Review of Babylon (2022) by Markhreviews — 19 Jan 2023

In his previous work, Writer/Director Damien Chazelle has demonstrated his skill at creating an homage to Hollywood (“La La Land”) and his capacity for compelling character studies (“Whiplash”). “Babylon” offers both.

The story, which opens in 1926, chronicles the lives of Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), a matinee idol during the silent movie era; Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), a hedonistic wannabe who raises herself to stardom by a combination of self-belief and good fortune; and Manny Torres (a star-making role for Diego Calva), an immigrant entranced by the movies who just wants to be part of the show. Elinor St. John (Jean Smart), a British gossip columnist, occasionally delivers observations from above the fray.

“Babylon” is a show in three acts, each with a radically different tone. In Act One, we experience the orgiastic exuberance of an industry where too much is never enough. This section of the film includes jaw-dropping set pieces. The opening scene includes writhing partygoers and features an elephant. The most mesmerizing scene is a panoramic shot where multiple silent movies are being shot at once. Hundreds of extras are participating in a medieval battle while, on the other side of a plywood wall, an intimate bar scene is being filmed. Act Two shows the industry’s gradual transition to talkies and the sometimes painful adjustments required, for the actors and the crew, to make it happen. Act Three is a sobering meditation on what happens to those who have lived in the spotlight when the spotlight moves away.

In “Babylon,” Chazelle seems to be responding to the criticism that his “La La Land” showed unwavering reverence for Hollywood while offering little in the way of critique. Here, he overcorrects, suggesting that the magic of Hollywood is built on a foundation of exploitation, callous insensitivity and even intentional cruelty. Chazelle seems to want to have it both ways: deifying the process of moviemaking while documenting the rot on which it is built. Through Pitt’s character, Chazelle even questions whether it’s all worthwhile. Needless to say, it all creates a very uneven tone.

Overall, this film is worth your time, even though it runs for over three hours. The set pieces, the frantic energy and the visual spectacle are just that good. However, it’s certainly not a perfect film. There are at least three “endings” to the film, each more over-the-top and unnecessary than the last. And Robbie is saddled with the cliché-riddled role of working-class actor whose speaking style doesn’t translate for the talkies. I felt like I had fallen down a rabbit hole and ended up on the set of “My Fair Lady.” Come for the spectacle. Stay for the ambivalence.