b a b e l

Definitions of babel on the Web:

* a confusion of voices and other sounds
* Tower of Babel: (Genesis 11:1-11) a tower built by Noah's descendants (probably in Babylon) who intended it to reach up to heaven; God foiled them by confusing their language so they could no longer understand one another
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* Babel was the native name of the city called Babylon by the Greeks, the modern Hilla. It means "gate of the god" (not "gods"), corresponding to the Akkadian Bab-ili.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel

* Babel is an Iraqi newspaper which was under the direction of Uday Hussein.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_(newspaper)

* A tower mentioned in Genesis 11. The Bible describes how there was only one language used prior to construction of the tower. God was offended by the construction, and caused its builders to speak in different languages. Almost all linguistic experts, except those who are conservative Christians, consider the story to be a myth.
www.religioustolerance.org/gl_b.htm

* A city in Shinar [Babylonia], Babel [noun] [OW] is where the building of a Tower of Babel [CE] is held, in the biblical book of Genesis [Gen. 11:1-9 [BLB] ], to have been halted by the confusion of tongues.
members.aol.com/porchnus/dict01.htm

* Confounded by compounding too many things together, as the Yi-haic language.
www.angelfire.com/in2/oahspe3/glossary.html

* a tower built into heaven, the story of Babel comes from Genesis 11.1-9, "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech ... Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven ... And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built ... Come, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. ...
www.artstamps.dk/ARTSTAMPS_Definitions_and_Explanations.htm

Babel the movie, got 7.8/10 rating from IMDB, and 4.5/5 from On Stage.
Penasaran how good is this movie really (no, not appealed by Brad Pitt), bbrp minggu lalu smpet download. trus dipreview dikit2, dan concluded that klo mo nonton mesti sama bapak coz dikhawatirkan klo ulma nonton sndiri bakal ga ngerti :P

so tadi malem akhirnya nonton
pretty convincing filmnya :D
cerita singkatnya *spoiler alert* :
ada keluarga di Maroko (ayah ibu dan dua orang anak lelaki, both are around 8-12 y.o. i think). Waktu lagi menggembala kambing (omG such an ancient word :D - gembala) mrk ngetes2 senapan angin yg baru dibeli Ayah mereka. I think rifle-nya dibeli buat nembakin jackals yg biasa ngincer kambing2 mereka. Gimana cara ngetesnya? well they shot at distant objects, kata penjualnya bisa nembak sejauh 3km. Salah satu distant objects nya adalah: BIS TURIS AMERIKA... yak akhirnya terjadi sebuah persamaan dimana jika bis amerika ditembak = teroris! later on polisi2 setempat, media2 berita is preconceived with the idea that "ada gerombolan teroris yg berusaha mengacau keamanan!"

Sementara di dalem bis ada brad pitt dan istrinya, cate blanchett, yg ketembak si cate. dan si brad pitt yg berusaha mnta pertolongan buat istrinya, pergi ke village terdekat (villageny si tourguide .. untung ada dia, klo engga si cate mati tuh :p), smpe mereka akhirnya ditinggal sama bis tur, dan brad harus cope sama frustrasinya berusaha cari bantuan, cari ambulans, to save his wife.. in the end istrinya selamet kok :p dan membuktikan bahwa "orang Islam (Maroko) tu baik2" (Chauft).

meanwhile anak2 mereka (2 biji, ce ma co) di US of A sono, dijagain sama nanny mrk yg org mexico (illegal). si nanny ini terus ngebawa anak2 itu ke negaranya dia, ada kawinan ponakannya, dan pas mo balik, well terjadi perselisihan dgn border police.. YANG BERAKIBAT si nanny dan dua orang anak itu terdampar di gurun somewhere .. DAN AKHIRNYA si nanny (yg udh di amrik for 16 years) harus dideportasi, sodara2

Balik ke keluarga Maroko yg di bagian akhir film tembak2an sama polisi (yg nembak2in polisinya si anak bungsu, btw), in the end si sulung jd korban peluru nyasar polisi.
si anak bungsu nangis2 dan membanting2 rifle smpe rifle-nya hancur.. seakan2 he blamed the rifle for everything that had happened..

Rifle itu dari mana? di awal film diliatin sang Ayah yang ngebeli rifle itu dr tetangga mrk.. yg pernah jd guide buat seorang pengusaha jepang yg udh ditinggal mati istrinya (suicide - cerita gmn si istri bunuh diri juga wagu d film ini) waktu dia ekspedisi hunting d maroko. Dia punya anak perempuan bisu-tuli yang di tengah hustle and bustle kota Tokyo, sangat ingin dicintai lelaki (cieh).. fokus cerita di "Japan-part" of this movie emg si cewek jepang ini. a deaf-mute that wants to be loved ..desperately. jd inget salah satu sad story d 'Sad Movie' -> a Korean film that me Nie n elv watch last April; there's also about this deaf-mute girl that tries to gain the heart of the love of her life

so tiga cerita.. well empat.. brad dan cate, moroccan family, japanese family, children n their (illegal) mexican nanny.

story-tellingnya bagus
even with that 4 different tales, done in different languages, different value conflicts, different cultures, the director can compose them all to a convincing end result.
cinematography okay,.. not theatrical, but in a realistic/documentary kind of way
editingnya keren (buat film yg lumayan kompleks sperti ini... not an easy job)
kata chauft si Alejandro González Iñárritu (sutradara) emg style-nya gitu, brp cerita yg berbeda (tp sebenernya berhubungan) dijadiin satu film.
some of the reviewers said that babel is a part to complete the multinarrative drama of Iñárritu's "Death trilogy" (namanya serem amir :S). film2 laennya tu Amores Perros dan 21 Grams. hoooo ok ok (Chauft saw the 21 grams).

cuma i missed a couple of minutes of translation at the beginning of the movie. wktu si Moroccan guide jual rifle ke si keluarga Maroko seharga 500 dinar dan seekor kambing :D myb gara2 bajakan kali ya ;p

final comment: the film doesnt need brad pitt and cate blanchett :D i can imagine other actor/actress, yg ga sefamous (se-A list) those two ppl. i mean, such a waste of budget :p
dua org itu sih seneng2 aja kali maen d sini, challenge baru (well no, not really).. man they should give other actors a chance.
kata chauft "biar menjual filmnya"
kata ulma "tapi filmnya tu udh bagus, ga perlu lagi pke brad pitt dan cate blanchett"

btw (lho katanya td final comment) si gadis bisu - rinko kikuchi: Is an accomplished motorcycle driver and horseback rider. hoooo keyen2.. and she got nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture on this year's Golden Globe Award, yg maenin Nanny juga, Adriana Barraza .. she also played in 21 Grams. Brad Pitt got the one for Best Supporting Actor.. hope he wouldnt win :p

terus terus.. (ga jadi final comment yg tadi :p)
yg ngisi soundtracknya si Gustavo Santaollala :D the guy who did the scores of Brokeback Mountain (hoooo... membayangkan adegan gay-nya Jake Gyllenhaal dan Heath Ledger... aaaa ga kuaattt xD). He also got nominated for Best Original Score - Motion Picture for Babel.

Yah filmnya dalem kok, banyak philosophical meaning that can be found.. salah satunya it tells a lot about "arogansi Amerika, mentang2 (si Nanny) orang Latin Amerika, dicurigai, mentang2 Maroko, dibilang teroris" (Chauft) *nod2
klo ngaitin dgn title-nya.. in this world there's so many voices, mau ga mau pasti banyak yang simpang-siur. Salah paham and misunderstanding itu selalu terjadi.. "If you want to be understood,.. Listen"-taglinenya (yg ini beneran final comment)
*end*