AUDACIOUS BRILLIANCE
Movie Review – Babylon
Review by Ray Schillaci
Excuse me while I get a bit personal. After seeing writer/director Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, I called our Editor-in-Charge, Paul Preston, and left a message. “Just wanted to tell you after seeing Babylon, Chazelle has redeemed himself for La La Land.” I hung up and laughed knowing I would be poking the bear.
Paul and I have had a friendly ongoing feud over the Chazelle hit. He loved it and felt like many, that it cried out to the starving artists out there. My feelings were, well there’s no sense in beating a dead horse. You can go back and read my review of that film. Also, after hearing many inside rumblings, there was much studio interference with Chazelle’s ode to love, musicals and creative minds. I had heard that he did not get the stars he wanted that were suited for singing and dancing, and that the musical score was limited in range for the actors the studio wanted. But, the studio could not kill the spirit that Chazelle intended. At the same time he was wounded and his next film would be a spiteful hate/love letter to the industry itself.
This brings us to the opulence, decadence and madness of the aptly titled Babylon. Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie may be the big name draws, but it is writer/director Damien Chazelle and his production team that are the stars of this extravaganza. Not since Cecil B. DeMille or Fellini have we seen such a lavish production. Chazelle has managed to roll the themes of the Greek myth Icarus with five very different characters, the rise and fall of silent movie stars, correlating it with the film Singin’ in the Rain and the evils of not just Hollywood but the City of Angels as well. Metaphors abound, dreams are answered and destroyed, and every party seems to get more depraved sinking to the near depths of hell with almost no hope of return. Not a fun journey, but it is a fascinating one lined with dark satire.
It’s 1926, Bel Air, a few orange groves litter a mostly abandoned landscape. Mexican immigrant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) gofer for an executive for Kinescope Studios, has been saddled with transporting an elephant to a mansion high up on a hill where an opulent/decadent party is going on. From the beginning, strong stomachs are recommended. Why? Animal defecation, golden showers, little people joining in with outrageous orgies all accompanied by a dynamic jazz band that is blowing the roof off the place. The camera is doing all the choreography, the costumes, production design are pure eye candy. It is as repulsive as it is magnificent.
Outside, the raucousness of the party is muffled and little is heard. Margo Robbie as Nellie LaRoy, New Jersey native, rolls up in a car declaring her stardom and insisting she is on the illustrious list under another name. Security does not buy it. She’s not shy, a bull in a china shop. She’ll do anything to get in. Manny steps out from the mansion and vouches for her. He’s smitten by her instantly. Before they step into the party they share some coke in a storage room and share their dreams with one another. Nellie is waiting for someone to discover how great she is while Manny just wants to get on a movie set. They both want to be part of the big dream of what everybody sees on the silver screen.
Meanwhile, Chinese-American lesbian cabaret singer Lady Fay Zhu, played by Li Jun Li, dazzles the party goers along with the intrepid African-American jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo) who is a standout from the orchestra. Once Nellie enters the party, she far from blends in. She’s out to shine and dances up a storm. This is where Margo Robbie sets the screen on fire with her sensuality. At the same time the girl who was having a private session with a Fatty Arbuckle (notorious silent star) type has overdosed and was due on a set the next day. The studio executives are freaked. They need someone to replace her and that’s when they catch Nellie and decide to use her.
Then there’s the question of what to do with the young woman who has overdosed. Manny suggests they let the elephant loose and while all hell breaks loose he sneaks her off to the hospital. Before this actually takes place, Kinescope’s megastar, Jack Conrad, Brad Pitt, well-meaning yet troubled, often married, easily carried off to flights of fancy, has his final fight with his latest wife and she threatens to divorce him and leaves him at the party. Jack proceeds to have a great time despite the threat from his wife and gets insanely drunk.
When Manny gets back, he’s ordered to take Jack home. Jack takes an instant liking to him and hires him as an assistant. This is where all these lives steamroll to utter chaos. Nellie proves to be an amazing talent. Manny becomes a producer. Jack continues to become larger than life, but there seems no end to the alcohol, drugs, women and partying. Lady Fay continues to be the life of the party. But, it all changes drastically with the advent of sound to the movies.
Manny is able to jettison Sidney’s career, but it eventually comes with a drastic cost. The same goes for Nellie and Jack. Sound to the movies is not kind to them or those struggling with the new technology. What’s worse is Manny’s undying love for Nellie. He’s like a heroine addict that cannot give her up even when she puts him through the worst.
There is so much more going on in this film that I have not revealed to avoid anymore spoilers. Critics and audiences alike have had a love/hate relationship with the film. It could easily be the most expensive cult film ever made.
I cannot recall a more damning portrait of Hollywood since The Day of the Locust. As depressing as that movie was, I loved it for its depiction of the period and the brilliant acting. Even with the excesses that are in Chazelle’s piece, I still appreciate his hedonistic and daring vision that for the life of me I cannot figure out how he was able to get green lit. Babylon is not easy to digest at times, but the film as a whole is pure genius and will stay with you long after it is over.
Visit Ray’s blog at themonsterinmyhead.com
Directed by: Damien Chazelle
Release Date: December 23, 2022
Run Time: 189 Minutes
Rated: R
Country: U.S.
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
