What I love so much about Babylon, is that it feels like a suicide letter written by someone who loves Hollywood. 0r is it a love letter or romance written by someone suicidal in the industry?
We get so many films 'about cinema' or 'about hollywood' that are usually romanticized or seem to celebrate it. BABYLON is something different entirely. It is fun and celebratory and orgiastic until it isn't. The excessive decadence (and debauchery), gorgeously and exhilarating orchestrated, gives way to something sadder, bitter, acidic, and even disgusting.
Much like BOOGIE NIGHTS (and I'm not the first one to compare the two), it starts in one era of a certain industry-- replace porn with old hollywood-- the high highs of it, and then the sudden transition into something new, which not every character can transition to, or even survive. Leading to several downfalls, while others either leave town or rise to the top, while the previous gods are dethroned and fall into their own pits of hell.
It's like Dante's Inferno by way of Cecil B. Demille. Punctuated by a hellish and downright frightening sequence with a great Tobey Maguire cameo, which prompted my viewing partner to say 'I thought we were being led to see Satan himself'. I really hope one day Chazelle directs a horror film, because based off that one sequence he's got a great one in him to be made.
Then of course we've got the cast, everyone turning in superlative work. Margot Robbie gives the best performance of her entire career here, of all the roles she should have been nominated for, this should have been it. Brad Pitt is great as well, especially in the second half, with the fate of his character haunting the proceedings. Jean Smart is also awards worthy as a tabloid writer who can cut you with her words. Again, Maguire is terrifying and grotesque in his one scene, but steals the show. Then there is Jovan Adepo who is heartbreaking but probably one of the few characters who actually has the smarts to recognize the hell he's found himself in. But above all else, is Diego Calva, in a breakthrough role, reminding one of a young Javier Bardem, strikingly handsome, seemingly innocent, until he finds himself at the top, though he never loses his soul. It's a great character and a great performance, and I hope this leads to more roles for him, besides Robbie, this is Calva's film.
This is by far my favorite film by Chazelle. Obviously it's not for everyone, and will turn many off by the 20 minute mark, if not sooner. It's graphic, grotesque, disturbing, but also wildly ambitious, enthralling, gorgeously shot, with amazing costumes, sets, set-pieces, and another incredible soundtrack by Hurwitz, who I hope wins the Oscar. Deliciously indulgent, and doesn't waste a single frame over it's 3 plus hours runtime. Leading to an ending that many wont foresee and is a huge risk that absolutely pays off. It at once glamorizes old Hollywood, and then burns it to the ground and reveals how horrific it can be. Leading to a quieter and than explosive denouement that will stick with me.
BABYLON is everything I could want in a film, and then some. An absolute mess of a masterpiece in the best way possible.
USA. DRAMA/COMEDY. 3hrs9m. Rated R (strong, crude, sexual content and humor, graphic nudity , pervasive strong language , drug and alcohol use, bloody violence, some disturbing images)
Review by losttocinemaBlockedParent2023-02-10T23:14:41Z
What I love so much about Babylon, is that it feels like a suicide letter written by someone who loves Hollywood. 0r is it a love letter or romance written by someone suicidal in the industry?
We get so many films 'about cinema' or 'about hollywood' that are usually romanticized or seem to celebrate it. BABYLON is something different entirely. It is fun and celebratory and orgiastic until it isn't. The excessive decadence (and debauchery), gorgeously and exhilarating orchestrated, gives way to something sadder, bitter, acidic, and even disgusting.
Much like BOOGIE NIGHTS (and I'm not the first one to compare the two), it starts in one era of a certain industry-- replace porn with old hollywood-- the high highs of it, and then the sudden transition into something new, which not every character can transition to, or even survive. Leading to several downfalls, while others either leave town or rise to the top, while the previous gods are dethroned and fall into their own pits of hell.
It's like Dante's Inferno by way of Cecil B. Demille. Punctuated by a hellish and downright frightening sequence with a great Tobey Maguire cameo, which prompted my viewing partner to say 'I thought we were being led to see Satan himself'. I really hope one day Chazelle directs a horror film, because based off that one sequence he's got a great one in him to be made.
Then of course we've got the cast, everyone turning in superlative work. Margot Robbie gives the best performance of her entire career here, of all the roles she should have been nominated for, this should have been it. Brad Pitt is great as well, especially in the second half, with the fate of his character haunting the proceedings. Jean Smart is also awards worthy as a tabloid writer who can cut you with her words. Again, Maguire is terrifying and grotesque in his one scene, but steals the show. Then there is Jovan Adepo who is heartbreaking but probably one of the few characters who actually has the smarts to recognize the hell he's found himself in. But above all else, is Diego Calva, in a breakthrough role, reminding one of a young Javier Bardem, strikingly handsome, seemingly innocent, until he finds himself at the top, though he never loses his soul. It's a great character and a great performance, and I hope this leads to more roles for him, besides Robbie, this is Calva's film.
This is by far my favorite film by Chazelle. Obviously it's not for everyone, and will turn many off by the 20 minute mark, if not sooner. It's graphic, grotesque, disturbing, but also wildly ambitious, enthralling, gorgeously shot, with amazing costumes, sets, set-pieces, and another incredible soundtrack by Hurwitz, who I hope wins the Oscar. Deliciously indulgent, and doesn't waste a single frame over it's 3 plus hours runtime. Leading to an ending that many wont foresee and is a huge risk that absolutely pays off. It at once glamorizes old Hollywood, and then burns it to the ground and reveals how horrific it can be. Leading to a quieter and than explosive denouement that will stick with me.
BABYLON is everything I could want in a film, and then some. An absolute mess of a masterpiece in the best way possible.
USA. DRAMA/COMEDY. 3hrs9m. Rated R (strong, crude, sexual content and humor, graphic nudity , pervasive strong language , drug and alcohol use, bloody violence, some disturbing images)