Babylon
Starring: Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jovan Adepo
Directed By: Damien Chazelle
Rated: R
“It's over, but you'll spend eternity dining with angels and ghosts.”
Babylon is a frenetic, oppulent, and debachurous 3-hour Old Hollywood epic showcasing the highs and lows of the film industry as it transitions from silent films to talkies. It follows Manny (Diego Calva) as he works his way from the bottom of the totem pole to become a studio executive. Along the way, he encounters Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) an “It Girl” on the rise to superstardom and Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) a silent film star.
Believe it or not, Babylon feels like a Baz Luhrmann film on drugs. (If that’s even possible.) Everything is dialed up to the highest level possible. The opening of the film is a gigantic debachurous party in a Hollywood mansion. As Manny enters, it’s as if he’s descending into Dante’s Inferno filled with chaos, debauchery and turmoil surrounding every corner. That descent will continue into a journey of madness unlike anything he’s ever seen.
Director and screenwriter Damien Chazelle is committed to making this massive in pretty much every way imaginable. From the ornate sets, to the star-studded cast, to the runtime, this is a huge movie. Does it all work? No. While there’s a lot of Babylon that works, there’s a lot that needs to be edited. It’s a bloated movie to say the least. There are grotesque sequences involving vomit, poop, and a dungeon scene with Tobey Maguire that very well could haunt your nightmares (no, he is not dancing in New York City.) These scenes mess with the tone and feel particularly jarring compared to the other elements of the film. 30 minutes could have easily been taken off the runtime of the film if the editing had been tighter. The gross out elements end up hurting the movie.
Chazelle loves making movies about Hollywood. Interestingly, Babylon is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum of La La Land. While La La Land is a candy colored spectacle that raises a toast to the magic of cinema and the “fools who dream” to chase their artistic ambitions, Babylon is a chaotic, drug-addled frenzy condemning the entertainment industry and its treatment of those it exploits. The film industry is viewed as a monolithic machine that raises up stars, only to chew them up and spit them out into obscurity when their time is up.
There’s a deep sadness at the core of the film at the realization that the art of cinema hides a vile business model. Fame is treated as a toxic relationship that the stars can’t step away from. The majority of the artists portrayed are alcoholics, drug addicts and mentally unwell. They are all constantly striving for the perfect shot; that moment that will make or break the film. They’re used and abused but no one bats an eye. People will only remember them for the pristine images they provided on the silver screen, not the instability that plagued them behind the scenes.
We know Damien Chazelle loves an homage to Hollywood. You know what else he loves? Jazz. Between Whiplash, La La Land, and Babylon, jazz is a major player in all of his movies. Speaking of jazz, Justin Hurwitz’s score for Babylon is probably the best I’ve heard in any movie this year. Justin, please make music for more movies. The people are demanding! From the opening notes of Babylon, it feels as if we’re transported to a racuous 20s party that’s dazzling and dizzying. Certain tracks harken back to La La Land with hints of “City of Stars” and “Someone in the Crowd” sprinkled throughout. The standout track, “Voodoo Mama” feels like a rallying cry as Nellie’s character literally climbs her way through chaos to begin her ascent to stardom.
This is an ensemble film with each cast member bringing something to the table.
Diego Calva is fantastic in Babylon. I’ve never seen him act in anything prior but I walked out of the theater most impressed by his performance, which is quite a feat considering he’s acting alongside Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Manny acts as the audience surrogate, seeing the ins and outs of Hollywood for the first time. He works his way from the very bottom of the film industry to become an assistant then a studio executive climbing the ladder one step at a time. Calva finds a genuine sincerity in Manny that allows us to sympathize with him in a film filled with people who are difficult to like.
Margot Robbie plays Nellie La Roy with reckless abandon and wide emotional range. Nellie is an actress based loosely on Clara Bow. Nellie is a wild child who has come from nothing, betting she will make it in Hollywood, without a second thought. She stumbles onto a set after a wild night out and shocks everyone with her acting talent, turning the emotions on and off like a real star. Her rise to stardom is stratospheric but managing her issues behind the scenes are another matter.
Brad Pitt is Jack Conrad, the beloved silent film star who is knocked down by the rise of talkies. Pitt plays the role with a confidence that gives way to a deep resounding emptiness. There’s a brilliant monologue by Elinor St. John (Jean Smart) to Jack Conrad that explains the cycle of the Hollywood star. This sequence perfectly sums up the entirety of the film. Even though her character is based in the 1920s, everything she says feels relevant today. It’s deeply sad yet incredibly insightful. As the silent era comes to an end, stars like Nellie and Jack are left to adapt or be spit out by the machine. Can they do it or has their time already run out?
Babylon is a frenetic, oppulent, and debachurous Old Hollywood epic showcasing the highs and disturbing lows of the film industry as it transitions from silent films to talkies. This is a massive film that could have benefited from additional editing for some gross out sequences that aren’t necessary. However, its exploration of Hollywood’s toxic nature juxtaposed with the art that arises out of the ashes will leave you thinking long after you leave the theater.
My Rating: 8/10