Babel

After seeing "Babel" last night with a UHall group, I find it even more curious that "Children of Men" wasn't nominated for Best Picture. But I'll get to that in a minute.

One of the things I noticed about " Babel" had to do with the presence--and absence--of mothers. The woman who gets shot in Morocco (the always wonderful Cate Blanchett) is a mother mourning the loss of a dead child, but she's also an absent mother who allows her illegal immigrant nanny to do all the nurturing of her two other children; the deaf-mute Japanese girl howls silently for affection (okay, sex or at very least physical contact) and her mother shot herself in the head (and the girl found the body); the mother of the two boys in Morocco is rendered almost invisible by the culture in which she lives.

I'm not quite sure what ot make of this observation--I'm not sure the movie does much with it, either. In fact, there's a lot in that movie, too much, in fact, to be handled adequately. A lot of the people in our group thought that the movie was...well, "pretentious" was one word people used; "over-wrought" was another; "contrived" was yet another. I think this is pretty harsh criticism and I'm willing to give the movie more points for attempting something Big.

"Children of Men" attempts something Big, too, and succeeds far more fully than does Babel (or the other movies that were nominated, for that matter). On the one hand, CofM is basically a chase movie (will they get away, will they escape); but it's also a meditation about Otherness, about community, about nation...

The problem for Cuaron's movie, I think, is that it's too close to home. The people in that movie all look like Us; England is too similar, it's all too eerily "us" and not enough "them." In "Babel," however, despite the attempts to show that we're all connected, all the bad things that happen seem to happen Somewhere Else, to people Far Away. Even the scenes in the US desert just north of the Mexican border, or the scenes with Blanchett and Pitt...all seem Other and thus safer.

I haven't seen all the movies that have been nominated for BP this year but a glance at the titles does seem to suggest that these are movies that are...safe. Quirky, maybe (Little Miss...), slightly risky (the Japanese focus for Eastwood, but c'mon, it's Eastwood, how risky is that?), really gory (Scorese, natch), but... safe.

The Queen

Here are some thoughts about The Queen, which I saw on Monday night with a group of U-Hall students at the Angelika. What I liked about it was the way in which it seemed to play off the genre of the novel of manners -- think Jane Austen -- which uses the marriage plot to dramatize class conflicts and explore the dynamics of social customs, and often allows its readers to be privy to social settings to which they might not otherwise have entry: the lives of the rich and famous, or even just the very well-to-do. The Queen certainly allows its viewers entry into the most rarified of social settings -- the Royal Family's Scottish estate, for example -- and clearly delineates the difference between the "royal" and the "common," particularly through its delineation of the characters of the Queen and Tony Blair. (A little touch I loved: the contrasting kitchens -- the Blairs' kitchen is nicely put together, but relatively small and they eat in it after preparing their own meals; the Queen enters her kitchen at Balmoral only to take a phone call from Blair, and the rather surprised staff clears the room.)

The typical novel of manners uses marriage as its central, climactic act, because a marriage is a ritual of belonging: if you get to marry in a society, it means you get to reproduce. The Queen, however, explores the aftermath of a failed marriage, and it portrays Diana as an outsider who never managed to belong despite her marriage. It's like an inverted marriage comedy: perhaps, a tragedy, of manners.

Ultimately, though, I don't think it's really a tragic narrative, because it chooses not to focus on Diana. It's not really about her. What it seems to me, finally, to be about is the relationship between the Queen and Blair: the Queen, disappointed in her son, finds a younger and more dynamic substitute in Blair; Blair's wife suggests that Blair sees in the Queen a version of his own mother. Ultimately this isn't so much a historical narrative as a family drama. Its strength is its ability to depict small moments and gestures, rather than historical sweep.

Helen Mirren's performance is understated and compelling. I loved James Cromwell's wonderfully obtuse King Philip, completely hidebound, more concerned with the temperature of the Queen's tea than matters of state (he complains when a call from Blair causes her tea to get cold).

Stephen Frears's direction is marvelous yet again. If you don't know his other films, you should investigate them, particularly The Grifters, The Snapper, and The Van.

Best Picture 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Picture. Which should win and why?

BABEL
THE DEPARTED
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
THE QUEEN

Achievement in Directing 2007

Here are the nominees for Achievement in Directing. Who should win and why?

Alejandro Gonazález Iñárritu, BABEL
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED
Clint Eastwood, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Stephen Frears, THE QUEEN
Paul Greengrass, UNITED 93

Best Actress 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. Who should win and why?

Penélope Cruz, VOLVER
Judi Dench, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN
Meryl Streep, THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA
Kate Winslet, LITTLE CHILDREN

Best Actor 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. Who should win and why?

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Leonardo DiCaprio, BLOOD DIAMOND
Ryan Gosling, HALF NELSON
Peter O'Toole, VENUS
Will Smith, THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Best Supporting Actress 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role. Who should win and why?

Adriana Barraza, BABEL
Cate Blanchett, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Abigail Breslin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
Rinko Kikuchi, BABEL

Best Supporting Actor 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. Who should win and why?

Alan Arkin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Jackie Earle Haley, LITTLE CHILDREN
Djimon Hounsou, BLOOD DIAMOND
Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS
Mark Wahlberg, THE DEPARTED

Best Foreign Language Film 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year. Which should win and why?

AFTER THE WEDDING
DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGÈNES)
THE LIVES OF OTHERS
PAN'S LABYRINTH
WATER

Best Documentary Feature 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Documentary Feature. Which should win and why?

Best documentary feature
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
JESUS CAMP
MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY

Best Original Screenplay 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Original Screenplay. Who should win and why?

Guillermo Arriaga, BABEL
Iris Yamashita, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
Michael Arndt, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
Guillermo del Toro, PAN'S LABYRINTH
Peter Morgan, THE QUEEN

Best Adapted Screenplay 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay. Who should win and why?

Larry Charles, BORAT CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, CHILDREN OF MEN
Patrick Marber, NOTES ON A SCANDAL
William Monahan, THE DEPARTED
Todd Field and Tom Perotta, LITTLE CHILDREN

Best Animated Feature 2007

Here are the nominees for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year. Which should win and why?

CARS
HAPPY FEET
MONSTER HOUSE