33. Babylon; movie review

 

BABYLON

Cert 18

189 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong sex, nudity, drug misuse

Wow! Babylon is an assault on the senses from its first minute but why is it more than three hours long?

And if this is a trend, shouldn't cinemas bring back the intermission which still exists in Indian movies?

There are echoes of La La Land with its earworm musical hook and setting but that is where the similarities between the two Damien Chazelle pictures end.

This is a full-on 18-certificate portrayal of the wild risk-taking, partying pioneers of pictures in the 1920s and their retreat into the shadows when talkies arrived.

In parts, it is very good (the performances of Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt are particularly impressive), then very bad (there is literally projectile puking and elephant crapping into people's faces) and they are combined with the damned extraordinary (the house party scenes are dazzling).

Is it an accurate take on Hollywood in its early days? Who knows? Anyone who was there is long since dead.

Anyway, Pitt plays serial husband and Tinseltown's biggest silent star, Jack Conrad, a prodigious drinker who somehow delivers on set despite being blotto.

Robbie's Nellie LaRoy is at the other end of the career spectrum - a girl from a deprived background who is convinced she is star material.

And her big break comes at the colossal party which opens the movie. 

This is one of the most astonishing representations of decadence that could be imagined. Literally, anything goes - sex, drinking, music, and an elephant...

Thereafter, we are also treated to a scene representing the seat-of-the-pants movie-making of the 20s.

The film's central character is a suave Mexican who will do any job to make his mark, played by Diego Calva.

He steadily makes his way up the ladder and tries to move with the times during the advent of The Talkies while trying to keep his pal Nellie away from her worst excesses.

However, there is no easy way to re-invent people who have been taught that actions speak louder than words and have no idea what to do when the party is over.

Chazelle has created one of the more visually remarkable films I have ever seen but, sadly, its style is not matched by a substantial story.

And just when we think it is coming to an end, it goes from a tale of debauchery into a rather bizarre homage to Hollywood and a bewildering finale which left me thinking: "What the hell was that?"

At least I won't forget Babylon - and I guess that can only be said of 10 per cent of films I will see in 2023.

Indeed, I would say it is a must-watch if it weren't so damned long.

Reasons to watch: You haven't seen anything like it.

Reasons to avoid: Way way too long

Laughs: Three

Jumps: One

Vomit: Plenty!

Nudity: Even more

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Margot Robbie’s character is based on Clara Bow. Director Chazelle fictionalised the names of all of his characters except for producer Irving Thalberg

The final word. Brad Pitt: "I’d been following Damien since Whiplash. The script came, and it was 180 pages. I said, “This thing is a masterwork. But what’s going to get cut?” Because it’s really hard just to get 120 pages in there. And he said, “Nothing." W Magazine

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