Packed with more invention than most mainstream movies can manage, Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is equal parts love letter and cautionary tale. One which strips away the artifice of entertainment to reveal an industry built on ambition.
Spanning the breadth of cinema history from the 1920s through to present day, Babylon focuses in on Nelly LaRoy (Margot Robbie), Manny Torres (Diego Calva), and Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) who are at different points in their journey. Manny is on the bottom rung looking to get in on the action through any means necessary, with only his wits and charm as assets. Whereas Jack is fully insulated by excessive wealth, a playboy notoriety, and more attention than most men get in several lifetimes.
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However, it is Nelly LaRoy who really galvanises Babylon throughout, as this forthright ingenue kicks down doors, and throws herself into situations with no safety net. Whether that would be the ostentatious opening party, packed to the gunnels with writhing flesh, mountains of cocaine, and an elephant – or something more sedate like multiple movie sets shooting simultaneously while battle sequences rage on behind her.
There is a real sense of freedom coming through in Babylon, as Damien Chazelle charts the move from silence into sound, as well as the fates of those silent movie greats who disappeared into obscurity as a result. Whether drawing on genuine icons such as John Gilbert and Clara Bow, or diving into gossip columns through fictional creation Elinor St. John (Jean Smart), Babylon brims with pathos despite the full tilt approach to the film making.
Much has been made of the transformative performance from Tobey Maguire, who is also on board as a producer here, and audiences best prepare themselves for something extreme in James McKay. This affable actor, who often plays reserved and introspect characters, finds depths in the darkness where few directors have asked him to go, with a cameo that may well repel many people.
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With a sallow complexion, crudely stained teeth, and an awkward demeanour, this manifestation of Hollywood’s underbelly speaks to a corporate need for sensationalism over substance. A graphic depiction of what some people will do for fame and fortune laid bare, irrespective of the level of degradation asked of them.
For that reason, amongst many others, Babylon deserves to be seen by the largest audience possible, which is where this 4k Ultra-HD release is likely to flourish, as audiences get a chance to dissect and learn from everything on screen. Not only in terms of performances from Brad Pitt, as crumbling matinee idol Jack Conrad, or the effervescent presence of Margot Robbie’s Nellie LaRoy who travels the gamut from ingenue to afterthought – but elsewhere as well.
Babylon should be viewed as a celebration of art over adversity, where hundreds of thousands of people came together to make memories. Ones which lasted a lifetime, captured on celluloid and later digital cameras, for consumption by audiences eager to escape their own existence.
There is a beauty which only the camera can see in the most unexceptional person, that speaks to individuals when projected on silver screens. A romance associated with the imagery, irrespective of genre, which re-writes, re-packages, and reboots these stories for each new generation, allowing endless amounts of re-interpretation and re-evolution.
Image via Paramount Pictures
That is what comes through most strongly amid the chaos of creation which is this movie. Like silent movie masters including director Eric Von Stroheim, who successfully transitioned into sound with Sunset Boulevard, Damien Chazelle is in love with his landscape.
There is an unbridled passion for the project which effortlessly equals his other directorial efforts. Propelled by an eclectic soundtrack from musical maestro Justin Hurwitz, he creates an evocative world in which creativity is king, and people live for the love of telling stories.
This is a place where the shambolic and sensational come together, populated by charismatic movie stars with everything at their fingertips, looking to re-write history with their legacy thrown in for good measure.
That is why Babylon deserved Oscar recognition, not only for the cavalcade of creative effort which went into making it, but for those people littered throughout history who devoted their lives to making movies yet remain unknown. This movie belongs to them as much as any number of silver icons perpetually celebrated for their contributions to cinema.
Babylon | Available on Digital 21st March and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ & DVD now