Tim’s Blog

I actually saw this film in theaters the first time, and I remember the ending being this huge sticking point/topic of discussion for my friends and I.

For one, it blew my mind when Theo was bleeding/about to die.  I noticed him getting shot this time as I was looking for it, but the first time I got so caught up in everything (as I think we’re supposed to) and thus was totally shocked when he died.  Did anyone else completely miss him getting shot the first time through?

Also, the boat.  Some people I was with thought it was lame it showed up…should have left it open ended.  others felt that given the majorly depressing nature of the movie, it was good to have a little bit of happiness.  Still more thought that the tomorrow would be filled with stupid people who would kill Ke/the baby/both within 20 seconds on the ship.  Personally I lean towards 2…I was wondering what other opinions people had on the ending.

I know a lot of the discussion on Babel was about which story moves you, with a focus on how the Tokyo story not fitting in as well as the others.  For me, no one story truly moves me (the closest is the one with Gael Garcia Bernal) but rather a number of scenes throughout the movie that form together to make Babel a truly moving piece about miscommunication.

My favorite of these pieces is definitely when the deaf girl goes to the club in Tokyo, where sights and sounds are everywhere.  Inarritu’s amazing use of diegesis, adding and removing sound depending on point of view, was really eye opening to me.   I’ve never really seen a movie involving deaf people…I imagine they haven’t been a hot topic in film since the advent of sound.  To experience a soundless existence like that, even for just a minute or two total, was quite a risky move by Inarritu, but one that I think worked very well.  Maybe it’s just the psychologist in me, who likes to see things on the personal and physical level.

I felt pretty good about how well I followed the movie, but was left with a couple of questions, and was wondering what others thought about them:

1) I realize that Valeria is the one on the phone whenever  no one answers at Daniel’s house in the beginning.  But who is on the phone the second time.  At first I assumed it was his ex wife, but there was one occasion where Daniel picked up the phone and they hung up.  I wasn’t sure if it was the ex wife, just too afraid to talk, or if this stood for something bigger.  Maybe someone else has thoughts?

2) Also, and this was added to after the reading, I was interested in that one brief scene between Susanna and her drunken mother.  It lasts like 10-15 seconds, and consists of Susanna calling her mother a drunk, and then a shot of the mother drinking, faceless.  It felt very strange to me, as it wasn’t really a “necessary scene;”  I think Susanna telling us her mother was a drunk was enough.  But I was wondering if anyone else found this scene interesting/unsettling as well.

I had never realized how much handheld camera was used in Y Tu Mama Tambien until I saw it last night on the big screen for the first time.  And I loved it too, as it gave the film such a sense of realism, especially the shots in the car, where it was like we were a 4th, unseen passenger, watching everything unfold.  It was especially interesting to watch this after watching Bedhead, which also used a lot of handheld, even if that was more likely due to budget than choice.