BABEL (2006)
Babel is an academy award winning multi narrative film directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu about four interlocking simultaneous storylines revolving around tragedy and relate through the story of the rifle used in each story.
Babel is an interesting case for a transnational film as it was directed by Inarritu, famous for popular world film Amores perros (2000), starring a multi-national cast ranging from America, Japan, Mexico and Morocco, including big names from each such as Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael García Bernal to name a few while the filming crew is primarily Mexican. As well as filming locations in Japan, Canada, Morroco and Mexico the film features 6 different languages; Arabic, Berber, English, Japanese, Sign Language and Spanish. The film is also transnational in that it supports Ezra‘s theory of transnationality being a western counter-hegemonic product which represents many national identities and languages as well the realities and problems of other countries. Though it could also be argued that each story involves some form of American political commentary and a lot of the story involves Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet’s characters primarily. As well as a focus within one of the stories on the American/Mexican boarder, a theme common with mainstream American Hollywood cinema. We see the struggles of the people, just like a world/transnational text, but also the tourist gaze of a Hollywood film.
Babel is an interesting case for a transnational film as it was directed by Inarritu, famous for popular world film Amores perros (2000), starring a multi-national cast ranging from America, Japan, Mexico and Morocco, including big names from each such as Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett and Gael García Bernal to name a few while the filming crew is primarily Mexican. As well as filming locations in Japan, Canada, Morroco and Mexico the film features 6 different languages; Arabic, Berber, English, Japanese, Sign Language and Spanish. The film is also transnational in that it supports Ezra‘s theory of transnationality being a western counter-hegemonic product which represents many national identities and languages as well the realities and problems of other countries. Though it could also be argued that each story involves some form of American political commentary and a lot of the story involves Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet’s characters primarily. As well as a focus within one of the stories on the American/Mexican boarder, a theme common with mainstream American Hollywood cinema. We see the struggles of the people, just like a world/transnational text, but also the tourist gaze of a Hollywood film.