directed by Damien Chazelle
The fact that this film is not nominated to more Oscars says a lot about current Hollywood. If you haven’t seen “Babylon” yet, let me just say it’s a production that is way too honest for some cinema people to handle. Remember “La La Land”? It was showing the dark side of this industry, but comparing to “Babylon”, it was a cute little puppy. This time, Damien Chazelle takes us to the wonderful 1920s, which was a very important period in the history of cinema. It was back then when silent films were finally introduced to sound. For younger readers it may seem quite impossible to imagine films without sound, right? I mean, I’m not that old to remember 1920s, but I was raised watching some old productions with dialogues written on boards. It had its charm, I have to admit. Anyway, “Babylon” focuses on that period, showing how drastic the changes were, not only among producers, but also actors. I don’t want to spoil much, but you may see how much effort it took back then to actually let the audience hear their beloved actor speaking to them. Nowadays the technology is way more advanced so it’s for sure easier, yet I loved getting back in time and imagining the hard work all those crews had to go through to make even a simple romance in the 1930s. I do admit that I had huge expectations before seeing this film because I’m a fan of Chazelle’s style and I felt quite hyped about another “Hollywood-is-not-that-good” kind of film from him, and… I was slightly disappointed. I feel like the screenplay gets lost somewhere in the middle and there are some sub-plots which could have been omitted together with certain scenes which were simply pointless (the vomiting scene for example – I’m generally against vomiting/shitting/pissing scenes which are just added in some productions to make them more controversial/shocking – in this case, it was useless and also badly shot, in my opinion). Besides, I was also not sure whom to follow – there are too many leading characters, so perhaps I’d try to give that role to one or two, not several. But that’s me, Mr. Chazelle could have a different point of view. In the end, is it a film I enjoyed? Definitely. Is it a film that should have been nominated as the Best Picture? Considering the actual nominees, definitely. So why isn’t it? Well, the answer seems obvious, at least to me – Hollywood feels ashamed of what’s presented there. Constant parties, lack of responsibility, unlimited alcohol and drugs, getting jobs based on who you know and not what you can do – that’s just a classic Hollywood image. Everybody knows that. In fact, it’s not only common in the film industry – I bet you can name lots of people who got somewhere high just because they had good connections. That’s how our world works. In art world it’s a bit more complicated as people may be questioning whether someone is an actual artist or just a pretender hoping to earn money on the audience’s naivety. From my side I can say – let’s all grow up, shall we? Let’s stop pretending we do everything to “fulfil our dreams” and “make the world a better place” – we do want to earn money because we like food, we like feeling safe, we like feeling successful. Period. So to me, this film knifes Hollywood in its back, but I totally don’t mind it. Visually, it’s marvellous. The soundtrack? It’s been on repeat in my earphones since I watched the film. Besides – how is it possible that Margot Robbie hasn’t got a nomination? She was outstanding in her role of Nellie LaRoy. I generally believe that “Babylon” is one of the most underrated films of 2022 despite its few flaws, so I hope you’ll check it out and enjoy the whole 3 hours of it, especially the last minutes, which are a true nostalgia starter for cinephiles.
My rating: 7/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 