Senses In the Movie of Babel

Babel is a multi-plot movie directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu in 2006. In this article, I aim to discuss the representation of each sense in the film and its effect in terms of the film. First of all, I would like to describe the short summaries of movie plots and classify them according to the five senses.

The movie tells the interrelated stories of 4 different geographies. First, it starts with the purchase of a rifle family in Afghanistan. Second one, is the story of a Mexican woman who has been a nanny to two American children since they were born. Third, the American couple traveled to Afghanistan to try to face their problems. And last, we are in the story of a deaf and dumb adolescent girl in Japan. All these stories are interconnected. As according to Deborah Shaw:

As the movie has many plots, the film addresses many senses at once. This complex structure of the film causes it to be watched physically and mentally active.

Movies primarily address the sense of vision. While the film Babel represents many geographies, it offers many aesthetic visuals.

It is possible to say that each plot has its dominant color scale. The story of the Afghan family, in earthy tones, the American couple with a contrasting white, with the red color of the Mexican nanny, the Japanese teenage girl is in dark blue tones. This aesthetic decomposition also underlines minor similarities.

Also, the sense of sight plays an important role in the film in terms of character. There are important elements such as “peeping”, “aiming” or “exhibitionism” about seeing.

The second most important sensation of the cinema is “hearing”. Audio contrasts were used a lot in the movie. Transitions from a polyphonic environment to completely silent scenes support the active audience experience.

The most important representation of the sense of hearing in the movie is undoubtedly Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi) as the deaf. In this episode, I would especially like to talk about Chieko’s night club experience. The experience of someone who can not hear in this environment identified with loudness, it is also interesting for the audience. The difference between hearing and not hearing in this scene becomes very sharp. When the sound disappears, the light and movements in the environment become more prominent.

The sense of taste plays an important role in audience participation. Watching that food is eaten runs the physical memory. It is possible to say that food creates a class distinction in Babel. Afghan family eats together with their hands. The American couple has sterile emphasis. It sterilizes hands before ordering food and tends to be disgusted with water, even ice may have been frozen. Similarly, children from the American upper class when they first see Mexican meat are in flies. Eating and the way food is served create some class distinction.

The sense of smell can be called the most difficult sense to convey. The sense of smell in the film becomes represent with colors. In this film, it is supported by colors and sterilized aesthetics while determining class differences. The scene, viewed from the window of the car the first time children visit Mexico, is a colorful scent.

Afghanistan scenes also awaken perceptions such as warm colors and hot air smell and sweat. In spite of all these, although the scenes in Japan are crowded, cold colors seem to be sterilized and clean smells. As a result, all senses support the spectator to be an active subject.

The sense of touch in movies can be the most compelling experience for the spectator. It causes the audience to feel the pain or anxiety they feel in their bodies. Thus, he becomes an active subject. The most important representation of this in the film is the injury and blood loss process of Susan Jones (Cate Blanchett). There are many scenes where the sense of feeling passes directly to the audience, such as the characters getting overwhelmed by the heat or their arms open to the wind.

-Gizem Hayali

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