BABYLON Movie Review: A Sensational Epic About Vintage Hollywood

Decadence, depravity and outrageous excess lead to the rise and fall of several ambitious dreamers in 1920s Hollywood as the industry begins to transition from silent pictures to the world of sound films.

Damien Chazelle

Damien Chazelle

• Brad Pitt
• Margot Robbie
• Diego Calva
• Tobey Maguire
• Jean Smart

A story of this nature needs a lot of supplementary factors such as costumes, period-accurate set pieces, the filming style, perfect display of an artist’s swag and the attitude of the characters that embodies the “American dream” of the 1930s to help enhance the story telling. I can daringly say that every single department in this film has backed up the director’s vision coz the final output looked just as exquisite as Damien visualized when he wrote the whole thing down. And to be able to translate a film from black and white to such a colourful visual spectacle, you need a guy like him today.

Each of the cast was phenomenal. They registered their presence in the audience’s minds irrespective of their duration on screen They lived as the character and conveyed the emotions so beautifully on screen. Brad Pitt was incredible. The way he and his character handled the harsh reality of this industry moved me to the core. And Margot Robbie is the glue that stuck the whole film together. If you take her out, this film loses its effect by 50%. She was a fantastic actress, and her character is charmingly endearing in every way. And Diego was simply remarkable.

I like how the movie did not adopt the customary defined” strategy. Thanks to the unplanned humour that kept the engagement continuing, I became totally absorbed in the movie’s attraction. And thought I was actually living during that time period in Hollywood. Without confining this film to just a “story about the evolution of Hollywood from Silent to Talkies” even though that is one of the main points of focus here. I’d say Babylon is a beautiful representation of dreams, passion, luck, misfortunes, collapse, and introspection. I understand why some people call it a mess because of how it sandwiched you between so many things, but I was lost in the world of Babylon. And wouldn’t have held it against the film even if it had been 30 minutes longer.

The Original score vitalized the film’s narrative and a normal/usual scene turned out to be wildly amusing with the kinda music. The scene in which Manny discovers a sound film at the theatre and is startled by the thought of it, prompting him to escape outdoors, is one of the many superbly shot scenes in the film. That shot was quite challenging to capture, and it completely blew me away.
films from 2022 that showed me how beautiful the art of cinematography is.

I wouldn’t blame you if this film didn’t work for you coz I agree that is not a movie for a “Thrill seeker” or a “casual movie- goer”. This film is like a stream that runs on its own path and it never dries up. There are many twists and turns, most of which are unpredictable. You’re watching an imagined era. None of the actors in the movie would have been alive during the time the story takes place, but the narration’s originality and the way it conveys the idea that “Oh, this is how life must have been back then” really intrigued me because it takes talent to portray all that in the most meaningful way. Any one can make it all up, but none of it would’ve been as phenomenal as Babylon. If you liked Once Upon a time in Hollywood, you’ll love this even more

I did not even watch the trailer of the movie and I went in with zero expectations. I had no idea what kinda roller coaster of a movie it was going to be. It doesn’t contain any deep philosophical ideas or anything, but it is a wonderful movie about cinema for those who are entranced by the concept of movies in general. I was really easily persuaded by the movie as a whole, and I was impressed with how Damien combined all of its elements into a cohesive cinematic experience. And towards the film’s conclusion, when a montage depicting the development of movies over the past century is shown, this movie truly transforms into a “Love letter to cinema.”

• Margot’s acting scene in the outdoor studio and the one where they record with the microphone
• The never ending foot-tapping music throughout the film
• Manny’s character design that jumps at any chance to
  survive in Hollywood
• The party scene with the high society
• Brad Pitt dealing with the harsh reality of Hollywood
• The final montage
• There’s a scene where Manny walks past Jack without even acknowledging his presence coz Manny has a lot more important things to do than greeting Jack, even though Jack is the reason why Manny is so successful now. That scene hit me so hard and it was so realistically and sensibly placed in the film. It shows how unpredictable the industry is ana that’s just how fate works for some people.