Babylon is a Brilliant & Messy Symphony

If you can stomach the 3+ hour run time, which streaming makes palatable, Babylon is exceptional.

Babylon (2022), now available on Prime Video is an ambitious undertaking, with its razzle dazzle fanfare of 1920s yesteryear extravagance. This is a film that emits cacophonous undertones of tragic old Hollywood told through jazzy sounds, over-the-top gratuitous Hollywood orgies parties, and the elusive hunt for the American Dream as told through the colorful and chaotic stories of its main cast.

Source: Slate / Ingenue Nellie La Roy (Margot Robbie) was made for silent film

Let’s Talk About…The Much-ness & The Art

The characters’ stories are interesting, even as many involve over-the-top nudity, intricately choreographed sexual acts, and a scintillating scene with one defecating elephant. These elements are often distracting and unnecessary. However, if you can stick with the film, there are scenes in this movie that are like mini-movies or movements of a symphony onto themselves and are truly awe-invoking and exciting. And I wasn’t expecting this. It’s rare in today’s world of algorithmic television and film where everything is rote and very formulaic to experience wonder. Sure, sometimes there’s a twist at the end we weren’t expecting of our favorite crime drama (Endeavour, all the way), but for the most part, films and TV don’t shake up the status quo to the extent that they ask us to step out of our happy brain place. We find comfort instead in the risk-free predictability, opting for the temperature in a staid climate over courage and change. Says the girl who literally reads the spoilers to any show before watching, including this movie. I’m powerless. It’s compulsive at this point.

Regardless, some of this “much-ness” inherent in the story’s unfolding is likely what hits a discordant note with the mindsets of theatergoers and critics which may explain its poor reviews. All that withstanding, I compel you to rise above the glitz, glamour, and that elephant scene, which was also magnificent in its own disgusting way if for nothing else than to show you the herculean efforts really rich people went to all in the name of lavish excess, and give it a go. The last ten minutes of the film implore you to get on the art room floor and use finger paints. It’s truly surreal. I literally felt Rorschach inkblot tests’ sweat on my neck. Definitely feeling it on my fingers as I type out this review now.

Baz, We Hardly Knew Ya

The films’ pace culminates at a fever pitch in a heightened visual frenzy that would give director Baz Luhrmann (Elvis, Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby) a run for his money in the sex, drugs and music department. Director Damien Chazelle is no stranger to theatrical musicals or going big in his productions. His La La Land, also a tribute to Old Hollywood though not quite as old as Babylon’s time period, is one I need to revisit now that it’s on Netflix, was met with much critical acclaim, unlike his most recent film.

Would Ryan Gosling, star of that film, ever have been cast as Ken in Barbie without La La Land? Similarly would Margot Robbie, who is the star of Babylon and is probably featured in 3 hours out of the 3 hour and 8 minutes of the film have been cast as the titular Barbie, without her leading role here? It’s the Summer of Margot Robbie for sure, which may have convinced me to give this film a try in the first place, but I’m hypothesizing that Chazelle likely had a lot to do with helping to further launch the song and dance careers of these two gorgeous stars. To be clear, however, Gosling is NOT in Babylon. Though he might have been able to pull of the Pitt character.

In newcomer Diego Calva's portrayal of Manny, a young Mexican man in search of making a big mark on the world by way of producing films, we have a sympathetic, pragmatic and relatable hero narrator. This makes the entire film feel anchored, even as we navigate to other storylines, such as that of Brad Pitt’s Jack Conrad, a fading, silent film star; Jean Smart’s Elinor St. John, a gossip columnist modeled after British novelist, Elinor Glyn who coined the term “it girl;” Jovan Adepo’s Sidney Palmer, a black jazz musician based on Curtis Mosby; and Li Jun Li as Lady Fay, a queer entertainer who is loosely based on Chinese American actress Anna May Wong, who also was the daughter of a laundry store owner and moved to Europe to pursue a film career.

Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) and Manny Torres (Diego Calva) attend a fancy something or other

Every actor here pulls their weight and does a heck of a job keeping up with Pitt. I say this because he’s a legend. I may have a love/hate relationship with his brand overall, but this role fits him like a glove and every minute of screen time he gets is pure gold. It reminded me of his other great Hollywood role of recent years, in Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. Also a film he co-starred in with Robbie. Anyways, he just nails it. Robbie, here is convincing in her performance as a troubled, scrappy ingenue from New Jersey with a bad accent, but who, you root for and then you stop rooting for when you realize the only people you really care about are Jack and Manny. And Fay and Sidney. She’s just not worth the grief.

Famous Parting Words

My last few words of this post, I’m quoting from a review I read that resonated with me. The writer is AJ Taylor.

Damien Chazelle made a film in "Babylon" that at the moment of its release was a critical and financial flop, but within the decade will be considered a misunderstood masterpiece by many with myself included. I totally can see why this film threw a lot of people off at the time: a 3-hour film that's heavy in excess, contains a story with various storylines and characters that's executed in a chaotic manner, and a film about an era of film history that probably isn't the most appealing to a mass audience. That being said, this film is truly incredible and might even be my favorite film from Chazelle not named "Whiplash" and it's definitely his most important film because of how much it focuses on showing why filmmaking history and cinema of the past is essential to the period we're in today.

Margot Robbie Summer Continues: