What does the film Babel want to express?

Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel

Babel, also known as Babel; Babel; Split tower

According to Genesis Chapter 1 1 of the Bible, it was a tower built by human beings at that time, hoping to lead to heaven. In order to stop human's plan, God made human speak different languages, so that human could not communicate with each other, so the plan failed and human parted ways. This story tries to explain the emergence of different languages and races in the world.

Babel in religion

According to the Jewish Bible and the Old Testament, after the flood, all the people in the world spoke the same language and had the same accent. Noah's descendants are more and more scattered everywhere, so he moved eastward. In cinar (near Babylon, Cuba), they met a plain and settled down. Because stones for building on the plain are hard to get, they said to each other, "Come on, let's make bricks and burn them thoroughly." So they use bricks as stones and stone paint as mortar. And they said, "Come, let's build a city and a tower, the top of which will reach the sky, so that we may proclaim our name, lest we be scattered all over the earth. "Because everyone speaks the same language, and Qi Xin works together, the built Babylonian city is prosperous and beautiful, and the tower soars into the sky, which seems to be comparable to the weather. I didn't expect this to disturb God! God is deeply angered by the vanity and arrogance of human beings and cannot tolerate human beings offending his dignity. He decided to punish these arrogant people, just like punishing Adam and Eve who stole the forbidden fruit. In Qixin, he saw people working together in Qi Xin, unified and powerful, and thought: If mankind really built a magnificent Tower of Babel, what can't be done in the future? We must find a way to stop them. So he quietly left the kingdom of heaven and came to the world, making human language chaotic and scattered everywhere, and the tower was abandoned halfway. The same language is called Adam's language. Historically, some scholars have suggested that a certain language is a primitive language, such as Hebrew and Basque (see Jewish literature). The picture of the tower abandoned halfway is symbolic in religious art, which indicates that human arrogance will only end in chaos.

Babel in history

In Hebrew, "Babel" means "rebellion", so this tower is called "Babel". Some people interpret the word "rebellion" as "Babylon", the city as "Babylon" and the tower as "Babylonia". In Babylonian, "Babel" or "Babylon" means "Kamino Cardo". It is really puzzling that the same word ("Babel") should have diametrically opposite meanings in two languages. In fact, there is a reason for this.

In 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed the Jewish kingdom, demolished the holy city of Jerusalem, burned the temple, and brought the king and nearly 10,000 subjects to Babylon, leaving only a few of the poorest people. This is the famous Babylonian prisoner in history. Most of the Jews were slaves of Babylon and built the city of Babylon for Nebuchadnezzar. It was not until the arrival of the Persian emperor Ju Lushi 70 years later that they were saved. The hatred of subjugating the country and becoming slaves impressed the Jews deeply. Although they failed to return to heaven, they expressed their anger with their own thoughts. Thus, the "Camino Cardo" in Babylon was full of evil in the eyes of Jews and was cursed. They cursed and said, "The wild animals in the desert and the wild animals on the island will live there, and the owls will live there. No one will ever smoke, and no one will smoke from generation to generation. "

In fact, the "Tower of Babel" existed before Nebuchadnezzar and his father, and several kings of the Kingdom of Babylon also renovated it. But foreign conquerors have been destroying it. After Nebuchadnezzar's father Bona Bolesa established a new kingdom of Babylon, he also began to rebuild the Tower of Babel. He wrote in the inscription: "The Tower of Babel has been in disrepair for a long time, and Marduk ordered me to rebuild it. He asked me to build the tower foundation firmly on the chest of the border, and the spire should go straight into the sky. " However, Nebuchadnezzar's father only built the tower to 15 meters high, and Nebuchadnezzar himself "added the tower to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sky". Most of the tower and the Marduk Temple at the top of the tower were built by Nebuchadnezzar. The highly acclaimed "Babel" generally refers to the one built by Napoleon and his son.

The scale of this tower is very grand. In 460 BC, after the tower was built 150 years ago, Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, still admired the damaged tower when he visited Babylon. According to his records, the Tower of Babel was built on many huge platforms. These platforms have eight floors, and the higher they are, the smaller they are. Marduk Temple was built on the top platform. There are spiral steps on the outer edge of the city wall, which can go around the tower and reach the top of the tower; There is a seat in the middle of the tower ladder for rest. Each side of the tower foundation is about 90 meters long and the tower is about 90 meters high. According to the actual measurement and calculation by archaeologist Coard Wei at the end of19th century, the side length of the tower foundation is about 96m, and the total height of the tower and the temple is about 96m, which is almost the same. Babel was the tallest building in Babylon at that time and could be seen anywhere in the country. People call it the Tower of Babel. Some people also call it the place where the gods of heaven set foot on their way to the mortal residence, and it is the "post station" or "hotel" of Heaven.

It is generally believed that the Tower of Babel is a religious building. According to the Babylonians, the king of Babylon was granted the throne by Marduk, and the monks were Marduk's servants, so people needed his protection. In order to please him, exchange his favor and ensure the eternal stability of the national city, the Babylonians presented the Tower of Babel as a gift to him. In the "Babel", large-scale ceremonies are held regularly every year, and crowds of believers come from all over the country to worship. According to Herodotus, there is a Marduk Temple above and below the tower, which is called the Upper Temple and the Lower Temple respectively. There are idols in the lower hall. Shangmiao is located at the top of the tower. There is no statue in it, but it is magnificent. It is made of dark blue glazed tiles and decorated with gold. Babylonians served their gods according to the ideal of secular life. There is only one big bed in the main hall, which is "luxuriously paved" (like Greek and Roman nobles, Mesopotamian nobles also eat while lying down), and there is a table decorated with gold beside the bed. There is only one beautiful young woman in the temple, specially selected to play with Marduk. Monks make people believe that the Great God comes to the temple from time to time to rest on this bed. Only kings and monks can enter the temple, serve Marduk and listen to his teachings; This super sacred thing is beyond the reach of ordinary people. They can only worship the God in their mind from a distance, because if they are close at hand, ordinary people can't stand the vision of the Great God. According to Herodotus, these statues and accessories are worth 800 taels of gold, which is equivalent to the current price of about 24 million US dollars. Archaeologists once found a stone duck in the residence of a monk, which was engraved with "Zhunheng and Tyrone". This stone duck weighs about 29.68 kilograms. If Herodotus' records are reliable, then according to this calculation, the statue of Marduk and Annex I weigh about 23,700 kilograms, all of which are cast or made of pure gold! Who but God can enjoy such high courtesy?

Archaeologists and historians believe that the tower of Babel has two other uses besides offering sacrifices to the holy spirit. One is that Nebuchadnezzar II expressed his personal glory and majesty in the image of God in order to live forever. The second is to please the monk group in exchange for their support to stabilize the country. Mesopotamia is a place where religion prevails, with many temples and monks. Monks not only influence people ideologically, but also hold a lot of land and wealth. Without their political support, I'm afraid the throne will be unstable. This kind of worry is not unnecessary. According to historians' research, after Nebuchadnezzar, the new kingdom of Babylon declined rapidly, so that the Persians occupied the city of Babylon with one soldier, which had a lot to do with losing the support of the monks' group.

Greek historians in BC 1 th century thought that the Tower of Babel was an observatory. The new Babylonians believed in star worship, and the stars were gods. In their myth, Marduk is Jupiter. Monks from the new kingdom of Babylon mysteriously climbed to the top of the tower. Is it really to serve the great god Marduk who is half lying in bed? Herodotus did not agree with this, nor did modern scholars believe it. Maybe they are half lying in bed observing the sky! Moreover, the early astronomical knowledge of human beings was directly produced in religion and witchcraft, and most of them were monks. The new Babylonians made the most outstanding astronomical achievements in the world at that time, and the contribution of this tower is undeniable.

Others think that the Tower of Babel is multifunctional. The bottom of the tower is a temple for sacrifice, and the top of the tower is a post for military observation.

The legendary Babel

It is this tower that has fascinated countless heroes. After Ju Lushi, king of Persia, captured Babylon in 539 BC, he was deeply impressed by the majestic posture of Babel. Instead of destroying it, he asked his men to build a small Etmennanji on the grave after his death (Etmennanji is another name of Babel, meaning "the basic residence of heaven and earth"). However, the Tower of Babel was finally destroyed. King Xue Xisi of Persia hated the desperate resistance of the Babylonian people, hated this country and Ukraine, and ordered the complete destruction of the city of Babylon. Babel was doomed and turned into a pile of rubble. Even so, Alexander the Great, who is famous for his love of culture, still loves its magnificent appearance. In 33 1 year BC, when he was on an expedition to India, he specially came to Babel, and the dialogue between heroes and wonders was probably only known to each other. For a time, he wanted to restore this legendary building and ordered all the old towers to be demolished. A more magnificent pagoda was saved. However, this is just an empty joy. It is said that at this time, a mosquito suffering from malaria stung him, and this generation of Tianjiao, who is famous for his martial arts, died, leaving the Tower of Babel in the cold. In fact, the project is so big that it takes 10 thousand people to work for two months just to clean up the abandoned tower, so he had to give up the idea. After thousands of years, the tower has become a ruin, which really fulfilled the Jewish curse. Even so, when the archaeologist Koudiwei saw it thousands of years later, he gave a heartfelt admiration. Coldevi wrote: "Although the ruins are so broken, what I saw with my own eyes is by no means comparable to any written description. Babel is so huge that Jews in the Old Testament regard it as a symbol of human pride. Surrounded by the luxurious hall where monks worship, there are many spacious warehouses, continuous white walls, gorgeous bronze gates, surrounding bunkers and 1000 watchtowers. Such a magnificent scene was unparalleled in Babylon that year. "

Babel in the movie

(Vacancy)

The film Babel (2006)

Nickname: Babel/Firefighting/Babel

Director: alejandro gonzalez inarritu

Plot: guillermo arriaga

The main actors: Cate Blanchett, Brad Pitt and Gael García Bernal.

Last movie: June 6, 2006 +65438.

Location: USA

Languages: Arabic, English, Japanese and Spanish.

Color: color

Length: 142 minutes

Type: feature film

Movies with big scenes are suitable for watching in cinemas. The big scene in Morocco, the artificial club Babel in Tokyo, is a movie that switches between the outside and the inside in sunny outdoor and dark indoor, and it is the kind of movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. Sometimes you are taken to the nearest place to the character, and sometimes you are taken to a big view.

We were taken to the barren hills of Morocco, and the lives of the villagers were disturbed by a gun. This American-made Winchester shotgun was left by a Japanese tourist to a local guide. A well-intentioned act led to a tragedy. The bullet of this gun was shot by the child who was herding sheep, and it hit the female tourist who had just arrived from America. The female tourist and her husband lost their children not long ago, and the trip was originally to save the marriage. Female tourists are waiting for rescue in a small village, and Moroccan police suspect terrorist acts. In order to protect the reputation of the country, they began to hunt down the shepherd family rudely. The husband of the female tourist called the Mexican nanny at home in San Diego, California, and asked her to take care of the children. The Mexican nanny had to cross the border to attend her son's wedding. She couldn't find a substitute teacher, so she had to take two children with her. As a result, on the way back to San Diego, she was suspected by the police of kidnapping the child, and spent the night in the wild, almost losing her child. On the other side of the world, Japanese police were asked to investigate the source of shotguns. As a result, we learned that Japanese tourists have a dumb daughter who is growing up, rebellious and eager in the pain of growing up. Then we also learned that the mother of this family committed suicide not long ago. ...

Unfortunately, when I watched it, I almost felt that the screenwriter was forcing these coincidences. However, whether it is American tourists waiting for rescue in Morocco, father and daughter under the lights of Tokyo, or panicked Mexican nannies in the wasteland of North America, it is a portrayal of human helplessness in the predicament. Today, it seems that mankind is also building a tower of Babel. Today's Babel is global, and the global Babel is not without cost.

The technique of this film can attract you to watch and often make you breathless. Photography is the least controversial part, which gives us unforgettable pictures. Whether it's beautiful barren hills or artificial Tokyo, photography is so powerful. In terms of performance, the use of big stars, professional actors and non-professional actors from all over the world at the same time, without any sense of disharmony, is also a major feature of the film. The status of Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt as big stars just fits the plot, because in a small part of the Third World, any American is like a star. But suddenly they can still be so helpless. Of course, the ending of this part of the story has finally turned from sadness to joy, which may be a little comfort that American audiences need. The Japanese part of the story, especially the outstanding performance of Japanese actresses, is the most unconventional, but it also reflects the confusion of modern people. On the one hand, capitalism needs globalization, and Mexicans are the main force of cheap labor in California. On the other hand, the border must exist, and the rules of entry and exit are always decided by the powerful party. ...

What can keep the light of hope in a desperate situation? When human beings are punished by God because of the Tower of Babel, what can human beings of different languages and races rely on to communicate? The creator of this film seems desperate and hopeful. In the darkest night, we are looking for the light of humanity. In addition to the affection between father and son, father and daughter, and husband and wife, perhaps Moroccan tour guides, Moroccan grandmothers, Tokyo police and Mexican nannies can better prove the bond of human nature. Iria, the director of Babel, is brilliant and ambitious. Babel fully proved his talent as a film artist. His ambition is to create a film about big ideas and arouse big emotions at the same time. Opinions vary as to whether this ambition has been fully realized. The advantage of this film is that it only makes you think imperceptibly, does not impose conclusions on you, does not simplify every culture, and only evokes pity for life. Perhaps this sympathy will be the light to save us from estrangement. But at the same time, is its story too far-fetched? It took me a long time to say nothing clearly. Although there are many powerful clips, the combination of these clips failed to reach the height that the creator wanted to achieve? This is a movie that makes you want to argue with your friends after watching it.

Behind the scenes story

It is recorded in the Bible that man wanted to build a "Tower of Babel". In order to prevent people from reaching heaven, God made them speak different languages. Finally, the difficulty of human communication led to the collapse of the tower, and the dream of going to heaven became a bubble. The film Babel borrowed this metaphor, and the director of Love is a Dog and a Wolf, Alessandro Gonzá lez Inarito, directed the film. Alessandro Gonzalez Inarito is a master of structure. This movie is worth looking forward to, because there are two superstars, Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

The film Babel has a strong unique style of Alessandro Gonzá lez Inarito. I'm afraid it's hard to find any director in the world who can use the multi-clue cross-narrative technique so skillfully, which seems to surpass the best film Crash in the last Oscar. Moreover, Alessandro's grasp of the story and the contradictions and conflicts in the story are more grand and humanized. At the same time, this multi-clue narrative technique is no longer just an expression tool in his hands, but a very insightful and insightful expression outlet, which is the only way for him to express the theme of the story. Inarito once said that it has become his working habit to weave some story clues together. "When I was sitting in the car and saw someone passing by, I began to think that that person must be more interesting than anything in my mind. Therefore, exploring other people's hearts is my greatest wish. At the same time, everything we have in reality is so limited. I hope to explore a wider external world, what impact the strange external world has on me personally and so on. , this will be my work to explore the goal ... "

At the 59th Cannes International Film Festival, Alessandro Gonzá lez Inarito won the best director award for his "Babel", which also made him enjoy heroic cheers after returning to his native Mexico. Perhaps "Love is a Bitch" is a purely local act; "2 1 g" is more sharp and niche, but after the first two bold attempts, Inarito finally ushered in more brilliant achievements. In Cannes, the voice of Babel is the highest, even higher than the return of the master Amodova. Some people think that Inarito keeps repeating himself, that's all, but his attitude of sticking to his own style is the most precious thing for an independent filmmaker, and he has indeed found the expression that suits him best. Compared with his first two works, Babel has made a great breakthrough, which is more grand and deeper in structure and theme.

At the 64th Golden Globe Awards, this film won the Best Drama Award.

At the 79th Academy Awards, the film received seven nominations.

Tell a story

Babylon is a charming ancient city, located at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. As early as around 1830 BC, the Amorites established the kingdom of Babylon with Babylon as its capital. After the death of Rabbi Hammurabi, the best king of Babylon, Babylon was constantly attacked by foreign countries. After more than 500 years of war, until the end of the 7th century BC, a new kingdom of Babylon was established under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. However, 88 years later, the new kingdom of Babylon was completely destroyed by the Persians. With the collapse of the Babylonian dynasty, the once famous ancient city of Babylon has gradually disappeared in the weeds.

During the period of the new kingdom of Babylon, Babylon was also the most magnificent and prosperous capital in the ancient two river basins. There are two walls inside and outside the ancient city of Babylon. The most spectacular buildings in the city are the Tower of Babel in Nebuchadnezzar Palace, the famous "Hanging Garden" and the Tower of Babel, which is said to surprise and anger God.

So why is the city of Babylon called "the city that offends God"? This sentence comes from the Old Testament.

According to the Old Testament, human ancestors originally spoke the same language. They found a very fertile land between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River, so they settled there and built the city. Later, their life became better and better, and they decided to build a tower that could reach the sky. This is the Tower of Babel. They use bricks and river mud as building materials. Until one day, the high top of the tower has soared into the sky. When God knew about it, he immediately came down from heaven to inspect it. God was surprised and angry when he saw it, and thought it was a symbol of human vanity. God thought that if people spoke the same language, they could build such a huge tower. What can't I do in the future? Therefore, God decided to confuse the languages in the world so that people could not talk to each other. Later, people called Babylon "a city that offended God".

The walls of Babylon are thick enough for a four-horse chariot to turn. It is 16 km long, and there are towers at regular intervals. The two ends of the city wall rise from the Euphrates River. On the other side of the river is the new city of Babylon. A bridge crosses the Euphrates River, connecting the new city with the main city. Therefore, this wall is not only the main barrier used by the Babylonians to resist the enemy, but also a reliable dike to protect the city of Babylon from the flood of the river. There are 100 bronze gates in the city of Babylon, so Homer, a great Greek poet, also called the city of Babylon "the capital of hundreds of gates".

The gate of the ancient city of Babylon is called the ceremony gate, which is more than 4 meters high and about 2 meters wide. The upper part of the door is an arch structure, and both sides are connected with the remaining city wall. There are images of lions and bulls made of yellow and brown glazed tiles on the walls on both sides of the doorway. This door is built very solidly. When the Persians destroyed the ancient city of Babylon in 568 BC, only this door survived. After thousands of years of wind and rain erosion, the ancient city wall has collapsed, but the gate is still intact.

Passing through the city gate, it is a wide avenue paved with gray and pink stones, and the images of lions and bulls can still be clearly seen on the residual walls on both sides of the avenue. Nebuchadnezzar's palace is on the west side of the avenue. Known as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World", the "Hanging Garden" is located in the northeast corner of Nangong. According to legend, it was built by Nebuchadnezzar II to relieve his wife, Princess Semiramis, but unfortunately it no longer exists.

The famous Tower of Babel is located in the north of the street. Babel was originally a temple dedicated to Duke, the Babylonian god horse, in the ancient city of Babylon. At the top of the tower is a temple. There is a stone staircase leading directly to the temple. When worshipping God, the priests in white vestments climbed to the top of the tower with the chorus accompanied by musical instruments. This tower of Babel is the tower of Babel in the Old Testament. The word "Babel" is Babylonian, which means "the gate of God". Because its pronunciation is similar to the word "chaos" in ancient Hebrew, and the inhabitants of Babylon spoke far more than one language at that time, it is easy for the author of the Old Testament to associate "language confusion" with God's punishment for building towers and fabricate the above story. Ancient Babylon

The earliest Babel in this city was destroyed in 689 BC, when King Sinabu of Assyria captured Babylon. After the establishment of the new kingdom of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the reconstruction of Babel. He ordered the whole country to send people to participate in the tower repair regardless of nationality or region.

Nebuchadnezzar ordered the reconstruction of the Tower of Babel, with 7 floors and a total height of 90 meters. The length and width of the tower foundation are about 9 1 m respectively. At the top of the towering tower, there is also a spectacular temple dedicated to the Lord God Marduk, surrounded by warehouses and priests' houses. More than 5,000 years ago, people were able to build such a magnificent Tower of Babel, which is a miracle in the world. Regrettably, all that remains of Babel today is a huge square foundation full of weeds.

After the Persians completely destroyed Babylon, people still remember the Babel of Babylon. In 33 1 BC, when Alexander the Great occupied barren Babylon, he tried to rebuild the Tower of Babel. However, it takes 10 thousand people to work for two months just to clean up the bricks and tiles of the abandoned tower. Finally, he had to give up the plan.

Thousands of years have passed, and I don't know how many people have been trying to find the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon.

1899 In March, a group of German archaeologists conducted a large-scale archaeological excavation in the Euphrates River, more than 50 kilometers south of Baghdad today, which lasted for more than 10 years, and finally found the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon, which disappeared for more than 2,000 years and was rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II in 605 BC.

Archaeologists are still excavating the ruins of ancient Babylon. Many palaces, temples, streets and houses gradually emerged from the ground. Archaeologists are cooperating with historians and artists to copy the prototypes of most buildings in ancient Babylon according to the excavated cultural relics, so that this magnificent ancient human city can be restored to its old appearance one day.

Research on "Babel Tower" Engineering Technology