Narrative
What would be your overall interpretation of the film "Babel". You may use terms from semiotics such as, signifier, signified, denotative, connotative etc. Also you may include terms from narrative structure, such as characters, sequences, narration, opening and closing, climax and catharsis etc.
My Interpretation of Babel at first was very confusing. I had many questions to on what these 3 different story lines had in common. Throughout the story I see that this was a hyperlink movie. The main signifier of the movie was the gun. The gun that was shot in the desert which starts to reveal all how everyone is connected. All in all the movie was intriguing and captivating to me, and now that I have taken this class it has changed my outlook on movies. - Whitney Winfield
ReplyDeleteI also agree that at first Babel was confusing. I couldn't see how the four different families were related at first, each one of them that had some personal issues that were affecting them. The rifle in the movie was the main signifier. On a connotative level you can see the importance of the gun and how it connected everyone on different sides of the world together.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the film "Babel" reminded me of an earlier film of "Six Degrees of Seperation." From Six Degrees of Seperation, all of the characters were all connected by one particular person. And in Babel, all the different story lines were connected by one object, which was the gun. The gun was the signified in the film, and it played a major role in all of the story lines which changed each character's lives from it. Everyone became connected by this object. I was confused at first, but throughout the movie, I understood how it brought everyone together.
ReplyDeleteAs you begin to watch Babel, the denotative meaning of the title of the film becomes evident very quickly since the movie dives straight into a major conflict. As the film progresses, things seem disjointed and unconnected. As the plot unfurls, you slowly begin to see the connection between all of the characters and how the signifier, the gun, becomes a focal point that links all of these stories into a central connotative conflict that is an international problem. As the film reaches its climax, you begin to realize that the barrier of communication between people of different races, creeds and families extends far outside the general scope of one’s personal views. This central idea creates family, local, national and even international miscommunication amongst people around the world. Then the film unwinds, not only revealing the final understanding of each of the individual characters, but with a cathartic last breath of fresh air as a daughter finally allows the wall of her own communication problems to come tumbling down and reconnects with her father.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of this film reminded me of the movie crash. All of the people were of different races and ethnicities but were all connected in some way. They were all going through different problems and yet none of them had the same background. The main signifier in this was of course the gun. The gun ruined peoples lives and gave some people power that they end up abusing. This movie would not have been a movie that i would have seen in theaters but it was a great movie to sit down and watch.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a good movie. My interpretation of it was that you must be able to work with all types of people. It was also a scene in the movie where the nanny had to take the kids with her to Mexico. The way captured the Mexican culure was nice.They wedding signified the Mexican culture well. They capture the fun and livliness of the event and the music played along with that scene well.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretive of the movie was kind of confusing until it was apparent that it was a hyperlink movie , kind of like the movie crash. The story begin and end was very interesting as well because the movie started from the end and went backwards and ended with the beginning. The main signifier was the gun, because that is what connected everything and everyone together.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the movie at first was confusing but it started to become clear that it was all tying together. It reminded me of the movie Crash. Eventually you started to see the significance of the gun and how it brought the whole movie together in the end. Each scene had great visuals and showed the surrounding, culture, and people. -Amber Maddox
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of Babel has to do with the name of the movie itself which is connotative and denotative. Babel means confusion and there was a lot of that in this movie. From the Americans being in a different country with a language barrier, the mexicans trying to get back to America and their language barriers , and the deaf girl in a hearing world (language barrier). Cultural differences exist as well but I feel as though the main focus is the language barrier of eac story and it ties in well with the title of the movie, Babel.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a good movie to watch. The content and layers of each scene grabs the viewers attention and keep it. This movie had my eyes glued to the screen. The movie uses many context clues to connect each scene. The gun plays a significant role in the movie being the cause for the climax. Overall, the movie was moralistic. Yonisha Andrews
ReplyDeleteSo far Babel is a very interesting and engaging film. At first I was confused about why it was three stories but the director did a really good job of connecting all three. All of the different characters have unique situations and all of them are interesting to me. Im ready to see the rest of the film. -Kyh dixon
ReplyDeleteAfter completing the film i would recommend watching Babel to anyone. The mis-en-scene was perfect for the film and i was very engaged the whole time watching it. I feel like every scene was leading up to a great climax in which it did
DeleteBabel is very interesting film due to the fact that it starts off in the middle east and then moves to Japan. At first it was confusing as to what the characters from Japan and the Middle East had anything to do with each other. but throughout the movie, it is explained and all the plot holes that didn't make sense finally start to ring bells. Other than the fact that the people in the film have a connection, it added depth to the film how the daughter of the Japanese hunter and the son of man who purchased the rifle had their own personal problems to deal with and was completely oblivious to the fact that their fates become connected sooner or later- James Grant
ReplyDeleteAfter watching some of the Movie Babel I found it confusing at first because of the first two scenes but after the third scene I realize that the movie would all connected in some way. The gun was the connection between all of the characters but I also think the movie also focus on Love. I know your think How? but think about it the Young Japanese girl who feels rejected because of here disability and searches for love in the wrong places instead of letting her father love her, The couple that seems to be on the verge of divorce and they also seem least appreciative toward each other, the absence of brotherly love, and the single old Hispanic nanny who has no time for love because of her job description. I think this is a great movie to show 4 different culture lifestyles how they could connect.
ReplyDeleteAs I begun to watch the movie Babel I was confused due to the movie shifting back and fourth between 3 stories. Then I remember watching a movie with the same format back in writing for radio TV and film. The film basically is based off a scene where an American is shot in a Moroccan country. The purpose of the 3 stories is to plot the sequence of events that lead to the shooting. Each story played a significant role the major story. The gun also is a main focus point in the film.- Antavious Huggins
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel reminded me of six degree of seperation because everyone was linked to each other becuase of who they knew or who they came into contact with. The movie was confusing because i was left with questions such as what happened to the japenese girl?, what really happened to her mother? Did she kill her mother to be with her father? I still enjoyed the movie though. It had several plot twist, I could related to each character in some shape or form.I think the director should have a sequel just to clear up some of the confusion that way the audience can go "oh, so that's why..." and so forth-Racheal Merriweather
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel is true to the meaning of the term. It displays a real look into confusion and add the film may be confusing at first the chaos settles and the story is understood. The signifier of all events in the film is the rifle. Though every character's story doesn't involve a direct relation to the rifle, it appears as a symbol of a traumatic incident that plagues each character. Throughout the film a theme or mood of love is presented as each character balls with inner feelings that either doom them or embrace them. The film Babel was a great artifact as it involves the disfunction of multiple situations, it still gives insight into cultural differences as well as lasting conflicts between the norm and the strange.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel was a great movie, at first the movie had me lost as they introduced 3 main characters in different parts of the world. At first I was wondering was this going to be 3 separate films with no connection at all, but have the same life lesson or vice versa. In the film I liked how the director had all the characters going through their own personal problems, while dealing with one big problem that they were all connected to.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel is a hyperlink film that has created various stories and has a signficance behind the entire movie that ties each story together. The connotation would be the "gun" that was sold by Yasujiro Wataya to a Moroccan family in which 2 sons got a hold of the gun in which it seemed to have killed the tourist which was played by Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. Although it may have taken here the entire story to recover it was amazing that she didn't die but her children were in Mexico with the nanny that had problems in Mexico.I am just in complete awe over how everything tied together and the writer and director wanted the viewer to see how different parts work together in efforts to create a conclusion at the end whether it was good or bad.Babel has created many reviews and recalls us as viewers to think about how life could be if we were in this situation.
ReplyDeleteThis was a movie that was truly rare. The way the director combined varies characters from different cultural backgrounds and put them all different situations but all seem to make senses when put into sequence was brilliant! Most of the symbols to me were denotative. I interpreted that nothing was ever physical it was more of mind set of how the director wanted us to feel when it came to the symbols. I think the overall purpose of them film was that we are all connected in some type of way, and that was shown not only in the climax but throughout the whole movie.
ReplyDeleteJust like in the Bible's account of The Tower of Babel, there was a breakdown in communication due to differences in languages. The deaf girl, for example, had to rely on sign language and writing in a notepad to communicate and this posed a big social problem for her. She found it very frustrating to be a teen with budding sexuality, who had just lost her mother and had a rather cold and distant father--all in a hearing world. The illegal housekeeper and child-care provider from Mexico almost caused the death of the children in her charge because she couldn't adequately, at first, explain to the border patrol officer that she had abandoned them in the desert while in search of help. Brad Pitt's character almost lost his wife from the bullet wound because he could not speak the Arabic language.
ReplyDeleteBabel is the perfect example of a well executed hyperlink movie. The stories of Cheiko, Yusef, Amelia, and etc are intertwined in the most random but relevant ways to the story. Throughout the movie, the characters put themselves into different situations in which their communication skills are important. However, being that everyone doesn't speak the same language they are stereotyped and put into much worst situations. For example, when Amelia is trying to cross the border back into America from Mexico with the children she babysits. She is almost arrested for not having written permission from the children's parents, which is odd because it wasn't asked for when they were traveling into Mexico. Another example is when Cheiko tries to flirt with a boy at the mall. She is mute, and deaf, and must write on a note pad to communicate or ask people she's having a conversation with to speak slowly so she can read their lips. Which is a little to much for the boy trying to talk to her, so he walks away.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel was well thought out and exucuted extremely well. It really showed how rich countries prevail over poor countries (denotative/conotative meaning). Everything from the various plots ending in an overall resolution to the story, from the various sequences shot detailing every characters emotion from one another, it was as if you knew what each character was thinking or going through in each scene. Also the various storylines incorporating the different languages (hence the title "Babel") which all bridged a gap at the end of the film. What I took from the film Babel is that although the world is filled with different languages, cultures, demographics basically all that creates a barrier between us, we're all human and we're all connected to one another, because we all share the same feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a hyperlink film that interlocks four different stories of four different families from around the world. They are all tied together by something as simple as a gun, but the clashing of communication builds barriers between each of the character's worlds. The word babel means confusion or a mixture of sounds. It traces back to ancient times from a book in the Holy Bible. It is referred to as the Tower of Babel. In this particular story, the people were cursed with differences in communication so they could not understand one another in order to complete the building of the tower. Throughout this movie, the director conveys the meaning of the world babel by showing the clashing of the lives and communication of totally different people. The director effectively shows that although there are always barriers of communication in the world, somehow our stories can intertwine and effect someone miles away from us. It also shows us that communication is one of the most important aspects of life. Overall, the film was very interesting to watch.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel was a very unique hyperlink. The formation of the various story lines and them all tying together at the end of the film was pure genius. The semiotics from the beginning of the movie were difficult to follow. The referent also known as the gun used for protecting the flock, was a great symbol used to discuss how a symbol was used to protect led to the down fall of a family. As the story progress' you can see how each story line started as a clear and calm tale. Everyone was living a calm life, although as the movie progressed you saw the chaos from the the shooting. From this point, one characters actions transpired to another set of characters actions being halted and almost stranded in another country. You also see how the decision of a nanny going to see her son in the beginning of the film, transpired to her losing her visa and being deported back to Mexico. The beginning of the movie like the Bible's story of Babel, beginning with a great plan, but it ultimately ended with tragedy due to the fact that the goals were for negative ambitions and greed.
ReplyDeleteThe film bable was very versatile and interesting. the strory tell multiple events at one time and the semiotics are indeed difficult to follow. The word babel means confusion or a mixture of sounds. It traces back to ancient times from a book in the Holy Bible. It is referred to as the Tower of Babel. This is a tragic story that illustrates the love between family and neighbors. Bable is intersting from the beginning to end
ReplyDeleteThe hyperlink film "Babel" told four different stories that were all related despite their differences. I believe semiotics played a very large role in the effectiveness of the movie. I believe the director used semiotics to portray a feeling of unity despite location or race. All of the stories related together and while some stories ended differently than others they all had the same mood of desperation throughout the film. The denotative meaning of race is a group of persons related by common descent or heredity. However, in the film Babel, the connotative meaning of race is only the separation created by the humans imagination. The characters were all in a state of extreme desperation during the film but due to their personalities they pressed on.
ReplyDeleteBabel is at first a very very confusing movie. During a good bit of the beginning i was like "why are they showing some of this?" but through out the movie things start to connect to each other. Babel takes place in various different places Morocco, Mexico U.S. & Japan. There are many semiotics in the movie and I finally do now get the concept of babel and where it came from. All of the stories that taken place in these various places are all jumbled and broken up sorta like a miscommunication. Thus is why its called babel but everything connects like in Japan where the girls father is linked to the gun he gives it to the guy in Morocco as a gift then is sold to another family in Morocco then is linked in a terrorist action with the women from the U.S. being shot. Then by this the couple which is the other women and brad pitt their children are affected by this which leaves the nanny to take care of the children and them traveling to Mexico where the kids and the nanny are left out in a desert trying to survive.
ReplyDeleteI think Babel was an AMAZING movie!! Unlike others who may have interpreted the beginning of the movie as confusing I knew that Babel was a hyperlink movie. Why else would the movie jump from one scene to a totally different scene with an entirely different set of characters. Now how did the scenes connect was beyond my knowledge until everything came together. It was almost like a mystery. You had to think critically to understand the purpose of the film. It made me think of how something so small such as a gun can connect you to the lives of other families. It was actually very realistic because when you think about it is very common to link something you purchase to the lives of others. It could be a necklace that you bought from Goodwill. That necklace could be a family treasure passed down from generation to generation and may have been placed into the hands of the wrong family member who sold it for money.
ReplyDeleteThe writer of Babel was a genius! They took a story from the bible and used it to create a story of everyday miscommunication. Babel is defined as confusion or a mixture of sounds and it is exactly what the film is about. Each story represents a different culture (mixture of sounds) and leads to great confusion. The Chinese girl and the mystery of the death of her mother is an example. The fact girl is death and getting others to understand and having to fight the feeling of being wanted is also an example. My favorite scene is the scene about the Mexican maid. The reason why is because it is very sad how one mistake or sacrifice can lead you too a drastic life change and being deported back to Mexico.
This film was an amazing piece of work. I would give it 5 stars if I was a critic.
-DeJane Thompson
My overall analysis of Babel in my opinion the film truly shows a disconnect that we as humans have with others from different cultures or social settings. The movie showed that breaking the cultural and language barrier is not as easy as most people may think. Also another thing that I picked up on in this movie is that you never know what in life that you may do could affect someone that you would never think you would come in contact with. We as people are a lot closer than we think but we use our differences as a crutch and a barrier to keep from interacting. This film brings our similarities as well as our differences to show that we are all the same. Though in this movie they depicted these things in very extreme situations.
ReplyDelete-Demarcus Worthy
I loved watch Babel in class. From the looks of the DVD case, it wouldn't have been a movie that I would have grabbed off the shelves anxious to see, but after watching the movie, I have come to the conclusion that I would watch the movie again. The movie shows the connection between different places around the globe and how something so small can link so many people together. It shows different stories of the many different families that are a part of this film. Watching this movie put in my head the fact that we are, or we can be linked to so many other people across the world whether we know them or not and it is such a crazy thing that that's a part of our reality!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that one item, THE GUN, linked four different stories together was amazing. The writer/producer/director did a great job!!
The movie Babel was an interesting movie to watch. It was fascinating to see how all the characters lives were related even though they lived in different places of the world. Since, the term Babel originated from the Bible story "tower of Babel", the writer did an excellent job to show the audience that even though everyone in the world speaks different languages, everyone is human and they are related in some type of way. The signifier in the movie was the gun because the movie was centered around it and its meaning.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the movie Babel . It shows the everyday confusion of the world and how people of different countries and culture have miscommunication. The movie was a hyperlink movie that connects the stories of different individuals and make them all correlate. You never know how something so small you may do may have an impact on a few people or thousands of people. The signifier in the movie was the gun because the movie was centered around it. Babel means "Confusion". The word Babel was taken from the bible.The descendants of Noah all spoke a single language. As they increased in number and began to spread eastward, they found a fertile area called Shinar and settled there. They decided to build a city with a tower that "reached to the heavens." They wanted the tower to be a proud monument to themselves and a symbol that would keep them united as a powerful people.
ReplyDeleteHowever, God was not so pleased. He came down and looked at the city and tower and said,
If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. (NIV, Genesis 11:6-7)
So God made the people speak many different languages so they could not work together on building the city and tower. The He scattered the people around the world and the city was abandoned. The city was called "Babel" because God confused their languages.
The movie Babel was very interesting to me. It went into detail about the everyday struggles in the world, and how different countries and cultures communicate. This was the first hyperlink film I actually paid attention to. I really liked the different stories that it told and how they all came together. Babel also shows that language barriers and other cultural aspects are not easy to grasp and can lead to false imprisonment because no one will never understand the other persons side of the story. For example one character that stood out to me was Linda or a least I think that was her name. Anyway she was in the states for over 16 years legally and she served has a baby sitter for a white couple and developed a positive relationship with their children. She attempts to travel to Mexico for her son's wedding but on the way back she and her nephew are stopped my border patrol and questioned. Long story short the police took custody of the kids and Linda was deported back to Mexico because no one believed her side of the story. The signifier in the film was the gun. The fact that it links all four stories together pretty amazing even the gun caused nothing but problems for anyone who came in contact with it. Lastly the term Babel originated from the bible story "Tower of Babel". The story comes from the book of Genesis which deals with a united humanity of generations following the great flood speaking a single language and migrating from the east to the land of Shinar.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel was great and also complex. It was complex how the way scenes were sequence. For example, in the beginning of the movie, Amelia received a phone call from Richard from Morocco. They talked about events that already happen, but the audience did not know about it until the four storylines started to unravel. The storylines in Babel were very unique. The stories in Mexico, U.S.A., Morocco, and Japan seem seperated in the beginning, but as movie went along, the audience finds out that all four stories were connected. There were semiotics in the film that connected the stories. For example, the rifle in the film originally belonged to Yasujiro Wataya, who is Cheiko's father. Abdullah bought the rifle and gave it to his sons. Yussef, Abdullah's son, used the rifle to shoot at the bus Richard and Susan was on. One of the bullets wounded Susan and she had to go to the hospital. Bable explains that family and communication were very important. It also shows that people from different countries and cultures have different views and interruptions about situations. For example, Richard tried to give a man in Morocco some money, but the man refused to receive money from Richard because in America, people think they can solve all their problems with money. The term Babel originated from the Bible story "Tower of Babel". They wanted built a tower that all the way the heavens, but God didn't like the tower. So, God punished them by giving them different languages.
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed the film "Babel" it showed how great of a director Alejandro González Iñárritu is. He was able to take a hyperlink movie and connect the characters in the film although they stretched miles across the globe. The rifle was the signifier, connecting a Japanese Hunter, with a Moroccan Herdsman, His Moroccan Son's, A American Tourists, A Mexican Nanny, and back again. The climax of the film is when you first realize that everyone is connected when the Moroccan police interrogate the Moroccan herdsman and he reveals how and when he got the rifle from the Japanese Hunter whom turns out to be the father of the "deaf" mute girl we are first i introduced to in during the film. In the opening of the film lots of details are laid down, but its not revealed until after the film goes through much of the plot
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed the film "Babel" it showed how great of a director Alejandro González Iñárritu is. He was able to take a hyperlink movie and connect the characters in the film although they stretched miles across the globe. The rifle was the signifier, connecting a Japanese Hunter, with a Moroccan Herdsman, His Moroccan Son's, A American Tourists, A Mexican Nanny, and back again. The climax of the film is when you first realize that everyone is connected when the Moroccan police interrogate the Moroccan herdsman and he reveals how and when he got the rifle from the Japanese Hunter whom turns out to be the father of the "deaf" mute girl we are first i introduced to in during the film. In the opening of the film lots of details are laid down, but its not revealed until after the film goes through much of the plot
Babel is a great film. I enjoy watching hyperlink movies because of how the scenes are placed. The director did a great job connecting scenes together for example, the boys running in the dessert to the kids running in the living room. It was great how each family had their own story and became one large story. The director main focus was communication which showed everyone connection to each other.
ReplyDeleteBabel is an awesome film in my opinion. I enjoyed the different jump cuts and the switching/intertwining of the different stories. I was cool how the director was able to tie all the different stories together and tap into the emotions of so many characters and situations
ReplyDeleteBabel was a very interesting movie that kept me on my feet the whole time and had me thinking what would happen next. The history behind this was amazing how it ties into the world today. People today are cut off from each other by race, language, culture, and tradition. Although the mass media and the Internet claim to be uniting us, the separations are more egregious now than ever before. Ideas about who belongs in our communities, coupled with prejudice against outsiders, strangers, and foreigners, make us feel ill-at-ease wherever we are. We cluster in small units of family and community while eschewing religious allegiance to the human family. We emphasize differences rather than celebrate commonalities. The Babel of the Bible is nothing compared to the many forms of Babel in our time. Babel exists wherever people are at each other's throats or stuck in situations that bring out their fear, anger, hatred, or violent behavior.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching Babel, at I didn't understand where the movie was going. Everything seemed to mush together. Then, after I continued watching it I started to understand the significance of the gun and how it all tied together at the end. The lighting and visuals of the movie made it even better. You could distinctly see each characters role and where they were from. Especially the culture of everyone. Distinctly, with the Americans, Moroccans', Japanese culture and people.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a confusing movie but yet, it had purpose. Babel showed how language is so important in today's society. without communication, we have nothing. To see how a chain reaction can happen all over the world, with just a rifle was mind-blowing. the characters, location, sequences and the narrative was put together well. at first i was confused but when everything started to unfold, it all made sense.
ReplyDeleteBabel focuses on four families in four countries on three continents in a multidimensional story that engages the senses, startles the mind, and engenders within our consciousness an appreciation for small acts of kindness and compassion in a world filled with hatred, violence, confusion, dread, suffering and loss.
ReplyDeleteIt gives an intimate message we can all relate to, beyond language and beyond the time zones that cut the narrative into pieces: love, and care for, your children. If you don't - and perhaps even if you do, but have bad luck - they will die. This is the ‘small world' story. The big world is what you try to protect your children from, where vast inequalities of wealth and power, sliding suddenly together and apart again like tectonic plates, produce accidental, tragic consequences.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a very interesting movie to me because it is crazy how one thing can cause a chain reaction in other people's lives. The rifle being the main signifier, caused one child to die and the other one to rot in prison for shooting an American woman. The rifle has also stirred up drama in Tokyo with Chieko's father who gave the people in Morocco the rifle. Besides the drama with the rifle, all the characters were going through some personal issues that they alone could not bare. The Mexican nanny just wanted to see her son get married and as a result, she loses the kids and is stuck in Mexico forever. Brad Pitt, the protagonist of the story is just trying to rekindle things with his wife since he did not know how to deal with the loss of a child. When his wife got shot, it was like he feared losing another he loved so dearly and was determined not to lose another he held so close to heart. Cheiko had problems because she is deaf and no one can really understand her. Plus, her mother committed suicide and that traumatized her even more since she and her father do not have a great relationship. Cheiko was looking for love wherever it could be found. Babel itself means miscommunication and there were many miscommunications occurring in this film.
ReplyDeleteWatching Babel my interpretation of the movie expanded widely, several different events were happening that connected to one thing that took place in different countries. Although my interpretation was expanded widely; I saw it very unique how the film Babel was put together. In the beginning immature children were given a gun that was treated like a toy in their minds. The two brothers in the film were competing against who had the best aim and a target was made towards a tour bus that so happened had to of had Americans on it and an American woman was hit. The first impression would be a terrorist attack due to the attacks on 9/11. The movie however did show that not everyone in the Middle Eastern countries are terrorist. Based on the discrimination of the Moroccan brothers the film gave a great interpretation of how different cultures are seen and treated. I like how the film showed diversity with Amelia being a maid and not having the rights to be in America which she deserved by working hard and not bothering anyone being here. The Moroccan brothers were immature with a gun and had consequences by not using it wisely and were considered terrorist which the first form of discrimination in the minds of Americans. Chieko’s character In the film showed how it can be difficult at times from being deaf, hearing is an important sense needed especially for communication which goes back to the title of the film Babel which originated from God splitting up languages due to disobedience. The film gave the overall interpretation of how communication is an important factor in our daily lives.
ReplyDeleteThe hyperlink film "Babel" told four different stories that were all related despite their differences. Semiotics played a big role in the analysis of the film. the way each different story in the different countries eventually came together was all because of one symbol; the rifle. The rifle was the connection of the different families in the story. Each story showed the different struggles in each family. Although they lived in different countries, they still each had problems. My favorite part of breaking down the film was figuring out the denotative meanings. This film showed a great deal of diversity and symbolic meanings such as the Japanese girl's note, to the tourist bus, to the red dress the Mexican lady wore. This film showed me no matter what part of the world you are in, we all go through troubles.
ReplyDeleteThe denotative meaning of Babel starts with the title of the film becomes evident very quickly the movie dives straight into a major conflict. As the film progresses, things seem disjointed and unconnected.The plot unfolds and you slowly begin to see the connection between all of the characters and how the signifier, the gun, becomes a focal point that links all of these stories into a central connotative conflict that is an international problem. During the film reaches its climax, you begin to realize that the barrier of communication between people of different races, and families extends far outside one’s personal views. This central idea creates family, local, national and even international miscommunication and interconnectedness amongst people around the world. Then the film unwinds, revealing the final understanding of each of the individual characters as well as their initial significance.
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of Babel is realism. It gives a clear picture that it only takes one wrong move to put and affect on many lives. Just like a small a fire and can destroy a whole forest. the people in this film literally do not understand each other. In the biblical Babel, GOD punished plans of human beings by condemning them to speak in mutually incomprehensible languages. Most of the cinematic Babel is split between three different linguistic regions, Morocco, Mexico and Japan. The gun in this film is the source of all evil and shows how things that are meant for good can easily be used for bad. The Japanese was a young girl looking for love In everyman because she did not know how to be loved. The young boys use the gun in the wrong way instead of being mature with it. Its all about living, learning, and being responsible.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of Babel has to do with the name of the movie itself which is connotative and denotative. The meaning of Babel is confuse noise and there was a lot of that in this movie. From the Americans being in a different country with a language barrier, the Nanny trying to get back to America with the children and their language barriers at border patrol , and the deaf girl surrounded by people who can hear. Cultural differences exist as well but I feel as though the main focus is the language barrier of each story and it ties goes hand in hand with the title of the movie.
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ReplyDeleteBabel is a bibical term, In the Bible, a city (now thought to be Babylon) in Shinar where God confounded a presumptuous attempt to build a tower into heaven by confusing the language of its builders into many mutually incomprehensible languages. The term itself means a confusion of sounds and voices. In the movie Babel there were 4 different nationalities Moroccan, Japan, American, and Mexican. Although there story had various sequences the signifier was the riffle. The Morocco baby brothers were playing with a riffle that their dad got as an gift from the Japanese guy. Later the baby brothers shoot an American woman who was on vacation, while her children were being baby sat by their Mexican nanny. With all of these plot twist, there were miscommunication between the character. My overall interpretation is that we must all together to help each other and value one another, despite over differences we are all human.
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ReplyDeleteBabel is a bibical term, In the Bible, a city (now thought to be Babylon) in Shinar where God confounded a presumptuous attempt to build a tower into heaven by confusing the language of its builders into many mutually incomprehensible languages. The term itself means a confusion of sounds and voices. In the movie Babel there were 4 different nationalities Moroccan, Japan, American, and Mexican. Although there story had various sequences the signifier was the riffle. The Morocco baby brothers were playing with a riffle that their dad got as an gift from the Japanese guy. Later the baby brothers shoot an American woman who was on vacation, while her children were being watched by their Mexican nanny. With all of these plot twist, there were miscommunication between the character. My overall interpretation is that we must all together to help each other and value one another, despite over differences we are all human.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a term that means communication in biblical term. My interpretation of Babylon is we all must come together as one and help one another and fight for survival. The people in this film came together in a time of crisis and help each other like it or not. This is a symbol of connection in the world through all human kind.
ReplyDeleteMy Interpretation of babel was very curious. I was wondering what the movie would be about and babel means.. As I began to focus into the movie I realize the movie was very unconnected and it began with a signifier which is the Gun. Once the gun was presented other things came into place involving around different cultures and different characters in the movie. I was interested how one thing involved others. And how every story was connected to a different character lifestyle. The young boys had a gun from the father of the Chines woman. The American woman was shot by the Morocco boys, and the American woman children were being baby sitted by the Nana from Mexico. It was great how the director had 4 different story lines and connected all of them together into one movie. Plus I learn that Babel was a biblical term that gave confusion through language. Babel is a good movie
ReplyDeleteThe word Babel comes from the Bible. Everybody in the world communicated through the same language and so they came up with the idea to build a tower to try to rech the heavens. When God seen what the people were up to he cursed them by making them speak different languages and separating the land. With the people speaking different languages it created a "babel" of noises. The movie Babael takes place in different parts of the world where if they all were to come in one and tried to communicate there would be babel. Within each setting there is somewhat some type of miscommunication. In the America setting there are the two kids with the nanny down in Mexico. The kids are exposed to a new culture they have never experienced and when trying to get back into the states they are unable to because of miscommunication at the border. In the Japan setting the girl is deaf which causes her to have difficulty communicating with people at times. In Morocco the Americans are in an unfamiliar place and trying to receive help is difficult due to the language barrier. What connected all the people together was gun the kid shot which was the movie's signifier. Without the gun none of the people would have been connected and the hyperlink film would not have had a outcome viewers would have like to seen most likely.
ReplyDeleteThe word babel comes from a biblical story. In the bible there was town called Babylon. The people of Babylon disobeyed God and as his punishment he made the people talk different languages, which made it harder for one another to understand what they were saying. This movie relates to the term babel because each one the scenarios from the film came from different parts of the world and they all talked different languages. The reason why each scenario related to one another was because of the signifier which was the gun. The man from morocco received the gun from the man from japan, which the American woman got shot by. Because the American couple was unable to come back to America because of her injuries the Mexican nanny had to take the children with her to Mexico.
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ReplyDeleteI first would like to Address the title of the film, Babel which is a name that derive or was taken from the Bible Babel means miscommunication or A lingual disconnect. I believe the film was given the title Bible because of several misunderstandings between the characters during the storyline also one of the main characters of the film was deaf and totally misguided. The film is a hyperlink cinema playing with time and characters personal history plot twist interwoven storylines between multiple characters jumping between the beginning and and are also elements of this type of cinema. The significance of the gun was shown to impact each and every storyline from Japan to Mexico to Morocco and America. That proves that the gun with the most important artifact and propped of the entire film. The film is a post 911 production that is very obvious in the storylines between the Americans and the two young boys from Morocco. I thought that it was very interesting to showcase the media reaction to such an incident in the movie. 1 it proved that Americas media and news outlet are very faulty and not always accurate. 2 is also proved that the American audience can be somewhat naive 3 it showcased how one entire race and country could be judged all the action of a small group of individuals and tarnish the public perception permanently. I would also like to commend the producer for the signified cultural and racial component to identify with the ethnicities of the individual characters. Such as the Mexican music the nanny's nephew played in the car along with the sign that was on his back window. I was also impressed with the way the producer decided to portray Brad Pitt's character or the so-called American of the film. I'm referring to the signified action of the character such as his aggressive behavior or trying to pay the Good Samaritan of Morocco for his benevolence. I personally enjoyed the movie because it slapped the notion of having the perfect happy ending directly in the face. The maid was deported the girl never filled the void inside of her and the Moroccan family lost their son and the kids of the Americans will never see the beloved made again. Overall Babel weather interesting and captivating movie created by an amazing director
ReplyDeleteBabel is 2006 movie that takes place in four different countries. The four countries were: Japan, Morocco, United States, and Mexico. The interesting part about Babel is that it is considered a biblical term that was taken from the bible. With the movie taking place in four countries, it is a reminder of how people were treated in the bible days.
ReplyDeleteThe scary part of the movie was when the boys shot the woman on the bus while she was sleeping. This is a reminder that as individuals go on with their daily lives, they do not know when tragedies like this will hit them. The gun in the movie is considered as signified because it was used so many times. Guns are also the root of all evil because most characters die from gun violence. The best part was the woman survived the gunshot wound.
Another signified that was used was when the Japanese girl was deaf and was trying to communicate. The only way the girl could communicate was by using hand signals to let others know she was talking to them.
The children in the movie were taken in by a nana in Mexico. The sad part about the nana having custody of the children was she left them in the desert and could not find them. When law enforcement finally spotted the children, they took the nana into custody and barred her from Mexico because she did not have a passport. The movie is an interesting movie I would recommend anyone to watch because most scenes are a reminder of the bible days.
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ReplyDeleteWhile watching the movie babel, I’m sure we were all confused from when it started, but towards the end, we saw that the movie was a hyperlink film. Meaning it had multiple storylines. Also we saw how the director challenged himself and tied together four different stories, with a gun. The plot unfolds and you slowly begin to see the connection between all of the characters and how the signifier, the gun, becomes a focal point that links all of these stories into a central connotative conflict that is an international problem. It touched on topics like racism, handicap able beings, and even relationship struggles. All in all the movie was great , and I’m glad I got the chance to watch it because that wouldn’t be a movie that I would pick up personally.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel was an excellent production. The directors ability to intertwine different cultural backgrounds, languages and setting into a smooth flowing storyline can be nothing but commended. Typically this would be an easy way to lose an audience especially one that isn't familiar with the different cultures. The hyperlink narrative structure made it so hard to turn away from the movie because you found yourself itching to know how all of the storylines were related to one another. It's difficult to keep an audience at bay, especially when in the beginning of the film, we are introduced to different personalities of characters from different parts of the world. After the plot structure began to play out, it was easy to flow with the cleverness of the storyline, of course with the exception with the timezone differences.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel was a production that kept the audience at the edge of its seats for the entire duration of the movie. The director was able to show the lack of communication among different cultural backgrounds which was a nice spin for the title Babel which in my personal opinion is a direct correlation or biblical reference to a time when there was one common language But God wanted them to disperse throughout the earth. He separated their languages into many, for as long as they all spoke the same language no endeavor was beyond their reach(Gen 11:6). The decision to use a hyperlink narrative was really smart because it kept the audiences attention while the theme continued to blossom and it made us all wonder how the stories that were represented were link together. As the story was unfolded the correlation was revealed. The gun played an important part in this movie and could be considered as the signified. The overall concept was that we should all value and appreciate other cultures because we are all related in some shape or form because we are all humans.
ReplyDeleteI have a love hate relationship with the movie Babel, because I absolutely HATE the way it ended. I feel as though it left a lot of unanswered questions. I love the concept behind the film and how the film was a hyperlink movie and allowed us to be different places at one time mentally. I enjoyed the jump from America to Mexico to Tokyo to Africa because it really showed the difference in how people interact with each other globally and the fact that the characters were all linked together some how was mind blowing when it started to unravel how they were linked. The characters that he chose such as Brad Pitt and his family were very thought through because you have a marriage on the verge of a divorce with a illegal immigrant woman taking care of their children as she takes them out of the country without their permission at the same time that their mother was shot by a child whose parent bought the gun from an Asian man with a deaf daughter whose mother died and has little connect to the actual world but somehow everything was connected. Genius as far as character choice and storyline. I just believe that the narrative should have went into depth more at the end of the film even if it was written out for us to read it before the closing credits instead of shown.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a hyperlink film that is true to the meaning of the term. This film is an international, multilingual epic that connects 4 thrilling stories that are all very different but all, in a way, exactly the same. Babels acting masterclass and multilayered story are supported by excellent production values. A variety of camera styles are used, with a lot of handheld work in the Middle East setting especially to increase the tension and franticness, mixed with lots of organized, beautiful steady shots that silently comment on the wonders of the world these characters live in. People today are cut off from each other by race, language, culture, and tradition. Although the mass media and the Internet claim to be uniting us, the separations are more egregious now than ever before. Ideas about who belongs in our communities, coupled with prejudice against outsiders, strangers, and foreigners, make us feel ill-at-ease wherever we are. We cluster in small units of family and community while eschewing religious allegiance to the human family. We emphasize differences rather than celebrate commonalities. The Babel of the Bible is nothing compared to the many forms of Babel in our time. Babel exists wherever people are at each other's throats or stuck in situations that bring out their fear, anger, hatred, or violent behavior. After watching this film I realized it’s a world we’re all part of, no matter where we live or what problems we go through.
ReplyDeleteI perceived the movie Babel as being a lesson for the viewers. A lessons that teaches us that no matter the ethnic background or the culture as people we all struggle sometimes to understand each other. In the film each race goes through a controversy with someone that is apart of the same cultural background, for example the Japanese man struggles to understand his daughter, even though she is death, her not being able to hear is not the most important cause of their lack of communication, the father does not show the daughter enough attention and this is one of the reasons she is angry and searches for attention in other areas such as sex. The word babel also means the miscommunication of something, so the the title of the movie goes along with the concept of the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe film is also a hyperlink film which i think was chose to give the audience miscommunication with their vision.
DeleteBabel is a hyperlink movie, that follows four families from different countries that came together to tell a story. I like how the filmmaker chose to present the film, with the scenes being shown out of sequence. It made you wonder how they got to that point, and how it would eventually end. In the opening scene we see a man, who is obviously from a poor country unveil a rifle that becomes the main signifier of the movie that ties all the characters together. The other signifiers in the movie were, the flag in the guys car that represented the pride he had for his country. There was also a picture on the back of his car of the virgin Mary to represent faith or religion. When we were shown the boarder separating the two countries, there were crosses symbolizing the many people that die trying to illegally come into the United States. The director chose the color red for the nanny to wear in dessert because it represents, power, strength, danger, determination and love, which she had for the children. I thought it was brilliant that Checko was a signifier herself being that she couldn't hear she represented babel herself. Throughout the movie we see communication as the problem and yet that is the only thing she wants to do. Some of the ideologies in the film were racism and terrorism. For example: the white women would not drink the ice, and they called the shooting a terror attack. After seeing this movie I know that the smallest of things can connect you with anyone. It also reminded me of the movie crash, you shouldn't judge people because you never know those people may help save your life in the end. Overall I really enjoyed the movie. I was a little frustrated at how it ended, I thought Checko was going to kill herself.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel started off being very confusing and it seemed as though the 4 different families had nothing in common. But towards the end we were shown that they all have something in common with each other. The denotative meaning is shown immediately in the title itself "Babel". The title means confusion but confusion between who and what I asked.
ReplyDeleteAs the movie goes into depth we slowly see the connection between the 4 families being the gun, which represents the signifier. As the film reaches its climax we begin to see the barrier of communication between people of different races and ethnicity. This central idea creates miscommunication amongst people all around the world.
The connotative meaning of the film Babel would be that people today exclude themselves from people of different race, language, color and tradition. This film shows how that concept actually hinders us as a society. It also shows how we may be different in many ways but we all could very well have somethings in common and connect with one another. And even though we do seclude ourselves we should still be willing to love and help each other.
Essence Harris
Babel is the type of movie where the audience has to be patient with the plot. Events were happening quite slow, yet eventually they all bonded together to complete the story line. The title refers to a biblical reference when a tower was being built to reach god. In result he separated them and made them where they could not understand each other, which created different languages. The denotative meaning of Babel showed that everyone throughout the world, rich or poor, encounters problems throughout life or experience miscommunication. The Asian girl did not feel loved when she lost he mother. The two brothers were not able to see eye to eye with each other, which disconnected them. The American couple was having problems with their relationship. Everyone experienced different types of miscommunication and disconnection, yet the signifier, the rifle, connected all of them.
ReplyDeleteBabel is the type of movie where the audience has to be patient with the plot. Events were happening quite slow, yet eventually they all bonded together to complete the story line. The title refers to a biblical reference when a tower was being built to reach god. In result he separated them and made them where they could not understand each other, which created different languages. The denotative meaning of Babel showed that everyone throughout the world, rich or poor, encounters problems throughout life or experience miscommunication. The Asian girl did not feel loved when she lost he mother. The two brothers were not able to see eye to eye with each other, which disconnected them. The American couple was having problems with their relationship. Everyone experienced different types of miscommunication and disconnection, yet the signifier, the rifle, connected all of them.
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ReplyDeleteBabel was an interesting film and once you understand the plot and the connection between the different narratives, it is very well written. It was also very well put together. At first, I was lost but things slowly started coming together for me. In the film, the main signifier was the rifle. The rifle was the reason for most of the problems. The rifle was the reason for the brothers' competition with each other and the reason one of them was killed towards the end of the movie. That same rifle also got the American mother shot. It was causing a problem for the Japanese girl because it was also connected to her father. The film addressed things such as American and international disconnects. It also addressed martial and family issues, adolescent sexually. The ending of the movie left me with a lot of questions. But overall, I enjoyed the movie.
ReplyDeleteAs you begin to watch Babel, you slowly but surely start to realize why they chose that specific name for the movie. The literal or "denotative" meaning of the title becomes clear very quickly when the conflicts in different regions of the world begin to arise. As the film begins to progress in events, things seemed to get chaotic. As the plot unfolds, you slowly begin to see the connection as well as the disconnection between all of the characters, and how their stories tie in with one another. a major symbol or "signifier" would be the gun. its a symbol and motif within the movie that links all of these stories into one major conflict. As the film reaches its climax, you realize that the barrier of communication between people of different cultures, races, and beliefs extend beyond personal belief. Then the plot of the film begins to calm down, not only revealing the final understanding of each of the individual characters, but understanding for their cultures as well
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ReplyDeleteThrough out this hyperlink movie it was three different movie scenes. In which at he beginning was very hard to understand. As the movie continued you begin to realize how all these different people has an connection due to the gun. The gun was the big signifier due to an Chinese male giving the gun to a man out in the desert and the children shooting an american with that same gun. As far as the "denotative" meaning of the title becomes clear when the conflicts in different regions of the world begin to arise. The way the movie unraveled by starting from the end then going to the beginning back to the end is what makes this a hyperlink movie.
ReplyDeleteRaheem Jackson
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Delete"Babel" reminded me of the story of the Tower of Babel from the bible. There were many characters that all spoke different languages. That was the denotative meaning I gather from the movie. Overall I liked it expecially because it was a hyperlink movie. It kept me guessing. A signifier in the moive was the gun everyone in some way was connected it.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel immediately shows why the movie was titled "Babel." The characters in the movie were from different countries, spoke different languages, and also were experiencing misfortunate events going on within their families. This tied in perfectly with the denotative meaning of the word Bable, but if you look into what the connotative meaning of this film you can see how the gun was linking factor of all of the characters. It was a symbol of power to one person but then became the main cause for the unfortunate events happening in each characters lives. The connotative meaning for this film is that the characters in the movie had no knowledge of each other yet they were all linked together in some way. In life we think that we are so different from the next person because we aren't from the same place or have the same income but in reality we are all equal human beings.
ReplyDeleteMy general examination of Babel as I would like to think the film genuinely demonstrates a distinction that we as people have with others from various societies or social settings. The motion picture demonstrated that breaking the social and dialect boundary is not as simple as a great many people may think. This film brings our similitudes and in addition our disparities to demonstrate that we are all the same. In spite of the fact that in this motion picture they delineated these things in exceptionally compelling circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThe overall interpretation of this hyperlink movie is that the author might have been trying to convey that no matter where you are in the world, we all have problems. As we all know Babel is described in the Christian Bible as a tower that God's people built to try to reach "the Heavens", but was unable to fulfill that desire before God knocked them down. That relates with the theme of the movie because on a connotative level, for example, the little Asian girl from Tokyo doesn't know how to accept herself and her sexuality as a death girl. Because she doesn't have any one to profess her love to she is then signified to going out and doing absurd actions that resulted in rejection, drugs, and missing father on the run. On the denotative level this meant she needed someone to love and the absence of her father caused all this choas.
ReplyDeletemy connotation of Babel is that you might be from different cultures and backgrounds and you might speak a different language but at the end of the day everyone has problems but you cherish the ones you do have. in this hyperlink movie an american couple, two brothers i believe from Iraq or Pakistan, an asian girl, and a mexican lady were all connected by the signifier which was the gun. in the bible the story of babel was that everyone was going to try to build a tower to the heavens and God did not allow this so he gave everyone different languages and they scattered about and could not finish the tower. in this movie you saw how different these people were and how different their problems were but they all were connected by the gun. the mexican lady got deprted back to mexico but she was the nanny to the american kids, the american wife got shot by the two brothers who the asian girl father sold to their father while the asian girl dealt with loving herself. its a movie that brings you to appreciate the things you do have because you never know what someone else is going through
ReplyDeletePeople from different cultures have more in common than what they realize. We all experience the same feelings throughout life and that is what connects us. A hyperlink film, Babel intertwines the story lines of many characters who are going through different situations causing them anguish in the film.
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ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of the film "Babel" is that its a must see! At first starting off the film it was kind of slow and i didn't really understand what the director was trying to do. After finishing it, you can tell that this is a hyperlink film and the interpellation of the message jumps out at you. The thing that all these families had in common was the rifle and how each of there lives were being affected due to the rifle. It just goes to show that each culture has something in common whether you realize it or not, and what we go through brings us together in the end.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of 'Babel' was that it is a film that represents how even though humans throughout this world live in different places across the globe, we all share a connection. This was exemplified in the hyperlink link nature of the film in where the shooting incident affected more than just the victim and the shooter. Also, 'Babel' represented the essence of miscommunication (similar to the Holy Bible story of the Tower of Babel) and how the lack of communication can blur the lines of our human connection with each other.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of 'Babel' was that it is a film that represents how even though humans throughout this world live in different places across the globe, we all share a connection. This was exemplified in the hyperlink link nature of the film in where the shooting incident affected more than just the victim and the shooter. Also, 'Babel' represented the essence of miscommunication (similar to the Holy Bible story of the Tower of Babel) and how the lack of communication can blur the lines of our human connection with each other.
ReplyDeleteMy Overall interpretation of the film "Babel" is that is unique and amazing. I find it very creative how the director/writer gave more the one story in the film "Babel". There are stories in the film that is distinct, disclosing each story bit by bit. The chronology and causality that link them. Also, making much of the linguistic, cultural and geographical distances among the characters. And the sign in the movie is the(riffle) which is the key link that connects all stories. Each story has an encounter with the rifle that becomes the answer to why everything happens.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel was about miscommunication. The dennotative meaning of Babel is confusion. Thoughout the film the characters struggled with understanding others and being understood. The signifier in the film was the rifle. The rifle caused confusion in each of the characters lives and ultimately brought them together. By making this film a hyperlink movie I believe the director was using this film to represent the miscommunication between countries throughout the world. Showing how the rifle affected each character shows that despite language barriers and different economic status we're all the same.
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of Babel is that it’s a movie about miscommunication. The denotative meaning of Babel is a “scene of noisy confusion” and I think that the director used that definition and applied it to each characters lives. The signifier in the movie was the rifle and it was the thing that brought confusion and understanding to the characters’ lives. All the characters in the film were struggling to understand others and be understood themselves at some point in their storyline. The American couple was struggling to understand each other and was on the brink of divorce. It wasn’t until the wife was shot by the rifle and possibly dying that her and her husband were able to talk and rekindle their relationship.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the film 'Babel' was that it represents how people from different cultures and backgrounds share a connection or relate per say. This was exemplified in the hyperlink link nature of the film. Not only were the shooter and the victim affected, others were affected as well. Also, 'Babel' represented the power of miscommunication (relating to the Holy Bible story of the Tower of Babel) and how miscommunication can disable other people from communicating with each other.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the film 'Babel' was that it represents how people from different cultures and backgrounds share a connection or relate per say. This was exemplified in the hyperlink link nature of the film. Not only were the shooter and the victim affected, others were affected as well. Also, 'Babel' represented the power of miscommunication (relating to the Holy Bible story of the Tower of Babel) and how miscommunication can disable other people from communicating with each other.
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of the movie "Babel" is that its a film about failing to communicate. With multiple peoples lives intertwined this film is a great example of a hyperlink movie. A signifier of this film is the gun/ rifle. The rifle offered confusion, questions and answers in the film. This film shows how each culture wreaks havoc among the others and not caring about the repercussions. The characters act this way in the film because the term "family" means more to them than anyone and any situation that there in. - Brian Henderson
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of Babel was that it showed a underlying problem about the chaos of miscommunication. The conflict was told through a series of hyperlinked stories wrapped around a single signifier, a rifle. The Denotative meaning of Babel is a “scene of noisy confusion”.The story behind the word Babel in relations to the Tower of Babel is one of miscommunication. With this in mind the Director created a modern day delima that proves that the world is still in chaos because of miscommunication.
ReplyDeleteMy personal interpretation of Babel is that it's a psychological thriller due to how intriguing and questionable it is. However, at first Babel was a bit perplexed. Not to mention, I couldn't quite understand how all the stories connected at first until the main signifier appeared to me, which was the gun. The gun that was shot in the desert which starts to reveal all how everyone is connected. Throughout the story I learned that this was a hyperlink movie.
ReplyDeleteDe'ja Rashai Jones
At first, Babel is a very confusing movie. During the beginning I wasn't following but throughout the movie things start to connect to each other. Babel takes place in various different places; Morocco, Mexico, U.S.A. and Japan. There are many semiotics in the movie but the main one is the meaning behind the title. All of the stories that happen in these various places are all jumbled and broken up like a miscommunication, thus is why its called babel. But everything connects like in Japan where the girls father is linked to the gun he gives it to the guy in Morocco as a gift then is sold to another family in Morocco then is linked in a terrorist action with the women from the U.S. being shot. Then by this the couple which is the other women and Brad Pitt their children are affected by this which leaves the nanny to take care of the children and them traveling to Mexico where the kids and the nanny are left out in a desert trying to survive.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel is a drama that focuses on four situations that all seem to correlate with each other. The settings include: Morocco, Japan, The United States, and Mexico. The main problem of this film is the lack of communication, from the deaf girl in Japan to the lack of ability to provide aid to the Americans in Morocco. All four situations involved one signifier, which was the rifle. Throughout the film, after Cate Blanchett is shot in the Moroccan desert how each situation is connected through the rifle. The audience then is able to better interpret the film and understand the reason between each situation. Alejandro Gonzalez uses a foreshadowing technique when he uses the news to show how Cate Blanchett survives being shot without us actually seeing her survive. Although this film ends with many unanswered questions, it was very enjoyable and I would recommend it to others. -Mikeala Green
ReplyDeleteBabel is a 2006 drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, starring an ensemble talented cast. The film Babel, is a hyper-link movie that combines different stories set in the U.S., Mexico, Japan, and Morocco. The semiotic aspect of this film is tied together with a riffle that connects all four locations together.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Babel is a religious narrative from the bible that tells us how God casted upon division and confusion within man who were involved in attempting to build a tower that reached heaven (Babel). The confusion in noise (denotative) caused a delay in constructing the tower because man could not understand each other.
The Mise-En-Scene of costumes co-exist with the Cultural studies of the film. The filmmakers use outfits to determine where characters are from. For an example, The Japanese girl wears a uniform to illustrate the schoolgirl look that most Japan kids/students wear.
-Tori R. Henry
The film Babel is a drama that has four different hyperlink stories. At first, the different stories did not make sense to me it was really hard to understand, but once I kept watching I found that all of the stories were connected. The different stories take place in Morocco, U.S., Mexico, and Japan. The main message of the movie signifies how important communication is and how miscommunication can make things very difficult. For example, the deaf mute girl had a difficult time with communicating with others as well as the American couple that was trying to return home after having a problem in a foreign country. The signifier which played a significant role in all four of the stories was the rifle, which was present in the opening scene when it was being exchanged for money and a goat. The catharsis of the movie was when the American couple finally made it back to their country and the wife did not die, that made the audience feel the emotion of relief.
ReplyDelete-Keonna D. Hobbs
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ReplyDeleteBabel was a great movie. This movie grabbed my attention and showed me just how important it is to make sure you take care of your responsibilities. watching the movie in the beginning I was kind of confused because of how it jumped from story to story, but once it kept going along they all connected and began to make sense. All of the event happened because of the signifier which was the rifle. the rifle caused everything to fall apart in each story, but it kind of brought the American family back together. This focal thought makes family, nearby, national and even global miscommunication among individuals around the globe. At that point the film loosens up, not just uncovering the last comprehension of each of the individual characters, however with a happy ending the girl at last permits the mass of her own correspondence issues to come tumbling down and reconnects with her dad.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I first watched the film, I was uninterested and subconsciously questioned why it was that we were to view it as a class assignment. But then, shortly after a few minutes of watching Brad Pitt’s perspective of the multi – spectral collection of events, I was amazed and entertained. It went from uninteresting to incredible in less than 10 minutes. The issues that each person in each scenario gets placed into despite the different environments that separate them and the distinct connection that they all share is genius! The rifle, being the signifier, provides the key elements of providing mystery to the origin of the story, mayhem when it crucially affected the health of an innocent woman as well as the family when the boys admitted to their crime and discourse and tragedy for all involved in the unparalleled chain reaction of experiences. So, to be honest, it was a great film that accomplishes the mission of teaching each other the importance of communication, language and acquiring of knowledge.
ReplyDelete-Jaylon O'Neal
When I first watched the film, I was uninterested and subconsciously questioned why it was that we were to view it as a class assignment. But then, shortly after a few minutes of watching Brad Pitt’s perspective of the multi – spectral collection of events, I was amazed and entertained. It went from uninteresting to incredible in less than 10 minutes. The issues that each person in each scenario gets placed into despite the different environments that separate them and the distinct connection that they all share is genius! The rifle, being the signifier, provides the key elements of providing mystery to the origin of the story, mayhem when it crucially affected the health of an innocent woman as well as the family when the boys admitted to their crime and discourse and tragedy for all involved in the unparalleled chain reaction of experiences. So, to be honest, it was a great film that accomplishes the mission of teaching each other the importance of communication, language and acquiring of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteMy Interpretation of Babel at first was extremely confusing. I had many questions on what these 3 distinctive story lines had in common. As the story goes on I see this was a hyperlink film. The fundamental signifier of the film was the weapon. The weapon that was shot begins to uncover all how everybody is connected. All in all the film was interesting and now that I have taken this class it has changed my point of view towards film.
ReplyDelete-Aubrey Brown
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ReplyDeleteThe film "Babel" immediately caught my attention. I felt like the boys where going to shoot someone or each other , from the first scene where they make a trade for the rifle. And that initial trade showed the family culture, because he traded the old man a goat. From that point on it just got more and more interesting. Especially after figuring how the whole story would tie every one together in different areas/states. I was a little confused towards the end. It was the death girl i couldn't quiet understand her demeanor. Her actions sure didn't help. She was hard to read as a character, but i guess if you found your mother after she shot herself in the head you would try to forget that moment.
ReplyDelete"Babel" to me is mostly about the way communicate as human beings and how failure to communicate properly can harm our relationships with other people. The hyperlink aspect of the film really shows how every act has its consequences even when it may seem positive. However each character in the film shows how their failure to properly communicate harms someone they know nothing about. Babel it self is the disruption of communication. which ties into the story perfectly. However Babel also has biblical relevancy as it shows a group of people harming each other due to the inability to communicate.
ReplyDeleteI think the movie Babel did a great job of showing the importance of props and setting to get the message across. With the movie taking place in Morocco, Mexico, Japan, and the United states we get to see how everyone is connected. Also the action begins to rise it touches on you the barrier of communication between people of different races, creeds and families extends far outside the general scope of one’s personal views. Also, the title itself has a denotative and connotative meaning. In the movie Babel, the connotative meaning would be the title "Babel." Babel refers to the book of Genesis in the Bible. In this story, people are building towers trying to reach heaven. God was displeased with them so he destroyed the tower and confused their language. The word "Babel" means a confused noise created by a lot of voices. The semiotics plays off of people emotions and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWhen first heard of the movie "Babel" I was not expecting it to actually relate to the the tower of babel in anyway. The different places that visited such as Morocco, Mexico, Japan, and the United States which are places that have very different culture and ideals. The movie genre was put in the hyperlink category meaning that the scene or location would jump or change at very instant. The actual title of the movie can be seen as a denotative meaning and connotative meaning as well. On a personal level I feel the movie goes to show you that don't judge a movie about how good it is by the name, because thats the mistake I made and it turned out to be a great movie.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a term that means communication in biblical term. My interpretation of Babylon is we all must come together as one and help one another and fight for survival. The people in this film came together in a time of crisis and help each other like it or not. This is a symbol of connection in the world through all human kind.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched the film Babel for the first time, it started off kinda slow so it was difficult for me to get into it. I was confused for a little ways into the film because it was a hyperlink movie based in Morocco, America, Mexico and Japan so I had to really pay attention to figure out how each story was concocted. Once I realized how each story affected another I was very intrigued to see how everything turned out. The denotative meaning that I grabbed from the movie was that without good communication life can easily turn into shambles. The connotative meaning that I grasped from the film was that no matter what race, culture or background you come from love is infinite and family is everything. People will do anything to protect their loved ones from harm no matter where they come from and that was a deep meaning to me. Overall you really have to pay attention to get into the movie but its definitely a must see.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched Babel for the first time I was confused, but towards the end I was shocked that everyone was connected in a way. The way each element such as the gun made the movie tie together. Babel in the Bible means Communication & that was expressed throughout the movie each character in some way communicated with each other for the overall idea that survival is the most important thing to all of them.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel is in the genre of drama that have four different hyperlink stories connected in it. At first the stories of the movie would not make sense to the audience,but over time you start to catch on to the stories and how they are connected. With the movie being taken place in Morocco, Japan,Mexico, and United States the action begins to rise as it touches on the barrier of communication among people of different races, creeds, and families . The actual title of the movie can be seen as a denotative meaning and connotative meaning.
ReplyDeleteUsually previous to watching films the title can give you a hint of the plot of the movie however being that I was not sure of the meaning of "Babel," so going into the movie I had no clue what it could be about. When the movie began , the plot seemed unorganized. It showed different stories that in the end all tied together. The film can be described as an hyperlink film , which is a film that seems to be made up of several separate , unconnected , and unrelated story lines that gradually come together to create a story. The film contains many film components that help the plot form. For example , a signifier in the film would be the gun the signified would be how it brought the multiple story lines together. The gun displayed how the characters all connected. The word Babel is a term derived from the Bible that comes from the story where the people from the city were trying to build to get to Heaven and were were given language barriers which made it complicated for them to communicate and lead to violence and frustration which resulted in conflict. This was the connotative meaning. After researching the word it made the title make sense. Even though the characters could not communicate all their stories related. I enjoyed this aspect of the film , it was not your average movie. In order to understand the meaning behind the movie you had to keep up with the plot. The producers and writers had to study cultural studies in order to make different aspects relatable to people of different religions , creeds , and backgrounds understandable to different people. i enjoyed the different chracters and how it their everyday life struggles were displayed in the different regions of their world. There were view points from compleley different people such as an immagrant , a deaf/mute female and a whit male in a foreign country. Overall i enjoyed the movie.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a very interesting movie to say the least. The name itself was very intriguing as it had me thinking what could this movie possibly be about. After watching the film, I did learn that Babel was a reference to the tower described in the bible. The movie was also interesting and different from the rest considering the different settings taking place at the beginning of the movie. The author and writers used this technique very well, as they helped present the denotative and connotative meanings of this film. They helped represent the emotions and neglect that the young lady from Japan was feeling as an example. The one boy whom committed murder in the movie, his gun plagued as a signifier in the movie. The movies plot circulated around this murder scene. Overall, the movie served many emotions and engaged me as a viewer.
ReplyDeleteMy first interpretation of the movie Babel was a bit confusing. It seem as if there were too many scene setting put together in one movie but it all end up coming together tying back to the American family that went through a tragic accident caused by a young boy who is Moroccan. This accident connects the four groups of people on three different continents: two young Moroccan goatherds, a vacationing American couple, a deaf Japanese teen and her father, and a Mexican nanny who takes her young charges across a border without parental permission. One of the signifiers in the film was the gun. The gun owner was the Japanese teen dad that was given to the middle eastern family that was used to harm the American family who was on vacation leaving behind their two kids being watched by their nanny who happened to be the Mexican lady.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, the four storylines remain distinctly seperate. The characters from the storylines never cross over, the closest we get is the phone call from Richard to his house. The lack of implicit connection thankfully means we avoid any ridiculous Crash moments, the audience is allowed to make the connections rather than having them forced upon us. The first storyline, and my least favorite, involved Yussaf and his family. I'm never a big fan of 'village life' stories, maybe it's shallow, but I enjoy visual glamour, the neon glow of a city to a dusty desert farm. This one starts out slow, but by the end, it's picked up. Yussaf's surrender to the police is tough to watch.
ReplyDeleteIn all the stories, Inarritu does a great job of quickly setting up the characters and the world they live in. Just looking at the place he lives, we know who Yussaf is, while Susan's refusal to risk drinking the local icecubes tells us all we need to know about her. Her storyline was visceral and full of tension. The theme of the film is the way that failures to communicate lead to awful consequences, and here we get a fantastic sense of just how alien this world is for Richard and Susan.
When I watched Babel at first, it was confusing but it actuallys reveals its meaning. Babel is the confusing sound of many people talking at the same time or using different languages. In the movie the had many people with different cultures and languages. It was hard for them to get along with the tragedies that happens in the movie. The conflict was told through a series of hyperlinked stories wrapped around a single signifier, a rifle.
ReplyDeleteThe movie Babel was an interesting movie. There are four different storylines but the common factor of each story results in the thoughtless acts of children. You don't realize the connection between all four places regardless of how far they are. These thoughtless acts have a direct effect on one another. It starts with the children of Morocco who were given a gun that was originally from a man in Japan. These two boys shot an American woman whose children were being taken care of by a Hispanic woman. Because of the thoughtless acts of two young boys and the
ReplyDeletemiscommunication, these four countries (Morocco, Mexico, Japan, and America) were all effected.
The film Babel is consistent with the importance of the term. It shows a genuine investigate disarray and include the film might befuddle at first the turmoil settles and the story is comprehended. The signifier of all occasions in the film is the rifle. Despite the fact that each character's story doesn't include an immediate connection to the rifle, it shows up as an image of an awful episode that torment each character. All through the film a subject or state of mind of affection is displayed as each character balls with internal sentiments that either fate them or grasp them. The film Babel was an awesome antiquity as it includes the disfunction of various circumstances, despite everything it gives knowledge into social contrasts and in addition enduring clashes between the standard and the weird.
ReplyDeleteWhen i first started watching Babel I was lost because it had different caracters from different ethnicities and i was wondering what they all had to do with one another but it wasn’t until the gun which is the signifier came about that everything started to make sense and come together to make one big plot and story this movie is a hyper link movie. i think overall this movie was about miscommunication. Everybody had different problems with communicating in their situation which explains the name “Babel” a whole lot of talking but no real communication so really noise in a sense
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning of the movie I really did not know what to interpret from the film because of the multiple stories that were being covered, I did not expect for them to all tie in together connecting back to the Americans, specifically through the rifle that originally belonged to the Japanese man, which is the signifier. The title of the film is the denotative and connotative meaning.
ReplyDeleteThe entire movie has a message that everyone around the world can relate to which is communication. Communication is a centralized system we all share an that’s exactly what this movie brings to light. Even the title of the movie “Babel” has both denotative and connotative meaning, also touches on universal issues such as terrorism, immigration, and other issues.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a 2006 drama film directed by Alejandro Inarritu. This film is a hyper-link movie that combines different stories set in the US, Mexico, Japan, and Morocco. The semiotic aspect of this movie is tied together by a riffle gun. When I first started watching Babel, I was confused on what each different location had to do with one another. Continuing to watch the movie, I began to understand the significance of the riffle. Each character's location was easy to see and the lighting was good. The confusion in the noise(denotative) caused a delay in constructing the tower that reached Heaven (Babel) because humans could not understand each other.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a hyper-link film connecting the lives of different people in different parts of the world.(Morocco, Mexico, Japan, and America) They are all connected together by the riffle gun and the underlying message of "miscommunication". The title " Babel" is the denotative meaning and the connotative meaning is miscommunication.The film begins with the Japanese girl who cannot hear , in which makes it hard for her to communicate. Then, we're introduced to the Americans who lack communication in their relationship. Following the Mexicans and the Moroccans who are also supporting the theme of the movie(lack of communication). The signifier would be the riffle and the signified meaning would be intercultural communication and challenges. The sequence of the movie was not in chronological order, causing confusing at first. But after watching the film you get a better understanding.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the movie Babel was first i knew that term was used in the Bible (The tower of Babel).. God became angry with them and brought confusion by having the people speak different languages so I though it had something to do with communication or either confusion.However, when the movie first started I was really puzzled to why we kept seeing different perspectives but in the end I saw where it all came together. In the movie, there were 4 different locations and 4 different families however they were all tied together by the signifer which was the gun.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a hyperlink film that interlocks four different stories of four different families from around the world. They are all tied together by a rifle gun, but the clashing of communication builds barriers between each of the character's worlds. The word babel means confusion or a mixture of sounds, this word traces back to ancient times in the Holy Bible. It is referred to as the Tower of Babel. In this story in the bible, the people were cursed with differences in communication so they could not understand one another in order to complete the building of the tower. Throughout this movie, the director conveys the meaning of the world babel by showing how different people communicate with each other and how total strangers live clash together. The director shows that although there are always barriers of communication in the world, somehow our stories can intertwine and effect someone miles away from us. Overall, I enjoyed watching this movie.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a hyperlink film that was created in 2006. It was directed by Alejandro Gonzalez. It is a mix of four different settings and cultures intertwined by one connecting point. The settings of the film are California, Tokyo, Morocco, and Mexico.Miscommunication was a key theme in all four stories that circled around each climax. One significant point of the film is its name. Babel is a metaphorical comparison to its biblical reference and the underlining theme of the film.
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ReplyDeleteBabel is a film that follows the narrative of 4 different story lines. The settings take place in California, Morocco, Mexico, and Tokyo. The overall theme of this film is miscommunication, as all the stories intertwine to present the message to the audience. The signifier in the film was a rifle and the signified was all the chaos the rifle caused in the different parts of the world. The biblical reference within the title brings the overall theme of miscommunication together. Babel was confusing in the beginning, but as the plots continued to unfold it all flowed together very well.
ReplyDeleteI see why this film Babel was award winning, what strikes you first about Babel is the scope of the film the different lightings and camera angles made the film more complex. I like the way all 4 stories where different but mange to interact with one another and coexist. The film makes a slow tracking shots and sweeping wide shots to show the beauty of the enormous landscapes. Later, when it switches to Mexico and Japan, and we get too see a colorful array of still shots inviting us to explore the culture and diversity of these foreign lands. Babel means miscommunication, and the denotative meaning of Babel starts with the title of the film becomes evident very quickly the movie dives straight into a major conflict.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why each scenario related to one another was because of the signifier which was the gun. The man from morocco received the gun from the man from japan, which was the gun the American woman got shot by. The American couple was unable to come back to America because of her injuries, but nether could children come back because the Mexican nanny had to take the children with her to Mexico. My favorite part of breaking down the film was figuring out the denotative meanings. This film showed a great deal of diversity and symbolic meanings such as the Japanese girl's note, to the tourist bus, to the red dress the Mexican lady wore. This film showed me no matter what part of the world you are in, we all have situations that can happen at any moment.
My overall interpretation of the movie Babel is that it is a film about failing to communicate. Babel is a film that follows the narrative of 4 different story lines. taking place in Tokyo, Mexico, California and Morocco. The signifier in the film was the weapon. The weapon that was shot begins to uncover all how everybody is connected. Showing how the rifle affected each character shows that despite language barriers and different economic status we're all the same.
ReplyDeleteJAYLIN BOYD !!
DeleteThe beginning of Babel was very confusing and I feel like it was supposed to be that way so that the audience had to put the pieces together on their own. By the end of the movie, everything had made sense. The story is even told out of order to invoke confusion. The gun in the film was the center piece that connected all the stories together, however, I did not realize that until the end of the movie. It served as a major prop, being the signifier. The young boys had a gun from the father of the Japanese young girl which connected them to that portion of the movie. The American family had traveled to Morocco to fix their relationship and somehow crossed paths with the young Moroccan boys because of that gun. And the Mexican babysitter was important to the story because she watched the American couples children while they were gone. It was interesting how the director had 4 different story lines and connected all of them together into one movie. The title of the movie is inspired by the biblical story about Babylon. The word Babel comes from the Bible. Everybody in the world spoke the same language, which led to them coming up with the idea to build stairs in order to reach heaven. As a result, God cursed the world by separating everyone and making them speak different languages. With the people speaking different languages it created a "babel" of noises. The movie Babel takes place in different parts of the world, and they all have their own separate language. There is a lot of miscommunication in the film. For example, in America, the two kids travel with the babysitter to Mexico, exposing them to a new culture but because of miscommunication, they become stuck at the border and trapped in the desert.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a awesome film when in the conversation of hyperlink films but it was very confusing at first. The 4 stories were all connected through the similar theme they shared which was miscommunication. The film means to me that even though there are billions of people in the world and people live in different places we can all be going through the same things as human beings. Babel did an awesome job of displaying how we all can be connected even though the world is big. The main symbol in the movie as the Gun that caused all the chaos and ended up bringing a death in the movie. I really didn't like how it ended but i saw that coming once i depicted the film scenes before it finished.
ReplyDeleteBabel was a well thought out elaborate and extremely well executed film . It really showed how wealthy countries prevail over underdeveloped countries (denotative/connotative meaning). Everything from the various plots ending in an overall resolution to the story, from the various sequences shot detailing every character’s emotion from one another, it was as if you knew what each character was thinking or going through in each scene. The various storylines incorporating the different languages (hence the title "Babel") which all bridged a gap at the end of the film. What I took from the film Babel is that although the world is filled with different languages, cultures, demographics basically all that creates a barrier between us, we're all human and we're all connected to one another, because we all share the same feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteA hyperlink film is a film that follows multiple stories simultaneously that ultimately have some link within each other. This is most famous in tv shows like “24” and “CSI” but not as commonly used in long films like movies. “Babel” was literally one of the better hyperlink films i have ever seen. At the beginning and honestly through about 3 quarters of watching it the first time confusing is the word to describe this film. But once the film climaxes so many things will click in your head that you might have to restart the film to catch all the symbolism in this one.The definition of babel is noise and miscommunication. This award winning story tells the narrative on 4 different stories that take place in California, Morocco, Mexico, and Tokyo. Even though the different plots take place in different parts the director shows how they all link together through one signifier.The signifier in the film was the rifle and the signified was the trouble the rifle caused and death that came about all because a few people miscommunicated about a rifle which ended up in the wrong hands and sparked a series of unfortunate events in the different parts of the world.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of Babel is that is showed no matter how different humans are from one another that we all some how connected. Maybe not as connected as in this specific film but it highlights that we are human and go through things. What I enjoyed most about this film is it’s complexity. The suspense of each story line eventually connecting together gave the film a sort of uniqueness that drew the audience in. The main symbol in the film is the Gun that was used to kill the american tourist was given the the Moroccan boys by the seller from the Japanese hunter. The gun directly symbolized the fact that we are human and any little thing that one person does can affect many people after the act is finished. In this particular film the the action is tracked.
ReplyDeleteThe 4 stories in Babel were all connected through the similar theme they shared which was miscommunication.“Babel” was literally one of the better hyperlink films ever made. The signifier in the film was a rifle and the signified was all the chaos the rifle caused in the different parts of the world. This award winning story tells the narrative on 4 different stories that take place in California, Morocco, Mexico, and Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel was a story about a rifle and how that particular rifle caused trouble throughout the movie. Everyone was affected; the people from Moscow bought the gun and the two boys shot the American women. The nanny was sent back to Mexico and the Tokyo girls father gave the people from Moscow the rifle. He said the rifle was a gift. Miscommunication also played a major role in the film Babel.
ReplyDeleteThe film Babel is a drama film that have four different types of hyperlink stories connected. My overall interpretation of Babel is that it is a movie about miscommunication. The denotative meaning of Babel is a “scene of misunderstanding and confusion” and I believe that the director used that and applied it to each of the characters and there situations. The main signifier in the movie is the rifle it is what put each concept and setting into to one, and it was the one thing that brought confusion and understanding to the characters’ lives. All the characters in the film were struggling to understand others (Babel) and understood themselves at some point in their storyline of the movie. The American couple was having there problems to understand one another other. It wasn’t until the wife was shot by the rifle and almost died that her and her husband were able to talk and get their relationship back on the right foot.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the film babel was that it gave insight to just how we as a human race are all connected throughout the world in ways we don't notice. The sequence used to show the four different stories was amazing and well strung out in creating this hyperlink film. The plot was centered around four families in different parts of the world (Tokyo, Morocco, Mexico, California) who were all connected by a rifle. This rifle was the main signifier in the movie being that it was the sole connection between the families throughout the story. It was also indexical of trouble or pain being that it brought harm to each character who possessed it.
ReplyDeleteBabel was like no film I have ever seen; the narrative identifies many couture’s throughout the film who simultaneously ran into complications nonetheless were each connected from around the globe. Beginning with title, Babel a term in the bible which relayed to a confused noise, typically that made by several voices. In the film nationalities such as Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and Iranians were portrayed. The film showed a glimpse of each of their cultures and their background by using mise en scene, placing items in the shot. For example, the main two Hispanic characters; Amelia and her nephew Santiago scene going to Mexico. The scene is placed in Santiago’s car, he, Amelia and the two children she is caregiving are on their way to Mexico from San Diego. The scenes mise en scene shows the virgin of Guadalupe hanging from his rear-view mirror and a blanket that represented Mexico’s flag. Within just that one scene the audience gets a view of his culture of how he is spiritual and represents his country. The structure of the film is very different from other films, the scenes bounce back and forth from each set of characters. From the Asians to the Americans, then to the Hispanics and right back to American as well as so on and so forth. There is no definite order to the way the scenes are set up but to tell the story of how they are all connected. There were many rising actions or climax in the film in my opinion. Each set of grouped characters had their own problems that had escalated. The Iranians climax was the most important because the films narration centers around the shot gun the two brothers had gotten from their father who bought it for shooting foxes for his goat herd. Overall the film shared a valuable meaning of how different nationalities are the same in some kind of way, we all have hard times, stressors, and things we have to worry about
ReplyDeleteBabel is a great film! I loved watching it in class; i even watched it at home. I believe the denotative meaning of this film is talking or language as the word babel is associated with the word talking. The connotative meaning of this film is the language of communication in which we are all connected. Babel included different cultures and demonstrated how they were all connected. The movie starts with the purchase of a gun in a Middle Eastern country. The gun was bought to provide hunting for a family. The little boys of the family were supposed to go hunting however the plan changed. There was American couple on a tour in a Middle Eastern country and seemed disconnected from each other. In the next couple of scenes, the American woman was accidentally shot while sleeping on the tour bus by the Middle Eastern boy. This was the start of their rising action and plot. The other culture being displayed was Oriental. The Oriental girl was very troubled since her mother died. She was actually death as well, which was her language barrier. The girl seemed to have self conflict because she showed that she had low self esteem, respect, and confidence. Throughout the movie, she threw herself away to men easily. She starts with showing a table of guys her “hairy monster”. The next culture that was showed was Hispanic. While away on the tour, the American couple hired a Hispanic woman to supervise their children until they return. The plot with the Hispanic woman starts when she must go to Mexico for a wedding and takes the American children with her. After they’ve reached Mexico, there was a scene that had crosses on the bridge. This was a signifier for those who lost their lives trying to cross the border. The most important plot is the Middle Eastern’s because the simple purchase of this gun connected the Americans, Oriental, and Middle Eastern story. The Oriental girl father was the original owner of the gun but gave it to a man in the Middle East for teaching him how to hunt. The Middle Eastern man then gave the gun away for purchase, which caused the mishap for the American woman. In conclusion this movie nevertheless showed us that even though we may come from different backgrounds and may have different barriers, we are all connected.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a very good movie with many interpretations. It involved many nationalities and cultures within it. Babel comes from a Bible story where God punishes the Babylonians and made them speak different languages and come from different cultures so they wouldn't be able to understand each other. It means lack of communication which is the connotative interpretation. The story begins in Morocco. When the family purchased the gun, the two sons were forced to go learn how to use it. They shot at a tour bus that had an American couple on there. The wife was shot. The husband and wife was there for a get away trip after he left from her having a miscarriage. The nanny is watching their kids, but she takes them to Mexico with her so she won't miss her son's wedding.She loses them while there. She gets deported back to Mexico. The Japanese girl's mom dad so she begs for attention. It was the dad's gun that shot the American woman. He gave it to the seller as a gift on his hunting trip. This is all part of the exposition. The climax of the story was when the lady gets shot in Morraco, when the helicopter finally came and saved her life, and the Japanese girl begging for attention that she use to get from her mom. The conclusion are the American kids are found, the nanny gets deported, the Moroccan kid dies and the other one goes to jail, and the dad finally embraces his daughter. The entire story starts from the rifle. It plays a significant role within the movie.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot that you can be interpreted from the film babel. First thing you have to know is that it is a hyperlink film. That means there are a lot of things are going on that will somehow connect to the overall plot. First you have the wife and husband trapped in morocco. The married couple’s son and daughter were backing home with the nanny. At the same time is going on you have the deaf Asian girl who lives with her single father. The catch with that one is that the dad had recently lost his wife due to suicide and he was being questioned for her death. At the same time this is going on you follow the story of two Moroccan boys. The two boys accidentally shoot the wife in tour boys and are later hunted down. With the wife was in the care of locals from around the area, the nanny (who is Mexican) takes the married couples kids to Mexico. On their way to Mexico they see crosses which represented the Mexicans that died trying to cross the border (semiotics). After coming back from Mexico the Americans give the nanny a hard time and end up putting her back in Mexico forever. The Asian father was the one who sold the gun to a local Moroccan to start this. At the end all this has to do with miscommunication.
ReplyDeleteBabel is like no other movie I have ever seen before. The term Babel itself is a biblical term that deals with communication. The plot of the film is derived when a Moraccan family gains a rifle as a gift from a Japanese family. The Moraccan family then begins to teach their sons how to shoot the rifle and the wife of an American family is accidentally shot. The American family is currently in Morocco as a getaway to rebuild their marriage after a miscarriage occurred. They leave their children under the care of a Mexican nanny who tries to sneak the children across the border in order to attend her son’s wedding. As you can see all these different cultures and families are all connected throughout the film. Even though they are all scattered across the world, each family is somehow connected to another throughout the film. An example of a major signifier in the film is when the Mexican nanny attempted to cross the border with the children, you notice crossed scattered all of over gates that represent the lives of those who have tried to cross that border and died. In the conclusion of the film, the Mexican nanny gets deported back to Mexico and the American wife is eventually saved at an American hospital. The children of the Moraccan family have a standoff with the police where one is arrested and the other is killed. The Japanese father finally acknowledges his depressed daughter who has been confused since the suicide of her mother. This film is based on communication throughout the entire narrative and connections.
ReplyDeleteI would interpret this film beginning with the underlying theme I discovered. A major theme was the miscommunication between each ethnicity and culture . The signifier within the title of the film is portrayed as there was constant" confusion and chaos" among the scenes and events presented by the characters. Each scenario tied into another, and the real world connection to rivalry among Americans an Latin countries was another signifier portrayed in Babel. We could identify the mise en scene factors as far as costumes , and cultural symbolism , referring to the Moroccan festivals , villages in Morrocco with working families , school uniform and formal attire for the Japanese as well as language differences. The shooting of the American passenger took a longer time for her aid and rescuing because there was a lingual barrier , and the opposing forces felt they had to be defensive of their environment. The storyline shows how the characters intentions meant well , but were misinterpreted and punished for their differences in appearance , background and or civilizations.
ReplyDeleteMy initial interpretation of Babel was a bit perplexing. In the opening of the film there was not really much of a build-up, it kind of just began—with the scene at the restaurant. It was one of those movies where you HAD to pay attention because every little detail was important. However, it did not take me long to realize that the three different storylines/characters were related in some way. As the plot unfolds it becomes obvious that the gun is the signifier, linking each storyline together leading up to the climax. At that point, the communication barriers between the three countries are obvious and have led everyone to a state of alert due to a false assumed terroristic threat. The central focus of Babel created an international miscommunication between people worldwide. As the film closes, it leaves viewers with a better understanding of cultural differences and how to be sensitively aware overall.
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of the film "Babel" is that there was a lot of miscommunication between characters and cultures yet the film also showed no matter how different we are we all some how connected. The film also showed how wealthy countries prevail over underdeveloped countries (denotative/connotative meaning). As the film progresses, things seem unconnected and as the plot unfolds, we slowly begin to see the connection between all of the characters and how the signifier (gun) becomes a focal point that links all of these stories together into a connotative conflict. As the film reaches its climax, we begin to realize that the barrier of communication between people of different races and cultures extends on a international level of miscommunication. The film eventually reveals the final understanding of each of the individual characters, but with a cathartic ending when the daughter finally open and reconnects with her father.
ReplyDeleteWhat i interpreted from the film "Babel" was that in the beginning i was confused on what was going on and was trying to figure out what was the overall purpose and meaning of the film.I wanted to know how all 4 characters and cultures tied to each other. once you continue to watch the film you start to understand it more and you find out the shotgun is the signifier and is was a huge miscommunication between those characters.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the film "Babel" at first at was confused at the symbolism of four different locations and the connections to one another as well as the overall purpose of what the gun portrayed until I studied it ans broke it done and watched all of the film. As other might see the gun as the signified in the beginning the gun is the signifier at it shows how it intertwines all the four story lines together and how they factor of each other and what components it displays as well and the effect it had in each story line.
ReplyDeleteWatching the film "Babel" , The signifier was the gun, the gun brought the whole movie together. My interpretation was confusing at first because it started backwards and ended with the beginning.Everything came together once the police connected the gun to the other actors in the film. The purpose of the 3 stories is to figure out who the gun belonged to and what lead to the shooting. Every scene had a interesting climax/conflict. Overall the film babel was a great film and I highly recommend watching it.
ReplyDeleteBabel was about different cultures that were all connected in a way. It started off in Morroco when Abdullah purchased a hunting rifle that had recently belonged to Yasujiro. When Abdullah gave the gun to his son’s Ahmed and Yussef. They thought the gun was useless, so Ahmed began to shoot at the tour bus, not knowing that he shot Susan. Which makes the hunting rifle the signifier. Everybody is connected because of the rifle. Susan was shot on accident while on a tour in Morroco which she assumed was dangerous from the beginning because she was not over what happened to her son. When the movie was jumping from Morroco, to America, to Mexico, and to Japan. It was creating Chaos, and confusion which is where the name “Babel” came from. In every scene everybody had something going on not knowing that it was affecting the others. The climax of the Morroco man scene is when the police went looking for Ahmed, and ended up killing Yusef because Ahmed wouldn’t surrender. He though he killed the American (Susan), he was panicking but the whole time she was alive. (Confusion) When the police kept asking Cheiko where her father was, and she thought they were asking in connection to her mother’s death, when the whole time they only wanted to know if he still had the rifle because somebody had been shot with it. (Confusion) The movie “Babel” unraveled the truth at the end to bring down the confusion, but the movie was literally BABEL!
ReplyDeleteBabel was a very thought-provoking film that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and had me contemplating what would happen next. The history behind this was astonishing how it all connected into today’s society. People nowadays are detached from each other by language, race, tradition, and culture. Although the mass media and the Internet was meant to be uniting us, the departures are more egregious now than before. Thoughts about who fits in our communities, joined with prejudgment against outcasts, unfamiliar people, and foreigners, make us feel ill-at-ease wherever we are. We bunch in small groups of family and community while avoiding religious loyalty to the human family. We highlight alterations rather than rejoice harmonies. The Babel of the Bible is nothing compared to the many forms of Babel in our time. Babel exists wherever people are at each other's necks or jammed in circumstances that bring out their fear, anger, hatred, or violent behavior.
ReplyDeleteBabel was such a wonderful film to watch. It had me looking for the next part every time a new scene came to show. Babel was well thought out and it reminded me of the movie Crash. The type of film this was is called hyperlink. The main signifier was the gun, because it connected everything together. The clashing of the communication barriers between each of the character's words. Babel means confusion or a mixture of sounds. It goes back to the Bible when God punished the people so they could not understand each other to make a tower. They thought that they could build a tower to heaven.
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the movie "Babel" it was very confusing at first. It was one of those movies where you wouldn't necessarily pick to watch but once you do you are glad you watched it because it was really interesting. Each scene caught my attention in a different way because throughout the entire movie each scene was connected to each other. Whenever one person would do something it had something to do with another in the next scene. When the movie was jumping back and fourth to Morroco, America, Mexico, and to Japan it caught my attention because it was something new each time. I think the most interesting story of the movie was when they were in Morroco when Abdullah gave his sun Ahmed a riffle which he had purchased. Ahmed and his brother thought the gun wasn't any good so they were just shooting around to test it and ended up shooting Susan which made the riffle the signifier in the movie.
ReplyDeleteBabel is a film that has four different hyperlink stories in one. in the beginning the film is a bit confusing especially during the part where its absolutely no talking. after a while it gets easier to catch on to the stories and how they are connected. With the movie being taken place in Morocco, Japan,Mexico, and United States the main conflict of the film is the barrier of communication among people of different races, creeds, and families . The title Babel can be seen as a denotative meaning.
ReplyDeleteWhen we first began babel I was not interested at all. I was slightly confused because the movie began slow. I also noticed it was so many characters and I didn’t know how anything connected. It wasn’t until I realized that it was considered a hyperlink movie. This means that multiple storylines with different events will somehow connect with each other in the end…KRAZY. The movie centered around one family with two kids and a nanny, an asian girl with her father and some random man, and two boys wit a gun. The movie begins with husband and his wife being stuck in a foreign and not being able to go back home. But while there in some country there riding on a bus and these two boys who playing with one of their dad’s gun shots the bus up but somehow only hits one woman (the wife). I realized halfway through this movie that the gun was the signifier and that’s how it somewhat connects all stories together. Not forgetting about the asian she was going through too much. I really think she just wanted some attention and she aint know other way to do it than to start trickin (but that’s another topic). Her father was going through questioning by the FBI or police for the death of his wife cause she committed suicide but I guess for why… finally I really don’t understand the nanny but she took the kids to mexico I think and on her way back I think she couldn’t cross through he border cause of her citizenship so she gone try to sneak into America… losing the kids (but they get found of course.. can’t kill kids in movies).
ReplyDeleteI must admit that when we first started watching the film "Babel" I was confused as to how each pov connected. Close to the end of the movie I was anxious to have all of my questions answered. The root of confusion unknowingly came from the title of the film. Babel seemed like an off name for a movie but I knew there had to be a bigger meaning. The denotative meaning of Babel is "a scene of noisy confusion", and it also comes from Genesis II when God spread human kind's languages and locations around.Therefore, the signifier is the word Babel and the signified is the meaning of confusion.Two hidden meanings that i discovered by the end of the movie : 1. After help finally arrived to Brad Pitt and his wife, Brad tried to pay the Moroccan guy for all of his troubles but the Moroccan man would not take it. The Moroccan man helped the Americans out of the kindness of his heart and was not expecting any form of payment. This could mean that Americans think money can solve any and everything. 2. The scene where the white kids had to survive the desert was a role switch. Many Mexicans die trying to cross the exact desert onto Americans soil.One climax that I identified was the hospital scene when Brad did not know if his wife was going to survive or not and the resolution was him finding out that she was going to be fine. Another climax was when the nanny and the kids were in the desert and the resolution was the nanny finding help then later finding out that the kids were fine.There was also a communication problem between the Japanese father and daughter.That is one part of the story that is still confusing to me . I do not understand why she lied to the police officer about how her mother died. I also assumed she was going to commit suicide at the end of the movie when she was on the balcony. Overall, I believe that the death of her mother caused a tear between her and her father's relationship. The fact that she is mute and deaf adds on to their problem of miscommunication. The daughter does not know how to communicate effectively .
ReplyDeleteWhen the movie Babel first came on I was confused. I have never watched a movie like Babel and this is what sets Babel apart from other films. This movie will keep you at the edge pf your seat and guessing for more. Babel was a movie based on different cultures that were all connected in a unique way such as: The consistent jump from four countries USA, Mexico, Morocco, and japan. Each culture had a chain reaction like a domino effect. The different semiotics in the film was a way to connect the films such as: The riffle, bullet, bus etc. Babel is a term in the bible that stimulates from a confusion of sound or voices.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, when I was watching the movie "Babel", it was hard to follow this movie due to the genre and type of movie this is. In this movie there are several characters and several stories that intertwine for one message. The movie has hyperlinks in it and I actually enjoy this type of genre and writing. In the movie there was a Moroccan family, a Japanese girl and her father, a Mexican immigrant lady, and an American couple. The movie deals heavily with various cultures and how all of these cultures have issues with communication amongst and with other cultures. One signifier in the film was the gun that was used by the Moroccan boy and his brother. They were shooting out in the open and ended up shooting the American lady on the bus. The actual gun was sold by the Japanese girl's father. It all was connected. Watching it in the beginning was confusing but after it was over it was easy to see that the director wanted to show just because cultures vary, we as humans all have something in common.
ReplyDeleteMy overall interpretation of Babel is just like the stories of the many characters were connected, the situations that we go through in real life are connected as well. In the movie the gun was the main object that tied everything together, it was the signifier of the film. Guns cause pain, suffering, and chaos which was showcased in the movie. In the same way other signifiers such as diseases and etc... can cause the same dysfunction in everyday life all around the world.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of “Babel” that it was overall a good movie. Babel is a term that means communication in biblical term. It went into detail about the everyday struggles in the world, and how different countries and cultures communicate. The story lines in Babel were unique. The stories in Mexico, U.S.A., Morocco, and Japan seem separated in the beginning, but as movie went along, the audience finds out that all four stories were connected. The rifle being the main signifier, caused one child to die and the other one to rot in prison for shooting an American woman. It also stirred up drama in Tokyo with Chieko's father who gave the people in Morocco the rifle. Every character still was battling different issues in their life because the rifle. It showed how each character that had contact with the rifle were put in bad situations. The message behind the movie was definitely good.
ReplyDeleteBY: JUSTICE WESTON
When watching the movie Babel I was confused. The writer and director of the movie did an amazing job of putting 4 different stories and making them all turn into one. One small light prop being a gun is what brings all the different stories together. However, throughout the movie there are many plot twists within each story. Overall, I probably would have never watched the movie on my own, but the movie was a very good and interesting film.
ReplyDeleteDarrell Emerson:
ReplyDeleteOf course, upon watching this film, Babel, it was confusing at first. However the more you watch it, the more you'd understand. This film connect four countries, USA, Mexico, Morocco, and Japan. The overall interpretation I got from this movie was that we are all connected in some kind of way, therefore, we should be mindful of what we do because we never know how it will affect others. For example, the Japanese father character selling his gun to a Morocco father who irresponsibly left his kids in control of the gun, which is a signifier that connects all four countries together, that ended stop messing around in shooting an American woman who is from the United States of America, causing harm to both the American woman and people of Morocco. The Moroccan kids did not know how much harm they caused by playing around with the gun, which caused so much conflict between the two countries, connecting them. The theme of the film was miscommunication. For instance, the Japanese girl character had a hard time communicating with guys she'd encounter and her father because of the death of her mother, which was more than likely the reason her and her father did not see eye-to-eye.
My first interpretation of the film Babel was very confusing. At first look, I was not aware that it was a hyperlink film. After I found that out, everything came together. The parents of the children were in Morroco. The children were in Mexico with the nanny. A girl was in Japan deaf and mute. The japanese girls father had recently traveled to morroco and everything came together. One semiotic prop was the rifle. This gun was used to tie all of the scenes together.
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