2 of 3

What appeals to you about doing these very complex webs of story?

Iñ árritu: I'm very curious, I guess, as a human being. Every time that I'm shooting a film— even when I'm going to the set, I see some people in the window in the car and I find them more interesting than the ones that I'm talking about. [laughs]

As a Third World citizen, I always feel that I need to express my point of view. Sometimes the points of view of Third World countries are never expressed. We don't have that possibility, sometimes, to spread what we feel and how we see things.

For me, it is important that every character in every film has some words, has some way to express themselves, to be more democratic about the angles [of perspective on] the subject matter, to understand that when somebody does something, they have a reason [for it.]

I've read that you take your family with you when you work. Is it true that you took your wife and kids to Morocco and Japan for a whole year?

Iñ árritu: We went to Morocco, to Tijuana, to Japan. Not the whole year around, but many [trips], yes. The most beautiful thing that I learned, I learned from my kids. They were eight and ten—and they were playing with Moroccan kids in these humble villages, and they were playing with the Japanese kids … because they haven't built those walls that we have as adults. They are basically pure, and they understand each other with their eyes. That's how we are born, but we unfortunately have been poisoned when we become adults. That's a sad thing.

Innaritu (right) and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto

In all of your stories, no matter what the culture, you seem intensely interested in communicating the importance of family relationships.

Iñ árritu: Completely. I think that my films are basically family stories, beyond the fact that they are global and have political and social commentary. At the core of it, Babel is basically four stories of parents and children.

I think we are defined as human beings through our families, no matter what kind of family—through our relationships with parents, brothers and sisters. [You look back to] the first people of the world, and there is Cain killing Abel. In families you can find the source of every human drama. It is interesting because the cell of a society, the cell of a country, the cell of humanity—everything lies in the family.

For me, the most important thing that I have to accomplish, is to be a good father. That's the most difficult challenge of my life. That's the most important thing for me, more than films.

I have dedicated all my films to my family. … The first one I dedicated to the son that my wife and I lost. And then the second one I dedicated to my wife. This one I've dedicated to my kids who are alive. They were part of the process, and I want them to be close to my process, to know who I am, what I do.

The title of the film is a reference to a story in the Book of Genesis, when God punished human pride by confusing our languages. Did you mean for the film to suggest anything about our relationship with God?

Iñ árritu: For me, Babel is about human beings left alone with each other. There's an absence of God. In a way, we have been dealing with the consequences of our own greed, our own selfishness. We punish ourselves with the way we act [toward each other.]

God made very clear what we need to do. And we are the ones that haven't followed those rules. We always complain and get angry at institutions and religions. But it is not religion or institutions—it is us. The problem is us. We destroy everything that we touch. We destroy marriages, parent-child relationships, governments. Before, it was the monarchy that failed. Then, the czars failed. Then, communism failed. Globalization and capitalism are failing. There's corruption in every institution. It is not the fault of God. It is us. This film clearly shows that man is trying to survive, lonely, without God.

next page... |  2 of 3