Small world: Babel and Blood Diamond

Two of the best films I've seen in the past month each deal with international themes, each in its own way. Blood Diamond is a fictionalized story of historical events in Sierra Leone, where the diamond trade contributed to the furtherance of a bloody and brutal civil war. Babel, which got short shrift at the academy awards, is a confluence of three international stories of culture clash and miscommunication. Both can be difficult to watch, but are finally rewarding.

Of the two, Blood Diamond has the stronger narrative, with a simpler plot and a compelling story of three characters seeking -- respectively -- family, wealth and justice. Their quest is set against the background of the bloody and tragic civil war involving drugged child soldiers, amputations, death squads, and fights to acquire and market diamonds for personal gain or to finance more conflict. Performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou are strong and affecting, obviously deserving of the Oscars they received, while Jennifer Connelly adds a solid supporting performance.

Babel is much more of a multi-layered film with three stories overlapping. In the three stories, an American tourist in Morocco is shot by two shepherd boys goofing around with a rifle, while in the second tale a deaf Japanese teenager copes with life crises and coming of age and in the third story a Mexican nanny takes two American children in her charge to a wedding in Mexico. To say things do not go well in any of these stories is a big understatement -- you can almost physically squirm under the sense of impending doom. Culture clashes and language differences create enough misunderstandings that things keep moving from bad to worse, but you still keep hoping.

If the characters questing in Blood Diamond and the lost souls of Babel ever realize their hopes or find something beyond what they hoped for, are questions that can carry viewers through these sometimes bleak, but well-made films with compelling stories. Both films share insights into the connections among seemingly disparate and distant cultures aroudn the world.