Babel: Whose Movie Is It Anyway?

Is the credit -- or blame -- for Babel due mostly to director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu or to the film's screenwriter, Guillermo Arriaga?

The two, also partners on 2003's 21 Grams and the stunning Amores Perros, released in 2000, apparently are battling over issues of authorship, creative control, etc., according to a recent New York Times story.

From the Times story:
THE novelist and screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga recently declared: “When they say it’s an auteur film, I say auteurs film. I have always been against the ‘film by’ credit on a movie. It’s a collaborative process and it deserves several authors.” He added, “I think it will be healthy to have a debate about it.” Although these remarks sound reasonable enough, their measured, calm, relatively uncombative tone may in fact disguise a rather more aggressive agenda.