The first impact that the movie "The Tower of Babel" brought to us was the communication barrier brought about by foreign languages. Just like the beginning of the film, the Arabic language without subtitles brought the audience at a loss. Such discomforts and conflicts filled the whole film. Susan, an American tourist, was accidentally shot in Morocco. His husband Richard could only communicate with the surrounding Arab world through a guide; Amelia, the nanny in the American couple’s home, communicated with the children in Spanish, but the children used English response; in a single race Japan, the protagonist of the story is a deaf-mute girl who can only communicate with the world in sign language and writing. Watching the movie so far, I can't help but admire the genius of the screenwriter. With such a plot setting, it has deepened the barriers to communication.
Apart from language, the deeper conflict comes from the contradictions of different cultures. The mutual mistrust between the Arab world and Western societies led to an accidental incident of injuries to American tourists that immediately rose to political heights, which was linked to terrorist attacks. Political intervention has made news reports far from the truth from beginning to end, and the false public opinion orientation has deepened the contradictions between races, so that ordinary Western tourists in small Moroccan small towns are afraid that the villagers will kill them all. The prejudice and discrimination that Americans treat Mexicans are equally ingrained, so that the first impression of American children of Mexico is dangerous. Cultural differences have penetrated into all aspects of life. Children in Mexico will chase a chicken without a head after seeing a rooster with its neck broken. American children will only find it disgusting and scary. There are no lack of calm, but at the same time, pitiful scenes in the movie: when a tourist bus of western tourists enters a small Moroccan city, the scene shows both the generous Westerner in the air-conditioned car and the Arab running with the car outside the window; when Susan and Li Chad flew away from the small town in a helicopter, and the villagers watched the spectacle that might be once in a lifetime in the wind and sand raised by the propellers. These scenes cruelly show the inequality everywhere in the world-the same people of God back then, a thousand years later, because of the differences of nationality and race, even people of the same race are also different because of nationality. The difference varies.
But the biggest obstacle shrouded in language and cultural barriers is the spiritual barrier. The jealousy and fighting between brothers in the Moroccan desert; the American couple stopped communicating with each other after the loss of their young child, and even escaped; the deaf-mute girl in Japan faced her father who was buried in work after her mother committed suicide, eagerly eager to be Love heart. This is the curse faced by mankind, a vicious circle that never stops: the inability of communication brings a deeper barrier, and the deepening of the barrier in turn makes communication more difficult. If it were not for the bullet that hit Susan's shoulder, the people in the story would still be unable to escape the curse of this vicious circle.
Faced with the incompetence of communication and the possible outcome of communication, the characters in the film chose to flee: the brother concealed the fact of the murder; the nephew of Armenia drove away during the interrogation of the border police; Richard was once due to The pain of bereavement escaped the family, even if it was to repair the relationship between the husband and wife, he once again chose to flee to the desert of Morocco. Ironically, it was their escape that ultimately caused the tragedy to intensify. On the other side of the world, a Japanese girl in a silent world, with the help of alcohol and drugs, escapes in the excitement of joy. When the illusion dissipated, she woke up in the deserted street, facing a strange crowd, the love gap still had nowhere to fill.
Can humans really communicate with their kind? I believe the director has given a definite answer. Amelia can dispel the dark horror at the children’s bedside; the Moroccan guide’s grandmother lit a cigarette for Susan like a religious ceremony, bringing peace and comfort to Susan; the children watched the newlyweds kiss Going to the cream on the other’s face, I can’t help but laugh...Real communication is not blocked by language and culture, because this is God’s instinctive perception of kindness and beauty in everyone’s heart. The whole world Same.
This "blood case caused by a rifle" used cruel methods to bring the people in the four stories out of the vicious circle of communication, forcing people to face the fact that they couldn't bear to communicate, so that they drifted away on the road of disaster. The result was an unexpected reconciliation and love. After witnessing his brother being shot, the younger brother smashed the rifle, gave up resistance, and assumed all the guilt only to save his brother's life; the husband and wife resolved the contradiction caused by silence in the face of the threat of death; Ya was deported, but was finally able to reunite with his family and get possible love... At the end of the film, the camera flashed past the brothers playing in the wind on the top of the mountain, and Amelia rushed into his son on the border of Mexico. In the arms, the deaf-mute girl touched her head in search of love, and finally found comfort on her father's shoulder... Love may not reduce the barriers to communication, but it can bring us comfort. Such an outcome is also pessimistic at the same time. If it were not for this tragedy, they would sink deeper and deeper into the abyss brought about by communication incompetence.
The Mexican director of the film arranged a lot of shots and plots, subtly expressing his dissatisfaction with the United States. This is mainly reflected in the male protagonist Richard, played by Brad Pitt. His behavior represents the irrationality and dominance of the United States over other countries. It was Richard's unreasonable demands and backlash that led to the tragic ending of Amelia's subsequent deportation. Another plot is very subtle: Richard has just yelled at a Moroccan policeman and the guide who has been eager to help him the moment before-and the latter two just swallowed silently-the next moment the British tourist in the same car yelled at Richard. After an swear word, Richard immediately turned around and dropped it to the ground. Richard's request to sacrifice others to fulfill his domineering domineering in the film can not help but reminiscent of the attitude of the United States towards other countries. The attitude of the US border police towards Amelia and his nephew in the film is actually the reality of racial discrimination in the United States. Japanese news reported that Susan was discharged from hospital after receiving treatment, saying: Americans finally got Happy Ending. This is the director’s taunt: an innocent Arab boy was killed, a pair of Arab father and son went to jail, an old man who sold a gun was beaten by the police of his country, and a woman who had lived in the United States for 16 years was deported.. .... All this is in exchange for a happy ending for the Americans. It's not surprising that such a profound and delicate work as "The Tower of Babel" did not get the favor of Oscar.
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