbal as we had seen in the case of the Japanese girl who a simple hug communicated more than words ever would.
The filmmaker’s argument was effective to some extent. This is because, even though acts of humanity and kindness will happen around the world, man will never really get rid of his pre-formed prejudices. So even though the filmmaker tried to depict man as capable of doing good things and being helpful to his fellow being, man will remain the same in that it will be extremely difficult for a man to truly get rid of his prejudices.
The movie’s ultimate significance was to bring to the attention of the world the inherent nature of man and the aspect of language. It portrays the fact that language need not be verbal or written. There are other aspects of languages that are considered to be universal, in that wherever you go in the world it will mean the same thing. It put across the fact that true human dialogue depends on the signs that communicate any number of things.
In conclusion, the film successfully addresses the aspects of human nature and how man behaves in different situations and regions. The filmmaker addresses the issues of human communication and miscommunication and that war does not necessarily have to be the universal language, communication should not only be verbal or written but may be depicted in the acts as well.
Works Cited
Congdon, D. Film Review: Babel. Jun. 2006. Web.
Mac, Babel. Plot Review. 2006. Web.
New International Version, Genesis 11: 1-9. Web.
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