Genre: Comedy; Drama
Director: Damien Chazelle
Writers: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Flea, Olivia Wilde, Li Jun Li, Max Minghella & Tobey Maguire
It took me a while to understand my own opinion about Damien Chazelle's Babylon and I still can't figure out if I like it more than I hate it. To be clear: Babylon is able to reach brilliance sometimes, but it also can go low, very low. An exciting first act with a chaotic energy and a beautiful last act full of heart and nostalgia aren't really matched by what goes in between. It's a mess, but it is a visually stunning mess with what might well be the richest score I've ever heard since La La Land - Justin Hurwitz did it again!
Babylon is composed by four parts: a 30 min prologue that gives you a boost of energy right before the title card pops on-screen and then three acts: the discovery and rise to stardom of Nellie LaRoy & Manny's entrance in Hollywood; the invention of the talkies and the efforts to fit in filmmaking that uses sound; and the conclusion of the protagonists' fates. The prologue is brilliant, the first act is exciting, the second act is overlong and tries to focus on too many things all at once (failing some of its narrative purposes); and the conclusion is quite nostalgic and emotional. That being said, I believe Babylon's major flaw is its screenplay - it relies in too many sub-plots, too many underwritten supporting characters and some of the humor relies on excessive (and disgusting) acts. By trying to do some critique to Hollywood's lifestyle, Babylon loses itself (and there's a scene where it draws a direct comparison to a Triangle of Sadness moment). By trying to be a ode to the movies, Babylon excels. So, what kind of movie do we have here? To be honest, I really don't know exactly...!
The ensemble cast deliver rich performances despite the very limited screen time most of the supporting characters have here: highlight for Li Jun Li's extremely sexy turn as an iconic Hollywood seductress; Jovan Adepo brings a lot of heart and soul to his trumpet player who faces some racial issues during the movie; and there's Jean Smart's outstanding line delivery in a monologue destined to Brad Pitt's character - she's outstanding in all those few minutes Chazelle gives her and you wish she had got more time to explore her character. But Babylon belongs to Diego Calva & Margot Robbie. His is one of the most magnetic breakthrough performances by a male this year (or 2022) - Calva conducts the movie through his eyes like a maestro and you can feel why he has the Hollywood dream and, specially, why he is in love for Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie's character). As for Robbie, she is dynamite. Her Nellie is not a character as complex as Tonya Harding, but the actress is able to find the layers of the character in order to not reduce her to a "live wire party girl" - still, she uses her movie star charisma to turn Nellie into an on-screen flame and to be completely magnetic, specially when she's dancing for a crowd (interesting how she makes dancing the true craft of the actress she portrays on-screen). As for Calva-Robbie chemistry: it is amazing watching them sharing a scene! They are the heart of the movie!
But the best element of Babylon is Justin Hurwitz's score. He uses the jazz sounds of the Roaring Twenties and make it either extremely catchy and "dancy" or extremely melancholic and romantic - play "Voodoo Mama", "Call Me Manny" or "Te Amo Nellie" in order to witness Hurwitz genius. It is a major achievement in the movie score department and I believe it will be a timeless one! In fact, the score plays a huge part in the movie: it sets the tone, it puts the screen on fire and it conducts the audience. The score is like a character here, and it is the MVP actor of the whole ensemble. The sound work is great, specially the sound mixing which is able to play with the score, the line deliveries and the enverionment sounds with perfect balance.
Visually, Babylon is as rich as its score. The production design work is excellent, crafting beautiful sets that transport the audiences to that era while telling a story about each and every character at the same time. The costume design by Mary Zophres also plays a big part here, because it created some very iconic looks, namely the red party dress Margot Robbie uses when she's introduced to the audiences. The makeup and hairstyling is also worthy of a mention here, since all three combined sell the characters, the set and the time-space to the audiences. Another big highlight is Linus Sandgren's cinematography: the lights, the sunsets, the sunrise, the use of color... it one of the most beautiful cinematography works of the year and one of the most epic-scaled one too! And there's a scene where Nellie simply disappears in the streets' shadows while dancing - a shot to remember forever.
So, considering all these good elements, how can Babylon not be a great movie? The thing is: it is brilliant sometimes, specially when it presents you Nellie LaRoy and at the very end, where it pays tribute to some of the most iconic movies in Hollywood history. The beginning and the ending are completely opposites in Babylon - from hope to loss, from excess and craziness to nostalgia and melancholy, from a Manny in love to a Manny in tears. In fact, Babylon is really about extremes... the good and the bad! No matter what, I congrat Damien Chazelle for the ambition and for being in control of his craft in such a big/extravaganza production. I believe this movie will age well and someday I (and some others) will look back and say it didn't get the love it deserved back in its time.
RATING: 6 / 10
Babylon is currently nominated in the following categories for the 95th Academy Awards:
- Best Original Score
- Best Production Design
- Best Costume Design
It should have been nominated:
- Best Cinematography
- Best Makeup & Hairstyling
- Best Sound
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