Film Analysis Of The Film 'Babel'

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In the film “Babel” directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Chieko Wataya (Rinko Kikuchi), Susan Jones (Cate Blancett) and Richard Jones (Brad Pitt) are all compromised by circumstance. Chieko is impaired by being born a deaf-mute and her mother’s suicide. Susan is viewed as a stereotypical tourist who excludes herself from her surroundings. When Susan is shot, she is forced out of her secluded world. The gunshot not only effects Susan, but also her husband, Richard – bringing their worlds together. In Fernado Meirelle’s film, “The Constant Gardener”, both Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes) and Dr Brand (Petre Postlethwaite) are oblivious to the conditions separate to their spheres. Tessa Quayle’s (Rachel Weisz) death shakes Justin from his complacency; whereas for Dr Brand, it was the death of his patients that opened his eyes. …show more content…

Inarritu highlights her seclusion from the hearing world in the nightclub scene. His choice of soundtrack is extremely effective as by choosing a well-known song many viewers will be anticipating the next chords of the song. By silencing the music and using an over the shoulder shot it acts as a participating camera- allowing the audience to understand how Chieko would view the scene. Through “Babel” the audience views how Chieko seeks acceptance and love, but is consistently rejected. This searching is due to the void left by Chieko’s mother’s death which causes her to compromise herself in the search for love. The director highlights Chieko’s rejection in the nightclub scene by muting the soundtrack, and by using sharp cuts between the view of Chieko’s friend kissing the male figure and Chieko’s face, whilst being in time with the strobe lighting. The strobe lighting is effective in displaying Chieko’s facial expression as it is displayed as single frames which allows for the change from joyous to rejection to be

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