Babylon

"Babylon" tracks the career of Manny Torres, an aspiring filmmaker from Mexico who crosses paths with fellow aspiring starlet Nelly LaRoy at a bacchanalian party one night in 1920s Los Angeles. The film also follows several other characters at the same party, including movie star Jack Conrad, cabaret performer Fay Zhu, tabloid journalist Elinor St. John, and musician Sidney Palmer, as each rise and fall in their respective careers spanning the end of silent films and the beginning of sound productions; each of the characters cross paths throughout as they navigate the shifting business of Hollywood.

This large-scale epic from Damien Chazelle is, in a word, ambitious, both in scope and mere technicality. It opens with an utterly ravishing, debaucherous party sequence that captures the maddening spirit of roaring twenties Hollywood, setting a visual bar that is fairly high. While there are a number of fantastic sequences throughout the film, this key party sequence where each of the characters are introduced/first intervene is, without a doubt, the highlight of the film. While its characters are fictional, the screenplay blends them in with passing names of real-life historical Hollywood figures, as well as thinly-veiled references to others.

Firstly, it almost goes without saying that "Babylon" is gorgeously photographed. The performances are also uniformly solid. Diego Calva is a likable presence as the centerpiece character, while Margot Robbie's portrayal of the brash and troubled Jersey girl flying by the seat of her pants is comical and poignant by turns. Brad Pitt fittingly plays the drunken but goodhearted movie star, and Jean Smart is also a welcome presence as the curt and astute gossip columnist, ostensibly based on Louella Parsons (or a writer of her ilk).

The film is consciously over the top, at many points capturing the madcap spirit of something the late Ken Russell would have directed. Its first three quarters are particularly outstanding, and demonstrate the realities (and technicalities) of how the transition from silent films to motion picture talkies posed legitimate, career-altering (or more often, career-destroying) challenges for nearly everyone who was part of the business. Chazelle projects this theme to the audience in one memorable and protracted sequence in which Robbie's character (along with the sound man) struggles, fails, is interrupted, and struggles again to perform a simple one-page scene. The nuts and bolts of these logistical challenges in a then-fledgling industry are perhaps the most intriguing components of the story, highlighting just how vastly different (and more arduous) the process was of making a sound picture for the actors and filmmakers accustomed to the established ways.

By the time it reaches its final act, however, the viewer does get the sense that the project is beginning to implode under its own weight to some degree; the focus on certain characters ebbs and flows, and the film begins to lose some steam. It is revived somewhat by an insane sequence in which Torres and another crew member of his film studio (in an attempt to save LaRoy from reckless gambling decisions) cross paths with an eccentric crime boss played by Tobey Maguire, and journey into a subterranean gathering place for the city's debaucherous denizens, who have literally gone underground following the more reserved moral code of the 1930s. The garish and ghoulish sequence feels like a tour of Dante's Inferno (probably quite intentionally), and is almost more madcap than the opening party sequence.

The film grinds to a somewhat abrupt halt as each of the characters' lives and careers face further significant devastation in the last thirty minutes, and the sense of tragedy that one might expect to feel is strangely absent, perhaps because these characters are in and of themselves larger than life, even cartoonish at times; still, I felt that there was an emotional core missing as their stories are resolved. The film ends on a profoundly cynical note, showing Hollywood as a place that metaphorically devours its own, only to be constantly replenished by the unending stream of those who make pilgrimage there, seeking to etch their mark in the tapestry of cinema. The observation is astute, and the implications are splashed across the screen in a century-spanning montage of snippets from the earliest films to contemporary ones.

All in all, "Babylon" has many strong points: Mainly its visuals, sturdy performances, and focus on the industrial realities of early filmmaking that most 21st-century viewers would take for granted. It eventually grows a bit long in the tooth into its third hour, and loses some tenacity, but not enough so that the film entirely collapses in on itself (though it comes close). If nothing else, it earns its keep as an ambitious and scabrous love (and hate) letter to cinema. 8/10.

Whether it be orgies, showcasing various bodily fluids, plot threads, or the runtime of the film, Damien Chazelle is fully unrestrained in his latest film. La La Land and Whiplash are some of my favorite films and I'm a big fan of Chazelle's directorial style. He shows flashes of that brilliance often throughout Babylon, but does indulge in his most extreme tendencies as well in this modern Hollywood epic.

There is a lot I liked here. The opening sequence is a sight to behold and had me mesmerized with its vibrant energy. The film chugs along at a good pace for the next two hours to the point I really didn't feel the runtime for most of it. It's the last hour or so where Chazelle loses the story a bit. There were several instances where I thought the film was over, but another scene would pop up next. The runtime really feels unnecessary and there's honestly whole plot lines that could be cut out that wouldn't affect the film.

Justin Hurwitz has composed another terrific score (with some nice hints of La La Land) and the photography, costumes, and production design are all stellar. Outside of some shoddy editing, especially a bizarre movie montage at the end that really did not gel, the technical aspects of the film are quite an achievement.

Chazelle really needed someone to tell him no with this film. Some better editing combined with some self-restraint and this would be much closer to the epic masterpiece status he's clearly aiming for. As it stands, it's a pretty entertaining tale of excess and fame in early years of Hollywood.

Babylon is a long, messy, repulsive, and magnetic spectacle. Unfortunately despite the great performances and set pieces it doesn't live up to Chazelle's previous work.

The movie wants to bring you down into the waste yard that is Hollywood then pull you out to see the beauty that grows out of the trash. The problem is the movie spends so much time in the mud, and goes so deep into it that by the time it tries to pull you out at the end it's too late.

On the upside the cast are great and almost completely carry the movie, especially Margot Robbie's enthralling performance as Nellie. And as with Chazelle's previous work the set pieces are well executed and (some) characters are memorable.

However, these positives could not completely overcome the movie's fundamental flaws which are -- going too far with trying to revolt the audience (to the point of childishness), not spending enough time with the characters or important scenes despite its decadent runtime, and the ending coming off as completely pretentious in the context of how practical/cynical everything leading up to it was.

In the end, Babylon does serve its purpose as an entertaining spectacle, but like the Hollywood it critiques, its self-indulgence prevents it from achieving greatness.

This film felt like it was written and directed by a high school drama class kid with ADHD. It was exhausting to watch, and it was all over the place with too much filler, too many unnecessary sub-plots, convoluted scenes and dialogue, with horrible editing and scene start and cuts. In the hands of better more experienced filmmaker, this could've very easily been so much better and more enjoyable. Writer and director Damien Chazelle gave us a hack-job screenplay with overzealous and pointlessly outlandish scenes, that are all style with very little substance. The all star stellar cast were all amazing, especially Margot Robbie - who was the only reason I didn't stop watching 40+ mins into this utter disastrous nonsense. The critics got this one right. It's a very generous 6/10 from me, all going to the performances and decent cinematography.

Quentin Tarantino once said "hacks don't go that far." There are some filmmakers that have a creative confidence that delivers a film that many people will find repulsive, but some will find exhilarating because if it's creative audacity.

Yes this film is too long but there is so much talent and so much detail to admire in every frame of this film. Diego Calva has one scene where you feel so sorry for this man you wanna cry for him.

The moment when Brad Pitt is kissing a young woman before a perfect sunset and a butterfly lands on a shoulder is the moment that encapsulates exhilarating fun of filmmaking.