Babylon, writer/director Damien Chazelle’s (La La Land) personal exposé of vintage Hollywood in transition, is a celebration and damnation that will both fascinate and repulse.
At a wild Hollywood party in 1926, drugs are overflowing and sexual diversion commonplace, and movie neophytes and megastars converge in an orgy of debauchery and scandal. Among them are legendary actor, Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), would-be starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), and an ambitious gofer, Manny Torres (Diego Calva). The road to stardom is paved with power brokers and bottom feeders, and fame is fleeting. As the years march on, careers flourish and wither as the industry undergoes major changes led by talking pictures, and lives will be changed forever.
With well written characters and sharp dialogue, the movie, part spectacle and drama, demystifies old Hollywood and touches on unsavory subjects including humiliating, racial stereotyping. Chazelle reveals the excesses and realities of an industry of fragile egos and veers to unpleasant, creepy extremes resembling a darker version of Quentin Tarantino.
Robbie
shines as Nellie, and Pitt eclipses his Oscar-winning
performance in Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood. Calva is a revelation
as our point of view (like Nick Carraway in The
Great Gatsby). A strong supporting
cast includes Jean Smart emulating a Louella Parsons type and Li Jun Li, a dead
ringer for Anna May Wong as real Hollywood names are mixed with icons.
It’s
a fascinating tale that tries to be many
things, and at over three hours would play better as a miniseries. Production
values are outstanding with cinematography (and remarkable tracking shots),
costume design, and musical score as standouts. This potentially divisive
film is an ambitious undertaking (with a dizzying, montage finale) that doesn’t
completely work, but it’s certainly a wild ride for cinema lovers.
***1/2
of **** stars (for Chazelle fans)
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