Babel and Determinism

Posted by kenshin03 on Sep 6, 2009 in movies | 0 comments

Sometimes there are films you’ve heard so much about, they automatically categorize themselves into the “heavy material – not for casual viewing” group. As time wears on, your expectations only grew. Sometimes one become cautious about whether to watch the actual film in the end, as it has already taken a certain form in your mind, and any deviation from that often leads to disappointment or disorientation.

Babel is the case in point.

Critics and reviewers tend to be quite generous towards the film, praising it on the portrayal of universal emotions like pain, suffering and yearning for unity, on the controversy of western imperialism, on the failure of language and senses under certain circumstances, among others.

I wasn’t in such a forgiving mood though. To me, the main draws were the cast (Cate!) and the emphasis on determinism/fatalism/the butterfly effect/casuality…how all events and lives are intermingled and have profound effects on one another regardless of spaces and time. Seems like a formula that can’t go wrong.

But “formula” was exactly what the curse was. About one-third into the film, it couldn’t become more obvious that the characters in the four stories are somehow inter-related. With the suspense given away, the audience was left to see how events would unfold and come to their inevitable ends. And while the unfolding was intense, it regrettably treaded into the waters of TV-style melodrama, with chains of stupid decisions from protagonists made to serve little more than plot devices. What a shame.

In comparison, the little scene depicting Determinism in Benjamin Button (“If the cab driver hadn’t stop for a cup of coffee…”) was much more powerful and convincing. Sometimes ideas like this work better in a more confined context, both in terms of length and space.

Suddenly I feel a bit worried about other films sitting in the same category, like “Constant Gardener”, “2001 Space Odyssey”, “Blade Runner”, “River Kwai”, “Godfather trilogy” and so on… I wish I’m over-reacting.

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