Babel (2006)

In the desert of Morocco a man buys a rife to protect his family and his goats from jackals. Meanwhile, Americans Richard (Brad Pitt) and Susan (Cate Blanchett) are traveling through Morocco when a bullet shatters Susan's collarbone and she starts to bleed profusely. Meanwhile, Richard and Susan's two children are being taken care of by their house maid Amelia (Academy Award Nominee Adriana Barraza) who decides to take them with her across the border so she can attend her son's wedding. Meanwhile, in Japan, a young deaf mute girl (Academy Award Nominee Rinko Kikuchi) struggles to fit in after her mother dies and her father struggles to relate to her. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: Rinko Kikuchi went through a year long audition process before finally gaining the role of Chieko. The child who shoots the rifle was cast after director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu saw him playing soccer on a nearby city square.

Believe it or not, all four of the stories in Babel do eventually get connected to each other, although Chieko's connection is very very tenuous at best. The person that stood out to me the most was Rinko Kikuchi as Chieko, the deaf mute. Her performance was brilliant and far out-shined her co-Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza. I would have liked to see a full movie done with her. The director Alejandro Inarritu is one third of the new Three Amigos, three Mexican directors that have hit the movie scene with wonderful work. The other two amigos are Alfonso Cuaron, who directed Children of Men, and Guillermo del Toro, who directed Pan's Labyrinth. Inarritu is known for his multiple story lines in films like 21 grams and Amores Perros.