Babylon (2022)

Director: Damien Chazelle

Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart

A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.

Only a well established director could pull of a 3-hour movie about making movies! All hail to Damien Chazelle!

Interestingly, there are two movies this year about making movies, who received Oscar nominations. The one is ‘The Fabelmans’ directed by Steven Spielberg, and then this one, ‘Babylon’.

‘Babylon’ is an ambitious movie, to say the least. It’s a period film, set in Hollywood in the 1920’s during the silent movie era, and the transition to talkies – or movies with sound, if you like. Brad Pitt stars as Jack Conrad, the most successful and highest paid actor of the silent era. The film follows his life, as well as the lives of Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), who wants to be an actress; Manny Torres (Diego Calva), who wants to work on a film set; and jazz musician Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), who becomes a music sensation.

Nellie is a very determined opportunist who will do whatever it takes to succeed. She uses way too much drugs, and is maybe over-ambitious. In contrast, Manny doesn’t believe there is a future for him in the film business. When these two meet, however, their lives change irrevocably. In the midst of everything is Jack, whose career – and personal life – is in a downward spiral.

There’s so much happening in this film. There’s drama, humour, action, adventure, an interesting look into silent films and the transition to sound, and a fantastic, thumping, vibrant score! The production design is incredible, and the film’s editing is so well done, I can’t believe it did not receive an Oscar nomination for Film Editing. The costumes are also fantastic.

‘Babylon’ reminded me of 2011’s ‘The Artist’ – also a film about the silent movie era. Only, ‘Babylon’ is a lot more detailed and twice the running time. The film’s first 25 minutes are dedicated to a party at a mansion. But this party was sensational! Over the course of three hours, there’s great character development for every character. For a film this long, I was actually never bored or watching the clock. I found it rather exciting. There’s a lot to read between the lines as well. The film also makes excellent use of music, and silence. This is definitely a score-driven movie.

‘Babylon’ is an incredible production, and certainly entertaining from beginning to end. The ‘underground’ scenes featuring Tobey Maguire as gangster James McKay were so different to the rest of the movie – almost like a completely different film, complete with freaks, and even horror elements. The film takes many unexpected turns…just like life itself.

During the finale, the film pays homage to films through the decades. Amazing! This film is deserving of the many accolades it received.

At the time of writing this review, ‘Babylon’ received 179 award nominations, winning 40 so far. It received 3 Oscar nominations for Best Production Design, Best Original Score, and Best Costume Design (all still pending).

Would I watch it again? Yes, I think I’d loved to, even though its such a long movie.