Babel is the third film by acclaimed director Alejandro González Iñárritu (two-time Academy Award winner for Best Director), starring Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Rinko Kikuchi, and Kōji Yakusho. It focuses on three interconnected sets of situations and characters that occur on the border between Mexico and the United States, in Morocco, and in Tokyo, Japan.
The film premiered at Cannes on May 23, 2006, and completes González Iñárritu’s Death Trilogy, which began with his debut film Amores Perros and continued with 21 Grams.
Cate Blanchett plays Susan Jones, the wife of Richard Jones (Brad Pitt).
The film’s initial storyline is interwoven with scenes of Richard and Susan. They came to Morocco on vacation to disconnect and overcome their marital problems. The death of Sam, their third child, from SIDS has significantly strained their marriage, as they struggle to express their frustration and guilt. When Susan is shot on the tour bus, Richard orders the driver to go to the nearest village with a doctor (the village is called Tazarine in the film). There, a local veterinarian stitches the wound to stop the bleeding. The other tourists wait for a while, but eventually demand to leave, fearful of the heat and of being targeted again. Since Susan cannot travel by bus in her condition, Richard threatens the group with waiting for the ambulance, which never arrives, and the bus eventually departs without them while Richard is on the phone. The couple stays with the bus’s tour guide, Anwar, still hoping to be taken to a hospital (having contacted the US embassy using the village’s only phone). Political issues between the US and Morocco prevent prompt assistance, but a helicopter finally arrives. After five days in the hospital, Susan recovers and is sent home.