Director
Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu
Leading Actors/Actresses
Adrianna Barraza, Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Harriet Walter, Boukber Ait El Caid, Said Tarchani, Elle Fanning, Rinko Kikuchi, Koji Yakusho
Genre
Drama
Language
English
Awards
Won Academy Award & BAFTA Award for Best Original Film Score; Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Editing. Golden Globe Award: Best Motion Picture.
Date of Release
2006
Producer
Steve Golin, Ahmed Jimmy Abounouom (Morocco), Norihisa Harada (Japan), John Kilik, Alejandro Inarritu
Setting and Context
Morocco, Japan, California and Mexico
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is omniscient and changes throughout the film.
Tone and Mood
Dramatic, anthropological, tragic, tense, contemplative.
Protagonist and Antagonist
In certain situations, Susan Jones is the protagonist and Yussef the antagonist; in others Amelia is the protagonist, Santiago the antagonist. There is no centralized protagonist and antagonist.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is the accidental shooting of Susan by Yussef and the subsequent investigation.
Climax
There are many climaxes in the film. The arrival of the helicopter to take Susan to the hospital is the climax for her character. The arrest of Yuseff is the climax for his character. The deportation of Amelia is the climax for her.
Foreshadowing
Santiago getting drunk at the wedding and driving back to the border foreshadows the chaos that will ensue.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Parts of the movie were filmed in Morocco using mostly the natural light in a village dug deep into the Atlas mountains.
Allusions
The title is an allusion to a story from the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament.
Paradox
It is in their moment of desperation, after Susan has been shot and they are waiting to see if she will survive, that Susan and Richard are finally able to process and grieve the loss of their child.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between all of the characters in that they make one small and seemingly insignificant decision, only to have it cause ripples on the other side of the world.
