Babel

Babel is a story of four stories that come together in the end. The characters in each of the stories are totally different from the next story. I think the director chose each of the characters so that it was really easy to follow which story you were watching, and didn't mix any of them up.

Richard (Brad Pitt) is the older looking father figure in the movie. During the movie his wife gets shot and he found help as soon as he could and saved her life by getting a helicopter to come to the area where they were. He is caring and very responsible throughout the movie. I think Brad was chosen for this film because he is an actor that is known for doing good things and being a good person. I also think he was chosen because he's really famous and if people saw that Brad Pitt is in this movie, then they will want to watch it. He has played many other roles in movies that are the caring husband figure (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and he has been in a lot of drama and action movies.

Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) is a young very disturbed girl. She is a bit of a whore throughout the movie and tries to hook up with many people, including her dentist. It was pretty gross. Her role was kind of random in the movie. I didn't really understand why she had to be a whore in the movie, it didn't really add to the plot line of the story at all. I guess it made the story more juicy and exciting. Chieko was related to Richard and his wife because her father was the one who selled the gun to the kids who shot Richards wife. I found it odd that it was her fathers fault that Susan got shot, yet we didn't see Chiekos father once. I think the director had Chieko in this film to bring some diversity in ethnicity because she was Asian. I have never seen Rinko Kikuchi in a movie before so I don't know if she usually plays a whore in movies.

Santiago (Gael Garcia Bernal) is suppose to be a mid-aged Mexican in the story who causes a lot of problems. He is the niece of the woman who's watching the kids of Richard and Susan. He is the character who gets really drunk at the wedding and drives the kids across the border. When he gets pulled over and asked questions about the kids and if he was drinking, he drives away and drops off the kids in the middle of the desert. Due to his poor decisions his aunt is sent to jail and the kids are left in the desert for a long period of time by themselves. I think that he was chosen for this film because he is also a very attractive popular actor. Babel would not have been such a hit with the characters like Gael Garcia Bernal and Brad Pitt.

The director did a good job in bringing the characters together. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (the director) succeeded in making good stories of four very complex and different stories into one great movie.