Babylon Review

Babylon is the fourth film from the young, celebrated filmmaker Damien Chazelle. His tale about early 20^th century Hollywood is his most blazon and divisive film so far.

Babylon follows five figures as they experience their ups and downs in Hollywood. There is Manuel “Manny” Torres (Diego Calva), a Mexican émigré who wants to work in the film industry. He becomes drawn to Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), a new actress in Hollywood. Nellie becomes a rising star in Hollywood but when the industry transitions to sound her career suffers because of her thick Jersey accent and crude mannerisms.

Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) is a massive silent movie star who sees the winds of change in the film industry. Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) is a trumpet player who gets an opportunity in the film industry when the talkies develop. Finally, there’s Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li), a cabaret singer, title writer, and an open lesbian.

Chazelle is not even 40 and he is considered one of the best directors currently working in Hollywood. He has already made three critically acclaimed films and won an Oscar for La La Land. With Babylon, Chazelle made his most audacious yet since it was a three-hour-long comedy-drama set in the 1920s and 1930s. This made a statement with its first act because Manny was a fixer for an indulgent Hollywood party. Some of the first actions in the film included a man getting shat on by an elephant and a coked-up young woman peeing over an obese older man.

The first half of the film showed a loop of working hard and partying hard. When the characters worked on the first film set it was chaotic. Lots of productions were being made at the same time, a battle scene for a historic epic looked like a real battle and there were dealers selling ‘peanuts’ to give actors energy. This included a young child. There was a rush for equipment for one of the shoots and there was a little bit of dark humour because asbestos was being used as artificial snow for one film. People who have worked on film shoots may relate to some of the events in Babylon. The historical epic, “Blood and Gold” did look like an awesome film.

However, the transition to sound made filmmaking a more rigid process. This happened when Neille made her first sound film. Neille couldn’t move freely as she did in the silent films, she had to hit her marks and control her voice. Productions became more expensive because they moved into soundstages, and required more equipment, personnel, and time. The scene when Neille was making her first talky was hilarious as the problems and errors mount up.

The restrain in filmmaking led to a restrain in the wider Hollywood Culture. There was less partying and some even became sober. The executives forced their conservative culture on their employees, leading to people losing their jobs because of their sexual orientation. However, this led to an underground scene that made the opening party look like a church service.

Babylon does bare some similarities to La La Land. Both films were about Hollywood and Chazelle embraced his love for classic cinema. La La Land was a throwback to movie musicals and both films opened with old-fashioned style studio logos. Babylon was about the evolution of Hollywood and Chazelle was blatant with one of his influences: Singing in the Rain. The 1952 musical was also about the film industry’s transition to sound and how a starlet struggled to adapt.

Babylon does share a basic storyline with The Artist and even Downton Abbey: A New Era. They all looked at how the sound revolution changed the film industry. All these films showed actors struggling to adapt to speaking roles. The comparisons with The Artist would be particularly apt because both films embraced a classic style (The Artist was made like it was a silent film), and both The Artist and Babylon showed characters succeeding because of the sound revolution, as well as suffering.

Chazelle aimed to play it both ways with his portrayal of Hollywood. It was a cesspool of sleaze where pretty much anything goes. It was a town where it chewed people up and spat them out, a place where people can rise quickly and fall just as rapidly. But Chazelle wanted to show the power of cinema. The executives attempt to make films for more audiences like African Americans and Spanish speakers. This was financially motivated but it still meant something to the target audience. Jack Conrad gave a monologue about films that bring joy to the masses and shouldn’t be looked down on. There was a montage in the film that seemed like Chazelle was sending a message about the importance of cinemas.

Babylon was filled with acting talent. Besides the big-name stars, there were plenty of other actors in smaller roles. There was Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not), Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beast franchise), Jeff Garlin (The Goldbergs), and Eric Roberts. A high-profile actress like Olivia Wilde had a really minor role in the film. Chazelle is a director many actors want to work with.

Pitt and Robbie are fantastic actors, and they gave excellent performances. Pitt’s character was a character who enjoyed partying, getting drunk, married too readily and was an important figure arranging things on and off set. Yet as the film progressed he became a more melancholic figure and lost his lust for life. Robbie’s Nellie was a party girl who did every vice known to man. On set she had no boundaries. However, when Nellie was alone or talking one-on-one with Manny she revealed she had issues and a dark past. When Nellie landed her first role she cursed a lot of people from her past but when she spoke with Manny there was a lot more pain in her voice.

Adepo also gave an excellent performance as a black musician turned movie star. A highlight in his performance was when he performed the trumpet after being told something shocking. Tears were forming in his eyes as he played. It said a lot about what he was thinking without having to utter a word. Li Jun Li sadly was forced on the sidelines for a lot of the film and it’s easy to forget she was meant to be a main character.

Chazelle is a master craftsman. His direction for Babylon was similar to La La Land because there were loads of elaborate set pieces and camera movements and the editing could be frantic at times. Yet considering the subject matter and tone Babylon played like La La Land’s twisted sister.

Babylon was a no holds barred film and I loved it because of this. It was a bit self-indulgent at times yet Chazelle shows why he’s such a well-regarded director and made a three-hour film that was hilarious.