Can a film be a love letter and a cautionary tale at the same time? Damien Chazelle’s Babylon tries its best and succeeds in being wildly entertaining and thought proving. It opens with the craziest party ever set to film. It’s the kind of soiree you want to use a time machine to travel back to the twenties to attend but return soon after to take advantage of modern-day antibiotics.
The journey begins at the end of the silent film era and sees the studio system all-powerful. Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) is the reigning king of tinsel town, Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is the crazy wannabe who will do anything to get her foot in the door and Manny Torres (Diego Calva) is the more than capable gopher who just loves film. Add Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), an earnest jazzman and you have four interesting individuals to build a narrative around.
The film’s first few reels are so packed with kinetic energy and outrageous events that when the film slows down to develop its characters you have to adjust to the more leisurely cadence. The transition from silent movies to the talkies was traumatic for some and fatal for others and when things reach their conclusion you are left sad at many of the outcomes.
In many ways, you can see the lessons learned in Chazelle’s past films reaching full fruition in Babylon. It is so brimming with ideas and visuals it will take more than a single viewing to consume completely. It’s a work that regardless of its theatrical box office will be great at home. You can watch it over and over and get something new from it every time. Who would have thought a film so chaotic in nature would end up having such a big heart?
Rob Hudson
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