February 15, 2025

BABYLON (2022) – Brilliantly made tribute to Hollywood past and present

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Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

babylon

Damien Chazelle, who wrote and directed the 2017 film La La Land, was only 33 years old when he won the Oscar for Best Director. Five years later, Damien has once again revealed his vast vision and talent in Babylon, an epic story of early Hollywood, Right from the start, you know you are not watching a typical movie. Damien introduces us to his cast of initially unrelated main characters in a wild opening party scene that gone on for over 30 minutes before the movie’s title even gets a chance to appear! This party scene was so elaborately staged and had so many things happening on screen at the same time that a viewer would be unable to take in all of the details in a single viewing. As if this wasn’t difficult enough, Damien chose to film a portion of this scene in one long continuous take, with all the mayhem going on in the background.

Before we could even catch our breath from this out of world experience, we follow our main characters go through another hectic day as Damien cleverly introduces us to how silent movies were made back then. Movie stars are treated as gods, multiple sets for various films are built in the open, often side by side, and hundreds of extras are used to stage large battle scenes. Even though Damien moves at breakneck speed, he is able to convey a very detailed aspect of the chaotic nature of how movies were made back then. The sets used for these scenes were very elaborate and, to be honest, unlike anything I’d ever seen before!

Babylon is a very ambitious project and Damien pulls it off triumphantly. He has assembled an impressive cast, led by Margot Robbie, Mexican actor Diego Calva, and Brad Pitt. The story of the rise and fall of stars in Hollywood is well-known, but Damien takes a fresh approach by telling the story through multiple characters. Instead of stories of downfall caused by the usual addiction to sex and drugs, we see how Hollywood careers can be destroyed due to changes in industry technology. This is evident in the evolution of silent films to sound, black and white images to color, and finally to the heavily CGI-ed movies of today. This is seen through the main characters’ eyes.

Babylon is over 3 hours long, but don’t let that stop you from watching one of the best movies about movies. Babylon’s story spans many years and contains multiple interwoven stories. Any compromise on the length of the film would almost certainly not do it justice. This is a masterfully and lovingly crafted film about Hollywood by someone who clearly enjoys what he does, and we should all be grateful for the opportunity to see it.

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