Performance Breakdown

I was thrilled to see Adriana Barraza receive a nomination for best supporting actress this morning when the Golden Globe nominations were announced. I noted in a previous post that I felt her performances warranted an Oscar nomination, so it's nice to know she wasn't overshadowed by the likes of more well known actors such as Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

In Babel, the film she is nominated for, she plays an illegal immigrant from Mexico that is the caretaker of two young, white and privileged children. When their parents' vacation in Africa goes longer than expected, she finds herself stuck choosing between staying put and watching the children or going to her son's wedding across the border. After failing to find anyone able to take them for the day, she decides to head off to Mexico with the boy and girl. Consider the tragic events that occur throughout the film, you just know that something will go horribly wrong. The director, Alejandro Gonzalex Inarritu (nominated for Best Director), knows this, and does an excellent job of keeping you (or at least me) anticipating it. I won't get into all the details of what eventually goes down, but she ends up stranded with the two children in the middle of the nowhere (well, just a ways into the US). With the sun beating down hard on them and no signs of civilization, they wander around for hours seeking water and shelter to no avail. I won't spoil the ending for you, but it's heart-wrenching. All the more so because she pulls you into her character's life and makes you care for her. Makes you forget you're watching a movie almost. So even after you've left the theatre, you kind of feel like this just happened to a friend of yours. Maybe I took more away from it than others will, but there is certainly no denying that this performance was anything shy of amazing.

Her storyline was also the most plausible. The other two arcs were a bit of a stretch, but what she endures happens to people every day. There are so many people here that work hard (a lot harder than those born here) and have created lives here, only to have it suddenly ripped away from them. Americans tend to wonder why there are so many people that live here illegally, and it's because the government makes it extremely difficult for them to come here legally. And not all immigrants, primarily Mexicans or those from other Latin countries. Hopefully one day things will improve...maybe once we get this sad excuse for a president out of the office.