Babylon
Written and Directed by Damien Chazelle
Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart
Rated R
Runtime: 3 hours and 8 extravagant minutes
In theaters December 23

by Rosalie Kicks, The Old Sport, and Ryan Silberstein, The Red Herring

“I love watching movies.”
“You can escape and don’t have to be in your own life…”

Rosalie Kicks (RK): I love movies, especially movies about movies. My affinity for film runs so deep that I envision myself as a piece of film. I am not a composed of bones and flesh. Instead, I’m a strip of celluloid blowing in the breeze. Therefore, without question, my Turner Classic Movies loving heart is an easy mark for a flick such as Babylon. Instead, I detested it.

Ryan Silberstein (RS): Going into Babylon, I was a fan of Damien Chazelle. Whiplash is a solid debut with some good performances and editing. La La Land is a movie that works on me like a magic spell, and First Man has joined my personal pantheon of Space-Age movies, a subgenre dear to my heart. And when it was announced he was making a film about the Golden Age of Hollywood, I was excited. The cast was star-studded, and with Singin’ in the Rain being such a strong influence on La La Land, why wouldn’t I be? All of this must be understood if anything that I say after is to be believed.

Maybe more than any film in recent memory, Babylon is a textbook example of a creator overreaching and missing the handhold. Which is a shame, because I desperately wanted to like it, and there are a few scenes that are among my favorites from the entire year. But by the time the curtain closed on this decadent picture, I was ready to concede that the most indulgent thing in the movie–not the parties, not the drugs, not the excess–was Damien Chazelle believing his own hype.

RK: Ryan, it pleases me to read these thoughts from you, as I think it is a sign that you are finally earning your perfs. You are transforming into a lovely piece of film, still a bit flimsy, but you are getting there. Babylon does not just overreach and overextend; it manages to take the ever-loving joy out of watching a motion picture on the silver screen. After I overcame the nausea that was the opening scene, I could not help but think of Spielberg. He is a filmmaker that I am often quick to make a snide comment about, but here’s the thing about this Steven guy, like him or not, the guy knows how to work/move a camera. He knows how to point. Simply put: Chazelle does not. The scariest part about him is that he thinks he does. I don’t get pleasure out of panning this dude, but someone needs to put a stop to this menace. This guy is not ready for the big league, he needs to take some time in the minors first. With a 78-million-dollar budget, a lot of other pictures could have been made that would have at least been in focus.

RS: The film opens with Manny Torres (Diego Calva) helping to prepare for a party at Jack Conrad’s (Brad Pitt) mansion out among the vineyards. It’s far from Hollywood, and the silent film star’s house is high on a hilltop. As Manny and some other hired hands try to coax a truck carrying an elephant up the hill, it douses one of the men in excrement. I rolled my eyes. Not because it’s an unfunny gag, but because it’s so heavy-handed. The absurdity of this moment does not need to be underlined. It is evident. Many of the episodes depicted within, from the house party all the way through a secret (literal) underground den of debauchery, seem to be focused on shock value. It feels as though Chazelle is trying to convince our generation (he’s a year older than me), that Old Hollywood was sexy, cool, and dangerous. There are so many moments in Babylon where Chazelle is screaming when a slightly softer approach would be more impactful. After 3 hours, screaming is indistinguishable from noise.

RK: I find it interesting you bring up the concept of NOISE, when the majority of this film’s story is set within the silent era. Babylon, in every possible way, is extremely LOUD. From the production design, camera movements, sound design and characters, all aspects of this thing are over the top. One could surmise that this all done in attempt to make a statement on the era itself. Despite the filmmaking of the 1920s being soundless, the overall lifestyle was not. At least if one is to take the cues from Damien’s depiction; living at this time was anything but quiet or reserved.

Unfortunately, his vision is murky. Babylon loses itself in the excessiveness and never has a defining message that it wants the audience to walk away with. I could not help but think about Baz Luhrmann while I watched this thing. Baz is a director that is easily identifiable as his productions are known for their extravagant style and unrestraint (i.e., The Great Gatsby, 2013). Take for example Elvis, if you managed to make it through the first twenty some odd minutes without having a panic attack, I commend you. The difference though between a Baz picture and Babylon is that, at the end of his wild ride, he evokes something from his viewer. His films are not easily digestible, instead they hang around. Baz takes chances but they often seem to have purpose. Maybe Babylon can all be chalked up to Chazelle’s big swing. I do believe that, within his opus, there is a good film lost amongst the chaos.

Ryan? I dare you to ask me how I would have made this picture better. Go on, ask.

RS: It’s great you evoke Baz here, because I actually think that Luhrmann, while known for his spectacle-filled films, often does a great job nailing characters and emotions. This is especially true in Elvis and The Great Gatsby, where the film world resembles the main characters emotional and mental states most of the time. Chazelle got the character focus correct in La La Land and First Man, and this just feels like a big step backwards to me. I never felt anything for the three main characters. And that’s what makes Babylon so empty for me.

Jack Conrad’s career arc in this movie is an interesting story. So are Manny’s rise through the studio ranks and Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) scratching her way to stardom. But we never learn what motivates them as specific characters, so there’s no emotionality for us to hold onto. It’s hard to set a three-hour epic and have it land emotionally without a solid foundation. All three main characters are treated in a way that feels very generic. Brad Pitt has one great scene in this movie, and it’s mostly Jean Smart monologuing at him. Otherwise, he sleepwalks through it. There’s nothing underneath. Robbie is trying to reach the back of the theater, but her character just seems like a fame-hungry debutante with only a quick mention of the people who didn’t think she would make it. But there’s not enough to make her someone we want to see succeed (or fail, or get sober). Manny just seems like he’s a person who says “yes” to things, which is how he keeps climbing the golden Hollywood ladder, but there’s nothing he’s fighting for other than keeping his job.

I’ve been moved to tears from a few of Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This episodes about this era, and Babylon didn’t inspire any feeling in me other than nervous restlessness.

Rosalie, I assume you’d improve this movie by adding more elephants? For me, I would have made it about woman director Ruth Adler, played by Olivia Hamilton, who gives my favorite performance in the movie.

RK: You’re spot on with the characters, there is nothing on the screen that makes me really give a damn about them. Pitt looks tired. Margot can’t stop being Harley Quinn. Deigo is great, but the way in which the role was written does not have a lot of substance. Then there is Olivia. Almost kinda wish the film was all about her. Not only did she have remarkable fashion sense, but the portrayal of a female director during the silent era is damn interesting. Speaking of wardrobe, the majority of Margot’s costuming was (sigh) not my cup of tea, especially the denim overall ensemble with no shirt underneath… NO.

The most engrossing scenes had nothing to do with the main characters and instead were simply just about the aspects of moviemaking. Take for example, when the silent film lot is shown and you see all the incredibleness that is happening. Productions all lined up next to one another working simultaneously. How can that be done? Wellllll, there is no need to worry about the sound. Which brings me to how I would have script doctored this thing. Excuse me, while I put on my lab coat.

The entire first act would have been SILENT. That’s right, no sound. In the second act, with the introduction of sound, the film would suddenly become a talkie. Heck, I would have even filmed the whole thing in black and white. Give it that authentic feel. The sun-faded color scheme in this thing did nothing for me anyway, so why not just go monochrome. I think the most curious aspect about this era is the transition from silent to sound and the creation of the studio system. It was at this time, when many filmmakers lost their independence, and the studios created a churn and burn industry. With Chazelle’s iteration, it is never understood whether the viewer is to see Hollywood as a dream factory or a place of nightmares.

As for elephants, there is one in the room and that would be the clip show à la an early 2000s DVD movie studio opening.

RS: I can’t even talk about that “da moviesh” montage included in the final 15 minutes of this thing, because people who haven’t seen it will not believe it. While I appreciate the sentiment, padding out an already bloated runtime with something that belongs at the Academy Museum is downright shameful. Someone please tell Damien “No.”

I completely agree with you with the movie’s ultimate ambivalence to Hollywood, but furthermore, if you haven’t at least seen Singin’ in the Rain or have a decent knowledge of 1920s-30s movies, there’s a lot that goes unsaid. Not much is explained, and the assumed knowledge makes the connective tissue feel like something I brought in with me along with my popcorn. Anyway, people should skip this entirely and just watch Gene Kelly. Sheesh.

RK: Another great movie about making movies: Hail Caesar!. If you haven’t seen it… prepare yourself to fall in love with Hobart Doyle. If you are inclined to watch Babylon, just make sure to say hi to Robert Patrick for me.