OnScreen Review: "Babylon"
Ken Jones, Chief Film Critic
Movies began over 100 years ago in the silent film era. Everything changed in the late 1920s with the invention of “talkies” bringing sound into the equation. With this seismic shift in the movie industry as its backdrop, Damien Chazelle’s Babylon dives headfirst with reckless abandon into the sleaze, debauchery, and excess that defines the tabloid version of Hollywood, for some high highs and low lows.
Babylon is a three-hour epic from Chazelle, a director who has shown himself to have a depth of knowledge, command of his subject matter, and an eye for detail in his films, most notably with La La Land. To its credit, Babylon feels every bit like a bit swing and aims for the moon. The opening title card doesn’t even appear until about 30 minutes into the film. What precedes it is one of the most indulgent, orgiastic parties that has ever been put on the big screen; a raucous party filled with music, dancing, drinking, drugs, nudity, sex, and even an elephant to cap off the night. The elephant, on which the film opens with showing in gruesome, painstaking detail how it was brought to this party, is emblematic of Chazelle’s decision to show us everything, even if it is a terrified elephant loosening its bowels on an unsuspecting truck driver trying to keep his elephant laden truck from careening backwards down a steep dirt road.
Through the course of this hedonistic party, the film introduces all of its main players, all of whom are either in the film industry or trying to get their foot in the door. Manny Torres (Diego Calva) is a Mexican immigrant who does odd jobs for the manager of a big Hollywood studio boss, whether that is securing the transportation of an elephant to the party or using the unveiling of that elephant at the party as a distraction while they carry out an actress who overdosed on drugs after peeing on a Fatty Arbuckle type. Nelly LaRoy (Margot Robbie) makes a dramatic entrance and Manny quickly becomes smitten with her and her larger-than-life persona announcing her arrival to the party and to Hollywood. Lady Fay (Li Jun Li), a lesbian cabaret singer, stops the party in its tracks with a mesmerizing and sultry number. Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) is a jazz musician performing at the party and constantly bickering with his bandmates. Elinor St. John (Jean Smart) is a famous gossip rag columnist, who it is better to invite to these events than not, observes all. And last but not least, silent film star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) glides in effortlessly for a heavy night of drinking and cavorting despite a full day of shooting awaiting him in the morning.
These people are living their dreams or angling to live out their dreams in movie industry while taking advantage of all of the indulgences it offers them too. The day after the party, which is a long day on set where several movies are being shot simultaneously, culminating in an epic battle scene, showcases the magic and the thrill of the moviemaking industry, its fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants feeling, but also its downside. And yet all of it seems worth it for that “one perfect shot” captured in the waning moments of rapidly disappearing daylight.
Babylon feels very much like Boogie Nights for the Roaring Twenties. Much in the way that film told an ensemble story set in the changing porn industry of the late 70s and early 80s, it seems like this magic period is never going to end. But the invention of the “talkies” changes everything for Jack, Nelly, Manny, Lady Fay, and Sidney in various ways.
It has all the elements of what could be a very compelling story that captures audiences and wows them. Margot Robbie is an utter scene stealer nearly every time she is on screen. She has a charisma and propulsion to her acting in this film that should erase any doubt, if there were any left, of whether she is a top tier movie star. Brad Pitt is at the right point in his career to give this performance, a role that really only a few big names could even be qualified to pull off, and I’m not sure any of them would be better than Pitt in the role. Pitt is so identifiable as a movie star with audiences that it is easy for us to transfer his stardom onto the character, which makes his decline with the invention of sound more empathetic. Manny, Lady Fay, and Sidney have story arcs as minority characters and what they experience that are easy to sympathize with. And the cinematography from Linus Sandgren and music from Justin Hurwitz are both great and additive to the overall quality and experience of the film.
Unfortunately, excess isn’t just limited to being depicted on screen, it is also a problem with the movie itself. I’m always going to appreciate the artistic aim of someone who attempts to go big. I’d rather see an interesting, ambitious disaster than a play-it-safe bore. Babylon is not a disaster, but it is a film whose aim exceeds its reach. Chazelle is clearly trying to say more with this film than merely commenting on the silent film era or the early years of the talkies. After all, you don’t just name your movie after the Biblical city that has also served for so many years as a metaphor without reason. But what he trying to say is drowned out by too much other noise in the film.
Somewhere along the line, Chazelle loses the narrative thread, and it is just too much for one movie, eventually collapsing in on its own immense weight. Manny, Lady Fay, and Sidney feel underserved by the narrative. Perhaps a miniseries or a film focused on fewer characters would make more sense, but the sprawl on display here is much too wobbly. It’s tough to say that a film about excess and debauchery needs to be reigned in, but this movie is just a mess, too much so to just chalk up to being “that’s the point.” It feels like a classic example of someone getting lost in the weeds of a story.
An elephant defecates on a man in the opening first few moments of the film, and, later on, there is a scene where Margot Robbie projectile vomits on someone. In between, there are some impressive moments of movie magic, scenes reveling in excess, and some big swings and misses. Babylon is a film that aspires toward greatness and has a sizeable appetite, but its eyes are just bigger than its stomach.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars