Babylon Movie Review

Babylon (2022)

Rent Babylon on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Damien Chazelle
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, Patrick Fugit, Lukas Haas, Tobey Maguire, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, Spike Jonze
Rated: R
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Plot
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.

Verdict
This captures a mood, and that's no easy feat. We see the early days of Hollywood through three characters as they rise and fall. No one stands tall in Hollywood forever. This manages to be tragic, dramatic, and exhilarating. It's not a plot driven movie, but an accounting of the time, a period full of excess and quick fixes. I don't know if this movie is accurate, but it feels like it could be. Sometimes that's all a movie needs to do.
Watch It.

Review
I've followed Chazelle since his incredible first movie Whiplash. I liked First Man more than La La Land, but both have a distinct look and clear vision.

I'm surprised I didn't hear more about this. It seemed to appear and then disappear quickly. Because of that I assumed it was mediocre. It's not, I really enjoyed this movie. It's well made, a great story, and just a lot of fun. It reminds me a bit of Hail, Caesar! or The Artist, two movies that deal with early days of Hollywood movies.

This starts with an elephant that we soon realize is for a lavish party. Early Hollywood is a crazy place with wild, wild parties. The title card doesn't appear until after thirty minutes. I was afraid that was an indication that this three hour movie would be indulgent as all we've seen is a party and gotten a few introductions. It's only indulgent as a way to convey the mood of this time. We're introduced to Manny (Diego Calva) who wants to work on a movie set, Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) the quintessential movie star, and Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) a Hollywood hopeful with a lot of attitude.

Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy

Manny gets a job on the frenetic Kinoscope set where multiple movies are being made simultaneously. Nellie is in her first movie as Jack is making yet another epic. The studio seems so unplanned and ridiculous that you wonder if this is how movies were made and if so, how do you ever get anything coherent out of it. The editing is well done as this pieces together Manny going to great lengths to keep his job, Nellie crying on command, and Jack becoming so drunk he can barely stand but still completes the scene. The quick pace is aided by jumping between three stories as this matches the intensity and action.

Talking pictures changes how movies are made. Instead of multiple movies made in a field, movies with sound must be isolated so sound doesn't bleed. You can't improvise, as actors have to hit marks to be under the microphone. We see Nellie's first talkie, and the difficulty of keeping quiet is played for laughs. It's almost a running joke how often people die on set.

This movie is meant to show us just how crazy Hollywood was. There isn't really a plot, though we do see the characters' stories unfold. There doesn't need to be a plot. This movie is wild with a snake fight that leads to quite the ruckus.

Lukas Haas, Brad Pitt, Spike Jonze play George, Jack Conrad, Otto

I like Pitt playing an actor. Pitt has been on the A list for so long that playing a fictional actor of similar type fits. Jack created the definition of a movie star and now he's struggling with being less popular as he ages out of the game.

This is the rise and fall of archetypes in Hollywood. No one stays on top forever. All stars fade. Initially this seemed like it would be indulgent, but it's a method to capture the era. This is a broad movie in scope that just gets crazier. This isn't a movie about the good old days but a rumination on how crazy it was. How did any movie get made, much less epics that paved the way for this industry?

This captures a mood and time, at least what I think the time was like in a large part due to this movie telling me that. Who knows what this time was really like. So many people were killed on set and then so many near misses where people almost died. I enjoyed the conclusion. Time marches on and we're shown that through Singing in the Rain which depicts a movie during the silent film era. We see a quick montage of cinema history with clips from some of the all time great films up to current day that pushed cinema forward.

I assume the title Babylon refers to the tower. Everything falls, even the greats. A three hour movie seems long, but this never felt like it. This captures a feeling, and that's not easy. We see the early days of cinema captured through three characters and their relationship to the industry. We see their rise and fall. Babylon.