Directed by:
Damien ChazelleScreenplay:
Damien ChazelleCinematography:
Linus SandgrenComposer:
Justin HurwitzCast:
Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Lukas Haas, Max Minghella, Tobey Maguire, Olivia Hamilton, P.J. Byrne, Rory Scovel (more)VOD (4)
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From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood. (Paramount Pictures)
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Reviews (15)
The Hangover meets The Great Gatsby. A trampled reel with La La Land inserted into the projector upside down. Above all, a pure ode to the joy of cinema and at the same time the shine and misery of great actors. Every time it seemed that Babylon was taking a breath for the final act, another twist came. And another one. From stabbing joy to sadness on demand, the most positive emotions hand in hand with pain. Damien Chazelle probably got an excessive budget for the last time and used it to the last cent for a film that too few viewers saw. But in creating this, he climbed so high that it takes courage to even follow him.
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An epic Masterpiece by Damien Chazelle and a future cult classic! I'm sorry I missed the film at the cinema and I deserve a bullet in the head, this one of the best films I've ever seen. Movies, jazz and cocaine clearly define Babylon, a film divided into three acts and they all have their own angle. The first act is one crazy sick and epic party, where my only regret is that I didn't attend it. The 1920's and depravity of the highest caliber, drugs and sex at every turn, that’s the first 30 minutes. Thanks to the daring, crazy dance creations and the incredibly dynamic music, it draws the viewer fully into the plot and keeps them there until the end. (I'll be watching this act a lot, it’s properly wild!!). Act Two – The Birth of Hollywood – is a wonderful peek behind the curtain as it was and is still going on with all the bad and the good. The journey to fame for ordinary people, the making of movies – incredibly chaotic and people are getting hurt at every moment – the battle of the big companies (Warner, MGM), the transition to talkies, in short, it was incredibly engaging for me and it was great to have been able to experience from the beginning the film industry I could not imagine life without today. Chazelle's strong ambition made my dream come true. The third act takes an unexpected turn into a twisted underground exploitation hell. The underworld of early Hollywood is reminiscent of the world's greatest evil and my mouth was wide open with all that was happening on screen again. The whole film is uniquely shot, 3 hours passes like water thanks to the incredibly fast pace, the dynamics ( the pace here is better and faster than in Avatar 2, and that's saying something). Thanks to the great jazz music, even an ordinary scene can get incredibly dramatic, and I felt like the whole movie was one crazy action ride, pumping me up with one awesome remarkable scene after another. Margot Robbie gives the best performance of her career, she steals the show and outdoes even the excellent Brad Pitt, while the likeable Diego Calva is brilliant. The film isn't afraid to be twisted, bizarre, sick and even brutal (I really didn't expect to see gore here!!), and if that crocodile had eaten someone at the end, I would have been over the moon. A film that has heart, incredibly explosive energy, a compelling script, top actors, top direction and top ideas. I have nothing to complain about. 10/10.
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Explosive in places, but mostly unnecessarily theatrical, hectic and extremely long. Chazelle is recognizable thanks to the musical interludes, which are imaginary mini-peaks of the film. An ode to old Hollywood that has its positive moments, especially on the technical side. Starting with fantastic cinematography, impressive production design and good music. But watching this coked-up wilderness for 190 minutes requires a great deal of patience. Most of the dialogue passages oscillate somewhere between a selection of Tarantino and Scorsese, but never getting it right. A bold, unusual but hard to digest film.
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I guess I'm too old for this kind of conceptually and dramaturgically disjointed and incoherent films, where nothing works and the mess on the screen slaps you so hard that you're completely numb and tired at the end. The only thing that works a little bit is the references to old classics, but these days they can emotionally enrich you incomparably more and they only need half the running time. This looks like it wasn't even made by Damien Chazelle, but by some egomaniac who merely needed to propel himself over his supposed genius. The production design and music are top notch, the should by shat on elephant shit and flushed.
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I needed some time to process Babylon. After getting home from the cinema, I had to unwind, sleep, dream some nice movie dreams (which I did), wake up, take a walk through the frosty landscape to work, and take a deep breath to fully grasp what I had witnessed. Babylon is an impressive film. It tells the story of Hollywood’s silent era through the lives of three different characters, with Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva delivering stellar performances. While Pitt and Robbie push emotional boundaries, Calva, as a newcomer, is a revelation. These three stories weave together, exploring a film era that holds a special place under the sun. The opening half-hour prologue sets the tone. The camera pans through a house party hosted by a studio mogul, showcasing pure, unfiltered decadence. You’ll wish you had more than two eyes to capture everything happening on screen. After this wild intro, the main story unfolds, diving into period Hollywood and referencing various personalities of the time. Each scene offers something new and unexpected. The film is bolstered by a fantastic score that sometimes borrows from La La Land, which I didn’t mind at all, and humor that had me in stitches. The second act turns significantly darker, leading to a finale that is a true cinematic orgasm. Witnessing the premiere was an incredible experience, and I think Babylon will resonate with me for a long time.
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