Years of Poems and Spirits

Just watched two movies on DVD last night: Babel and The Departed

I certainly like Babel much better than The Departed, particularly knowing the latter is the movie of the year. What a M.F.S. (or Martin F$#*%&! Scorsese) fraud!

Babel is one of those films that has a simple story but leaves a lot room for acting/performance and imagination/internalization. In other words, it builds a narrative that invites a viewer to interpret for himself. For example, other than those obvious good and bad things, there is a lot that is neither-or and the implied fatalism, serendipity leaves a very chewy sentiment and to a certain degree, a sense of hopelessness (I have never seen so much crying from a Latino person until this movie). I have certain bias against Japanese cultural products but I have to give it to the Japanese actors in the movie. The deaf girl’s (Rinko Kikuchi) performance is just soooo good. The casting director must have some talent picking the right actors across so many countries.

The Departed is rather lame in comparison. If extravaganza meant peanut-like muscle groups for Michelangelo, or exotic customes for Puccini, to M.F.S. it is profanity and violence. Unlike Tarantino, M.F.S. still thinks P&V is means to an end, not the end itself. But the story pales in comparison to the P&V. Acting was so so: it seems DiCaprio wants to be DeNiro but turns out a mixturer of DeNiro and Pesci. Damon is never comfortable in a leading role. He probably makes less eye contact with his audiences than an average MBA interviewee.

Anyway, Babel 5 and The Departed 3.