“Babel” is really about escalation. People get into situations that spin out of their control, sometimes with disastrous results as one problem leads to another. The title encompasses the geographical and language differences in the various segments, which take place in Southern California, Mexico, Morocco and Japan, and there are interconnections between the sections.

The director and his screenwriter, Guillermo Arriaga, build suspense only to cut annoyingly to one of the other places. This back and forth may heighten tension but it adds to the feeling of manipulation and intrudes upon emotional involvement with the characters.

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett play Richard and Susan, an American couple who are in Morocco arguing about their relationship and a past tragedy. Also in Morocco, a goat herder is sold a rifle and one of his two young sons who practice with it thoughtlessly takes aim at a bus passing nearby. Traveling in the bus, Susan is gravely wounded and in that portion that we keep revisiting Richard is desperately trying to save her life by getting help. Terrorists are suspected, which leads to international complications. Meanwhile, there is the drama focused on the herder’s family and impending tragedy as the authorities close in.

Back home in California, Amelia (Adriana Barraza), the caregiver for the American couple’s two children, is hard-pressed to stay on duty, as she has to go to her son’s wedding in Mexico. She decides to take the youngsters along, crossing the border with her irresponsible nephew (Gael García Bernal) driving. Another crisis is in the making.

The Japan connection involves a widowed father (Kôji Yakusho), who had given his rifle to the man who sold it while using him as a guide on a tour to Morocco. But the main Japanese focus is on his teenage daughter Chieko (Rinko Kikuchi), who is a deaf mute and very insecure and restless. She misses her mother and is desperately in need of affection, which leads her to flaunt her body in demeaning ways. This portion is interesting with respect to the involvement of a group of deaf schoolgirls and the ambiance created thereby. But some of what happens seems as far-fetched as the link to Morocco.