Brad and his on-screen wife Cate Blanchett were certainly the most recognisable faces in Babel, which consisted of a cast of largely unknown foreign actors. Pitt and Blanchett star as Richard and Susan Jones, an American couple trying to save their marriage by going on holiday in Morocco. I personally found both characters to be utterly unlikeable and, as their story was one of four interconnecting tales, they didn't really have long enough on screen to change my mind. Richard and Susan's lives are changed forever when the latter is shot by a stray bullet while the pair are travelling back to the hotel on their tour bus. This incident also changes the lives of Yusef and Ahmed; two young brothers whose jealousy of one another causes the former to shoot the bullet that injures Susan. Meanwhile, back in America, Richard and Susan's twin children Debbie and Mike are being cared for by their Mexican nanny Amelia who hopes for a day off to attend her son's wedding. When Richard is unable to arrange alternative childcare arrangements for his kids, Amelia decides to take the children across the border with the help of her reckless nephew Santiago. The film's bleak nature eventually engulfs this story as Amelia has trouble crossing back from Mexico to the US and puts Mike and Debbie in danger as a result. The fourth story was my personal favourite although its connection to the original shooting was definitely the most tenuous. It focused on deaf Japanese teenager Chieko; whose father originally owned the rifle used in the incident as she desperately sought acceptance from her peers. I found Chieko to be the most identifiable character amongst the global cast and the scenes in which she tried to come on to a young police officer were incredibly touching.
Part of the reason for this is the tender performance given by Rinko Kikuchi, who was one of two of Babel's stars to be nominated for acting awards. Although sign language was used throughout the film, Kikuchi's strengths came in the form of her facial expressions which told the story of both her sexual frustration and her grief concerning her mother's suicide. I did feel that Kikuchi's turn was more deserving of the Best Supporting Actress prize than the eventual winner Jennifer Hudson; whose in-your-face performance in Dreamgirls was a million miles away from the Japanese actress' sensitive portrayal of a deaf character. Nominated alongside Kikuchi was Adrian Barraza who, as Amelia, gave a great portrayal of a woman who'd been a mother to plenty of American children even though she received very little praise from the families who employed her. Also worthy of praise are Boubker Ait El Caid and Said Tarchani who brilliantly portrayed the two Moroccan children whose actions became a catalyst for the rest of the film. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu's vision for the film is beautifully realised thanks to Rodrigo Prieto's excellent cinematography and Gustavo Santaolalla's Oscar-winning score. Visually I can't fault Babel with several scenes sticking in the mind long after the final credits rolled. One scene in particular, in which Chieko attends a disco, is especially memorable as the sound dips as we see things from both are point-of-view and hers. My major problem with Babel was its increasingly bleak story as Guillermo Arriaga's screenplay didn't give anybody a happy ending with the possible exception of Chieko. A lot of the characters are also poorly-drawn with Richard and Susan coming off as particularly miserable which is a shame as Pitt and Blanchett's talents are seemingly wasted as a result. However, I did enjoy Babel more than I thought I would and it's definitely deserving of its place among the five Best Picture contenders.
Pitt and Blanchett would reunite two years later as they played the two leads in David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Fincher's previous collaborations with Pitt; Seven and Fight Club, arguably contained two of the actor's best performances. Their successful partnership continued as Fincher led Pitt to his first Best Actor Award although I felt this was mainly to do with the character rather than the star's performance. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald; the film tells the life story of the titular protagonist who physically ages backwards as he grows up. After being abandoned by his father, Benjamin is cared for by kindly nursing home employee Queenie who he looks upon as a mother. Meanwhile, during his childhood, Benjamin first meets Daisy who is the granddaughter of one of the home's residents. The film first introduces us to Daisy in the present day as she's on her deathbed and her daughter is reading from a will written by Benjamin which luckily contains his entire life story. Although it contains tales of journeys on ferries and Benjamin's later connection with his birth father; the main concern of the film is his romance with Daisy. As he grows physically younger, the two finally begin a relationship which appears to be going swimmingly. However when she gets pregnant, with the daughter who is reading Benjamin's story, he realises that Daisy will have to find another man to act as a father. Despite feeling that Benjamin's story should have ended when, as a teenager, he discovers that Daisy has met another man and married it continues to see him finally die as a child. This final section of the film is just one of many parts that I feel could have been cut to slim down Benjamin Button's two and half hour running time.
Although it was nominated for thirteen Oscars, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button won just three and two of them were certainly well deserved. The visual effects and make-up in the film really make Benjamin's ageing process appear realistic and without them I feel that it wouldn't have been as well regarded as it is. Although the film's Art Direction wasn't as prominent, it was still unique enough to earn an Academy Award. In fact, visually, Benjamin Button can't be faulted all that much as it mixes in sepia tones with a more modern flare to create an aesthetically pleasing piece. However, as I alluded to, Eric Roth's adaptation of Fitzgerald's story is long-winded and contains plenty of sections that I would've cut entirely. As the film's key focus is on the relationship between Benjamin and Daisy, I would've concentrated on these scenes and cut everything that happened on that bleeding tugboat. Maybe it's a controversial statement, but I don't believe that Pitt really deserved that Best Actor nod as I feel he's slightly overshadowed by the make-up he wears throughout the film. I believe that I've seen Pitt act a lot better than he did in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and certainly his performance wasn't one of the more remarkable elements of the film. In fact I believe that Cate Blanchett's turn as injured dancer Daisy had more depth to it and I found her performance to be more captivating on the whole. Whilst I admire Fincher as a director, I feel The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of his weaker films and seems to be his attempt to curry favour with the Academy. The film certainly has all the elements of an Oscar-film; from the early 20th century settings to the extended running time, however I felt that it came off as a poor man's Forrest Gump. Thankfully Pitt would go on to bigger and better things in the next decade, eventually earning an Oscar as a producer rather than as an actor.
Next Time we return to the 1940s for three more Oscar nominated movies.
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