At this point, if everyone has read or seen anything about Babylon whether it's an article, a trailer, or even a tweet--no one going into the movie would be surprised that it is indeed wild, crazy, filled with drugs, sex, parties, and debauchery. These are true yet more than that, it's as much of a love letter to cinema as it is as a suicide note. Its nostalgia for what 'has been' somehow becomes something universal for anyone who's been on a high for something in the past and could not move on or adapt past it. This is going to resonate of course only if one would embrace the insanity of the film's abovementioned 'high'. High on drugs, high on fame, in this movie it's the same thing.
Babylon is Damien Chazelle's take on 1920s Hollywood that is probably different from what we know about it. Class, prim and proper are out of the equation. The multiple characters here have outsized ambition and the world surrounding them is outrageous and exuberant. It stars Diego Calva as Manny, an outsider who's wishing to be a part of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood; Margot Robbie as Nellie LaRoy, a self-proclaimed star also trying to get her way in front of the camera, ready to take the spotlight from anyone; and Brat Pitt as Jack Conrad, the highest grossing and most famous leading man of his time. All three found themselves in a situation when silent films are transitioning to sound, and it's up to them whether they would adapt or get stuck in what they're used to.
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| Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures |
Make no mistake, Damien Chazelle's take is not focused on showcasing what transpired during this time like a documentary. While he magnified the massive changes and difficulty of this transition for filmmakers to actors and up to production assistants through one incredible and gargantuan sequence after another, he always makes sure that these scenes are rooted from his three main characters--what drives them, what are their backgrounds, what makes them high about films and fame. Through these three main characters, we see the ups and the downs, the rise and the fall, not only of cinema but of their rollercoaster lives as well. Chazelle simultaneously shows the ridiculously meticulous system of a film shoot through exhilarating and over-the-top scenes while incorporating the spider webs of connections people who live during this time had to have in order to survive. In a way, it is summarized through Jean Smart's character as Elinor St. John in her one main monologue about, guess what, cockroaches. Justin Hurwitz' compositions vary from vivacious to nostalgic and I still find myself humming the nostalgic ones a few days after I've seen this movie. He perfectly captures the ever changing mood of the film through his score.
It goes without mentioning that this film has an ensemble that made this even more lively as Chazelle already made it to be. Margot as Nellie LaRoy is almost as crazy as Harley Quinn but she's on a different level here. When her character makes it known that you're either a star or not at all, Margot herself could self-proclaim it. Her character requires so much body movement and a plethora of emotions and dispositions and she nails everything to a t. Watching her dance, switch emotions on and off, and you already feel exhausted by what she had to do. Even then, Diego Calva whose character is the main bystander of the film, the audiences' eyes and ears, is the MVP for me. He projects a bewildered face so well, which he makes from time to time throughout the film, that blows every one of the cast out of the park. Think of the kid's face looking to a movie screen in Cinema Paradiso. That's how iconic his face is in this movie. Then again, we have Jean Smart, Tobey Maguire, and even Spike Jonze who all made this way even more watchable.
Again, going into this I was ready for the craziness of it all but in the end, I wasn't prepared for how sad and heartbreaking it's going to be. It has so much to say about the ups and downs of the lives of multiple characters that in a way they serve as a life lesson for anyone with the same magnitude for their ambitions. The movie references are just a bonus, but the emotional beats of the film resonate the most.
