Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s (Amores Perros, 21 Grams) much-awaited third film Babel, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett among others, released in India this Friday. The film has been a fixture in all major international festivals and has garnered as many as seven Golden Globe nominations.

In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couple’s frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo.

“With Babel,” explains Inarritu, “I wanted to explore the contradiction between the impression that the world has become quite small due to all the communication tools which we have, and the feeling that human beings are still incapable of exp-ressing themselves and communicating amongst themselves on a fundamental level.”

It’s also the first film which stars Blanchett and Pitt together.

“It’s like chocolate,” Blanchett says about working with Pitt. “He’s glorious and wonderful. The moment of him, which is so beautifully judged in terms of where it’s placed in the film but also so exquisitely performed, when he speaks with the children on the phone at the end. It’s one of the most moving moments.”