Babylon (2022)

Starring: Diego Calva, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, Tobey Maguire, Flea, Rory Scovel, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, and Chloe Fineman
Grade: Classic

Time will be kind to Babylon, a misunderstood masterpiece by writer and director Damien Chazelle.

Summary

In Bel Air, California in 1926, Mexican immigrant Manuel (Calva) waits on the side of a road for a truck driver (J.C. Currais) who is being paid to move a live elephant. The truck driver thought it was for a big horse, so he’s freaking out once it’s revealed that he has to take an elephant, something that Manuel chalks up to bad communication. Manuel pays him a little extra and invites him to the party on top of that. With this, he accepts. Manuel drives the first car, and it’s attached to the guy’s truck. The truck driver has the elephant in the back of his truck. As they move up a mountain, they get stuck because of the wait and the truck starts going backwards. Manuel exits his car to try and help the truck stop, along with another worker. To add to the mess, the elephant starts shitting all over the other worker. Eventually, they get past the mountain, though they do get stopped by a cop who wants to know what’s going on. Manuel explains how he works for Kinoscope Studios boss Don Wallach (Garlin), and they are transporting the elephant as entertainment for a party at Wallach’s house. The cop asks for his permit, but Manuel didn’t know he needed one. He asks the cop to make an exception, so the cop responds by asking who’s on the guest list for the party. Manuel says it’s impressive and mentions Greta Garbo. The cop takes everything under consideration and sees this party as something special. He mentions how his cousin Benny lives in Reseda with his wife and kids, and he’ll see if they’re free, inviting himself and them. By the time Manuel arrives to the party with the elephant, a bunch of random cars drive up with him. One of the workers at the party asks Manuel who all of them are, but he just says to not ask, as they were all presumably favors he had to make.

Now, it’s party time. Comedian Orville Pickwick (Troy Metcalf) is in one bedroom with young actress Jane Thornton (Phoebe Tonkin) who pisses on him for his pleasure. Following this, Orville asks Manuel to ask Wallach for more champagne before hurrying back to his room. Manuel makes his way through the party, and its nuts. A band led by Sidney Palmer (Adepo) plays, and everyone is dancing, fighting, drinking, doing drugs, and everything under the sun. Manuel is stopped by some old woman who invites him upstairs, but he’s interrupted by his co-worker who asks him what he said to gossip columnist Elinor St. John (Jean Smart). He’s not sure, so the guy tells him to never talk to her. If she does say something, he is to pretend he doesn’t speak English. Just then, he is forced to grab a chicken who some guy accuses of stealing his cocaine. While he tries to walk away with the chicken, Elinor asks Manuel if upstairs is where Wallach keeps his underage girls. Manuel ignores her and keeps going until he gets outside to release the chicken. He is only able to get a moment of silence before Nellie LaRoy (Robbie) drives up and crashes into a statue. She tries to go inside, but security guard Dale (Shane Powers) tells her she can’t and that she has to pay for the statue. Dale tells her that her name isn’t on the list, so Nellie says her assistant must have put it under her stage name of Billie Dove. Dale doesn’t buy it, and she starts arguing with him until Manuel steps in and says they are waiting for her inside to help her out. The two walk together, and Manuel tries to introduce himself. She’s not too interested and insists she didn’t need his help. When he points out how the Billie Dove thing was a dumb idea because of how big of a star she is, Nellie argues that she won’t be a big star in 30 years. When this time comes, Dove can tell her grandkids that Nellie LaRoy once used her name. Nellie already considers herself a big star, but she hasn’t been in anything yet and doesn’t have a contract with anyone. Manuel sees this as her wanting to become a star, but she says that you either are a star or you’re not. She is. Looking at the party through the window, she asks Manuel where she can find some drugs. Meanwhile, in the party, a midget is introduced, and he uses an inflatable penis to shoot out liquids into the crowd. At the same time, Sidney argues with his bandmates over the quality of their performance and having to play the entire party. Two of Wallach’s workers Bob (Flea) and Jimmy (Cutty Cuthbert) enter Orville’s room, and Orville is trying to wake up Jane who has overdosed. They immediately ask each other where Manuel is at.

Manuel takes Nellie into a room where all the drugs are at. They have an endless supply of morphine, opium, ether, heroin, cocaine, and a chair where Louis XIV sat on. Movie star Jack Conrad (Pitt) pulls up to the party with his wife Ina (Wilde), but she’s furious with him. Adding to it, he won’t stop responding in Italian to her, and she dares him to do it again, promising to divorce him if he does. He switches to English for a second but can’t help himself before speaking in Italian again, prompting an angry Ina to throw him out of the car. She says she wants a divorce and leaves him there. Still, Jack walks into the party and is greeted by everyone there like the star he is. He sits down at a table, and waitress Jen (Karina Fontes) notes Ina isn’t there and starts to flirt with Jack while bringing over a bottle. He tells her he needs 8 in total along with a series of other detailed drinks. As she stumbles over remembering the specifics of the order, he tells Jen that she didn’t need to act like how she did for her to get his attention. She blushes. Just then, someone tells Jack that George Munn (Lukas Haas) won’t get out of the car and is insisting the driver drive him off the nearest cliff. Jack goes out to see George and assumes the girl he proposed to declined the offer. George can’t believe it, but Jack points out that he only met her a week ago. He tells George to save the ring and come inside, adding that a girl was asking about him. This is enough for George to exit the car to join Jack. Jack gives him a drink, and they go back inside the party. Elsewhere in the mansion, Nellie is doing cocaine while Manuel sits there until she influences him to do it with her. She goes on about how “Roy” means “King” in French, and she added the “La”, which makes her name Nellie LaRoy mean “Nellie the King”. They continue with their cocaine-fueled conversation, with Nellie asking where Manuel would go if he could go anywhere in the world. He says a movie set because he just wants to be a part of something bigger, to be a part of something important that lasts and means something. They discuss watching and loving movies, and Nellie brings up how it’s an escape from our regular lives. Manuel talks about how amazing the process is and the feelings it brings out in you.

Nellie tells him they will be on a movie set someday together, and they will have lunch. She also adds that he’s not bad looking. Back in the main area of the party, the “Rose Pedal of the Rising Sun” in Lady Fay Zhu (Li) is brought out for entertainment and gets the attention of everyone, as they all sit in silence to watch her sing “My Girl’s Pussy”. After her performance, Jack sits down with Fay. She updates him on how she didn’t get the part but is writing the titles for it, and he brings up how he’s doing another costume picture and his wife is divorcing him. He looks over and comments how Jen was so honest with him and how he appreciated it but changes the subject to ask Fay for a favor. He points out George and wants her to go over and talk to him to make him feel special. She doesn’t have to fuck him or anything. It’s just to make him feel better. She agrees to. Jack tries thanking her in Cantonese, but she tells him not to speak Cantonese to her. As Sidney is back playing again, Nellie leads Manuel to the dance floor. They dance a bit together until Nellie strays away and dances with everyone, capturing the attention and energy of everyone there. As it gets crazier and Manuel is mesmerized by her, one of Manuel’s co-workers interrupts him to say they have a situation. It’s with Orville and Jane. He is brought into the room where they all stare at Jane. The main problem is that the only exit is down the main staircase, forcing them to go through the ballroom where everyone will see her. Manuel suggests all the doctors at the party won’t care because they’re high, but the other guy is adamant that someone will care because she looks like a kid and looks like she’s dead. Manuel comes up with the idea of using the elephant. If they bring in the elephant, all the attention will be diverted to it, and no one will look in her direction. Bob points out that it’s only 2AM and Wallach wanted to save the elephant, but he relents considering the situation at hand and has Manuel get the wrangler. Bob tells Jimmy to stay with him to help carry the girl and for Jimmy to drive Jane to the hospital. Jimmy isn’t sure if she will be able to work tomorrow, as she’s in the bar scene for Maid’s Off. After Jimmy confirms that it’s Jane once he looks at her ID, Bob flips out asking who invited her. Orville chimes in to say he did because she wanted to celebrate her first film, so Bob kicks his ass until Jimmy pulls him away.

Bob and Jimmy peek into the ballroom where the party is happening, and Bob sees Nellie dancing in the crowd. He points her out to Jimmy and tells him that they’re going with her tomorrow instead of Jane for Maid’s Off. Just then, Manuel walks the elephant into the party. At the same time, Jack fucks Jen, and Bob and Jimmy carry Jane out of the party. Once the party slows down later on, George is dancing with Fay, and a drunk Jack decides to get another drink. Manuel goes up to Bob and thanks him for the work and asks if him or Wallach may have work for him on a movie set sometime. He brings up how he can do anything, but Bob shuts him down by saying that he’s exactly where he belongs. Manuel accepts this and walks away. He sees Nellie playing poker with a group until she’s interrupted and told she’s needed on set in three hours and to get some sleep. She tells Manuel, and he follows her outside while the sun rises. She’s elated at proving everyone wrong. In Spanish, Manuel tells her that he thinks he’s in love with her. She doesn’t understand Spanish and leaves him standing there. Nellie steals a car and drives off with Manuel watching her leave. Jimmy pops out of the house to tell Manuel that Jack has passed out, and he is to use one of Wallach’s cars to drive him home. Once he gets Jack to his house, he asks if Jack has keys. Though he’s still messed up, he says he does. With this, Manuel tries to carry Jack to the house. Out of nowhere, Jack gets a burst of energy and comes alive, running into the house and playing Italian opera music as if he’s sobered up. He starts rambling about Ina and her mother and how they need to redefine movies. He questions why a gas station attendant goes to the movies. It’s because he feels less alone in there. Because of this, Jack argues that they owe this hypothetical man more than the same old shit. He trashes costume pictures and how there is so much more to be done in film. Innovate, inspire, and dream beyond to the point where someone can look up at the big screen and say, “Eureka! I am not alone”. As he finishes his little speech, Jack falls off the balcony, hits the roof, and falls into his pool. Manuel runs down to see if he’s alright, and he is. He gets out of the pool and heads to bed. Before Manuel can leave though, Jack says he likes Manuel and wants Manuel to take him to set today.

He asks Manuel if he’s ever been on a movie set before, and he tells him that he hasn’t. Jack replies that it’s the most magical place in the world. Manuel responds in Spanish saying, “I’ve heard”.

Nellie wakes up in her awful apartment to get ready to go to set. Meanwhile, Fay is at her apartment with her family, as they own a business. Fay asks her mother if her father got last week’s check, and she confirms it and thanks Fay. Fay comes down to the shop where her father is arguing with a customer, and the customer stops when she walks into the room. He recognizes her, so she signs an autograph for him. While we see Sidney finally get home to nap on a chair, Jack wakes up Manuel to go to set. Nellie gets to Kinoscope at 8AM, and it’s a chaotic scene. Numerous movies are being shot at once, and it’s an intense and frenetic work environment. The Count (Scovel) tries to sell peanuts on set to people as a good cure for hangovers. He sees Nellie and notes that it’s her first day, so he gives her a bag for free. She breaks open a peanut and finds a pill inside it. The Count sells a bag to a kid right after. Nellie is brought over to director Ruth Adler (Olivia Hamilton), and she’s disappointed because she wanted Jane, a girl with tits. However, the assistant on set tells her that Jane overdosed. Ruth is frustrated but tells the assistant to get Nellie made up. She relays the message to the assistant director, and they film the men in the scene in the meantime. At 9AM, director Otto von Strassberger (Jonze) is flipping out, but George tells him to calm down because Jack is arriving. Just as Jack and Manuel shows up, Jack introduces him to George, who he considers the best producer in the business and his oldest friend. After he tells him about Jim Kidd, Jack asks George what is making Otto so mad. Apparently, the extras want to renegotiate their pay. Jack tells George to put Manuel on it, and he heads to set. George asks Manuel if he has experience with strikes. Manuel lies and confirms. George tells him that he’s dealing with violent junkies from Skid Row and to have at it. It doesn’t take long for Manuel to be chased by all the junkies who assume Manuel is there to screw them over. It forces Manuel to find a guard on set with a horse and a gun. He borrows both and shoots his gun in the air to threaten all the extras to go back to work. Eating a sandwich from a distance, Jack notes how good Manuel is to George. At 10AM, Nellie gets back on set with her makeup done but it’s done terribly. Ruth tells them to redo it and sends Nellie away.

Ruth asks some random worker on set what his name is. It’s Tim, and she fires him and has Max (P.J. Byrne) throw him off set. At 11:15AM, Otto films a gigantic battle sequence and Manuel is there for all of it. It gets out of hand quickly. Elinor St. John recites lines from a distance while watching but is not impressed. At lunch, Manuel, George, Otto, and another stand over Joey who is dead, as he was stabbed with a flag accidentally during the filming. One guy mentions that the man had a drinking problem, and they’re all kind of nonchalant about the whole thing. At 2:55PM, producer Irving Thalberg (Max Minghella) shows up on set during the shooting of another battle sequence, and Manuel gives him his coffee as soon as he exits his car. Irving enters Jack’s tent and tells Jack that every time he wears a prosthetic like the one that he has on his nose, they lose money. Jack tells him to not be a pussy. Jack is also told that they can’t get Gloria Swanson because she only does leads. Abby (Laura Steinel) gets Gloria on the phone, and Jack talks to her about wanting an up and comer for his movie. Seeing that she knows all the new stars on the rise, he wants her advice. The part he has in mind needs range. Hearing this, Gloria wants the part and wants to work with Jack. Though Jack wants to work with her too, he tells her that they couldn’t afford star fees even if they wanted to, lying to try and convince her to concede a bit more. When she offers to do it for cheap, he tells her that he will try and talk to the studio to make it happen. Jack hangs up and relays the message that Gloria will do it for cheap and to take the money he saved for the production and use it towards the fireworks shot. Following this, Otto cuts. They lost all ten cameras during the battle sequence, and they still haven’t got to Jack’s scene. Otto wants to do it now, but George says the sun sets in three hours. Larry tries to make it happen and tells another to get Joey, but George has to tell him that Joey died because he “ran into it (the flag) himself”. Larry tells Manuel to do it instead. George gives Manuel a card, to use his name once he gets to the location, and to hurry.

At 3:30PM, Nellie is back on set with the right makeup this time. Ruth tells her about the scene in a hurry. She is to flirt with the men, dance on the table, and to not look in the camera. That’s all her direction. They start filming, and Nellie does a great job with it. Despite how raunchy she gets with it, Ruth allows it to continue, intrigued.

While this happens, Manuel is driving as fast as he can. Jack is on set drinking in his tent while rambling lines for a script and having the screenwriter type it as he continues to drink. Eventually, Manuel has to hit the brake after almost getting hit. Also, Nellie flashes her boob, and Ruth cuts because she can see the erection on one of the extras. Max tells the guy to tuck it. Manuel finds Kruse Camera Rentals and immediately tells the worker there that he’s there on behalf of George Munn, and how they need a Bell and Howell 35mm camera for Otto’s production. The worker asks if it’s a 2708 model or a 2709, but Manuel isn’t sure. He asks if there’s a big difference, and the smug worker tells him there is. He gets the attention of another guy named Donny to tell him what Manuel said, and Donny laughs in the back. Manuel questions if they have either camera, but the guy reveals that every camera has already been loaned out. He does say one is coming back in a half hour, but it’s a 2709. He agrees to wait. One hour later, Manuel is still waiting. Everyone on the set of the film is just sitting there waiting. At 5:16PM, Ruth tells Nellie that in the next scene, Constance Moore (Samara Weaving) will come in. Since her character saved Nellie’s from prostitution, she has to cry. Ruth then notices Nellie chewing gum, takes it out of her mouth, and yells at her for it. At 5:27PM, Manuel is still waiting for the arrival of the camera. The sun is starting to set. Finally, the man shows up with the camera, and Manuel gets up immediately and grabs it from him. He has 20 minutes to get to Simi Valley and asks the guy for directions on what road to take, but the worker tells Manuel he has to go through an 8-part sign-out process for their camera equipment. Manuel spots a nearby ambulance. Back with Nellie, they shoot the scene where Moore appears when Nellie’s character is dancing, and she is cued to cry. Ruth asks Max for glycerin, but he tells her they’re out because Orville thought it was lube. Ruth is about to flip out because she assumes Nellie can’t cry since she was some whore they found in Wallach’s house, but Nellie cries stupendously. Ruth is amazed.

At 5:48PM, Otto is in shambles because they are squandering the light of the sunset. Just then, Manuel shows up in the ambulance he stole with the camera. Otto readies everyone to shoot because they only have so much time before they lose the natural light. At the same time, Nellie nails another crying take, so Ruth wants to try something. She asks if Nellie can hold for two beats with tears gushing, so eyes water for two and on the third beat she will do a light effect. That’s when she is to gush tears. Nellie understands the direction completely. Moore asks Ruth if she has any notes for her, but Ruth says she’s fine. At 5:55PM, the set is put back together for Jack’s movie, but Jack stalls on coming out of his tent. Meanwhile, Nellie nails the take, but Ruth has a new idea for Nellie to try. She wonders if Nellie can try the same thing but with less tears. Without a moment’s hesitation, Nellie asks if she wants one tear or two. As this goes on, Jack comes out of his tent completely drunk. He is led up a hill by others to film the scene, and he falls and stumbles on the way there. Once he gets into position, Otto tries to remind him of the scene by saying he’s imagining this girl and he’s sad and lonely. Then, he hurries everyone out of the way because they are losing the light. Jack is about to puke but avoids it while Otto cues in the orchestra to hit the music and they start rolling. Miraculously, Jack gets right into character and Manuel is amazed. On Nellie’s movie, a set behind theirs is set on fire accidentally, but Ruth demands they keep filming as she shouts directions to Nellie to change the performance a bit. It turns into something special, and Fay and Wallach come by set, taking notice of Nellie. Both Jack and Nellie nail their takes on their respective films, with Jack’s cherry on top being a butterfly flying into the shot and landing on Jack’s shoulder as he kisses the actress. The fire is put out behind the set of Nellie’s film. Both crews start cheering for the success of the shots, and Otto thanks Manuel for saving his movie and kisses him. Wallach asks someone on set who Nellie is, and Fay interrupts Wallach to ask who is writing the titles on this picture.

A happy Ruth congratulates Nellie on her performance and asks how she was able to tear up so easily. Nellie admits she just thinks of home. Following this, there’s another party, with Elinor asking Jack how it went. He notes how the people want the kiss, so they give them the kiss, though he does wonder if they have a higher calling than this on film. Wallach talks to some executives at the party and brings up how they’re excited about their new discovery in Nellie. They ask where she’s at, so Wallach points her out as the one mimicking sex with the ice sculpture in front of everyone. Sidney is with his band playing this party too. We then get a montage, with Jack bringing up notes on how to perfect the picture during editing to an assistant. Manuel is also in the room soaking up everything Jack is saying. Not missing a beat, Jack tells Manuel that he saw Olga Putti (Karolina Szymczak) sing to herself in Hungarian, and he thinks he’s in love. He wants Manuel to send two dozen roses to her dressing room every morning this week. Manuel comments that she doesn’t speak English, but Jack argues “Neither does love”. Also, during the montage, Fay works on titles for Nellie’s film and how her character wants to be referred to as “The Wild Child”. As she watches certain frames of the movie, Fay asks the editor if she thinks Nellie is bisexual. Maid’s Off is eventually released, but Nellie isn’t on the list for the premier despite being in the movie. After she signs an autograph for a fan that recognizes her, she is allowed in. While she walks in, the “fan” turns out to be some guy she paid off to get her in the premier. She watches the film, and the crowd loves it. Elinor is there too, and she takes notes on the crowd reaction. After the showing, Nellie is mobbed by fans. Her father Robert Roy (Roberts) talks to reporters that him and his daughter Nellie will do great things together, commenting how she added the “La” to their name. A news report details that Jack’s epic Blood and Gold has confirmed Jack’s status as the highest grossing leading man in the world. He has also married Olga Putti. A teenager who was a huge fan of Jack killed herself hearing the news of his fifth marriage, along with the news of Rudolph Valentino’s death. Nellie is a star on the rise and Kinoscope is reteaming her with Constance Moore in another film.

On the set of the new film, Moore is complaining about Nellie stealing every scene they’re in, how she’s changing the blocking with every take, how she’s icing her nipples (which Nellie denies and says they’re natural), and how she’s mad that Nellie put a dildo in her dressing room. Ruth ignores it and wants to do another take. Moore wants a drink, and Nellie doesn’t care and is down to film. Right before they do, Nellie ices her nipples and changes the blocking again during the shooting of the scene. Moore complains about it to Ruth, but Ruth just says they’ll do a closeup of Nellie instead, which pisses off Moore because she’s the star and demands the closeup. Moore brings up how this is her money and her company writing the checks, so she is to decide. Ruth is fine with it and does a closeup on Moore, which pisses off Nellie. That night, Nellie calls plastic surgeon Dr. Lubin and wants to do the operation they discussed immediately. The next day on set, Nellie has her face all bandaged up and Ruth can’t believe it because they can’t film anything. With this, the Moore film is shut down. In the newspaper, it is written that the schedule was to blame and Moore is to eat all the costs. Her production company folds on top of that. With this, Nellie slides in and takes her spot at the top, with Elinor writing a piece on the star on the rise. Manuel sees Nellie on the cover of the magazine and buys it.

Things change in 1927 though, as sound pictures revolutionize Hollywood. Manuel, Nellie, and Jack continue to find success in Hollywood to varying degrees, but things change drastically during this transitional period, and the fallout affects them all.

My Thoughts:

A period piece that recreates the decadence and depravity of the Golden Age of Hollywood alongside the magic of making movies, Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is a thoroughly entertaining three-hour spectacle that gives modern audiences insight into the insanity of the silent era of film and how the transition into sound changed movies forever, with five or so different perspectives thrown in to show how they dealt with it while trying to climb the ladder of the industry we all know and love. As much as it is an exploration of the excesses the stars and executives enjoyed combined with the nastiness of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the movie industry during the 1920s and 1930s, it’s also a balanced attack that is ultimately an ode to the era, the art and love of filmmaking in general, and the ambitious talents that furthered the mythology behind Tinseltown while having their own inevitable downfalls as individuals blinded by the lights. It’s Hollywood at its best and its worst, and it’s overstuffed to the point of near explosion, but it might be one of the most mesmerizing pictures about the industry in existence. It’s a lot to take in, and its genius might not be obvious to those uninterested in the topic at hand. However, for those dreamers out there who are fascinated by the process and the history of film and Hollywood, you’d be hard pressed to find a movie as engrossing, realistic, frenetic, and outrageous as this one.

Audiences love to talk about how some movies have “everything”. Most of the time its hyperbole. However, Babylon might be one of the rare examples where this is actually a fair characteristic to describe it. In the opening, Chazelle brings in the wide audiences with one of the most chaotic depictions of a Hollywood party one may ever see that still might just be a sliver of what was common in the industry during the 20s, as the constant thirst for indulging in anything and everything among the wealthy was well known. Some have brought up how sequences like this or the drug use or whatever else was explicit to the point of obscenity, but what we know about this period of the film industry isn’t far off from it. There may not be evidence of every detail of the screenplay, and some stuff is based off secondhand knowledge. Nevertheless, when you factor in all the legal stuff that was thrown under the rug, the Hollywood fixers hired to make sure things didn’t get out to the widespread media combined with the secretive nature of the Hollywood studio system and its protection of stars, and the simple fact that a lot of moments from that era were lost to time due to being kept under wraps for a reason, the perceived bedlam of Babylon and its refusal to shy away from the ugly and almost unbelievable side of the time period isn’t sensationalism but rather disgustingly realistic. Anyone who criticizes it for being “too much” is ignorant to the ludicrous everyday happenings of working in movies during this timeframe and how far the powers that be and the stars themselves were willing to go to make money and live their lavish and depraved lifestyles of drunken, drug-fueled, sex-obsessed madness. Every supporting actor adds to it as well. People like the Count offering “peanuts” to cure hangovers on set (since every last person there was hungover from a Hollywood party the night before) and it just being a pick-me-up pill of some sort of amphetamine is not far off from the truth, as well as him being a failed actor that found his niche in the industry being that of an on-set drug dealer. Jack Conrad being the biggest star of the silent era, having control over his pictures somewhat because of his status and him using it by helping with scripts and editing, and being drunk nearly every day on set, though still being able to sober up at the drop of a hat to film his scene is a movie star trait that has existed from the beginning and still exists now.

Meanwhile, there’s the story of Nellie LaRoy, an actress with big ambitions of being a movie star, being prepared for the moment because she knows it will happen in time, being in the right place at the right time to secure her breakout role, and her own recklessness and addiction leading to her downfall is something that happens every day. All of this happening in-between filming movies, attending parties, and dealing with all the wacky and crazy personalities that helped Hollywood become what it is today isn’t a criticism of who people were but rather a celebration of the craziness of cinema, while acknowledging the sad decisions people had to make to succeed and the downfall of the many involved. Seriously, the opening party at Don Wallach’s mansion alone is something that will live on as a singular piece of art that captures the essence and fast-living lifestyle of the 1920s. If you’re still unsure about watching the movie, that sequence by itself could be used to convince anyone to give Babylon a chance. Admittedly, following up this energy and rolling it into the rest of the movie is tough from a pacing standpoint, but Damian Chazelle manages to do so by tracking the vastly different journeys each of the main characters deal with minute by minute, hour by hour, and later, years by years in a narrative timeline fitting of its runtime, stretching from a manic but hopeful 1926 until it finishes in a tear-inducing 1952. The most important character arc of the film is Manuel. Though Diego Calva didn’t get top billing nor was he featured in any of the marketing for the movie, he was the star of Babylon. All roads crossed through his character of Manny, as he was the centerpiece of the story. Calva does not disappoint in what should have been a star-making performance. He does it all, starting out as an innocent assistant wanting to make it big and doing anything to pull it off, becoming a high-ranking producer after devoting his life to his work and soaking up all the knowledge he gained from veterans of the industry, while never taking his position for granted, and how he sees it all crash down because of the shady people he has to cross paths due to going to bat for the wrong people.

The enthralling highs and lows all the characters go through are worth seeing in their own right, but Manuel’s is the one front and center. The viewer watches how Manny is able to keep his nose to the ground and finds a way to make things happen for everyone he works with to build his reputation while pursuing the next step with each passing day. He saves the studio from public shame following Jane’s overdose by coming up with the elephant idea, saves Jack’s movie by getting the one camera needed for the shot before sundown, learns basic Hungarian to help Jack with his homicidal wife Olga, he goes to New York to watch Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer to report back to Jack about how audiences are reacting to talkies (“Everything’s about to change”) and continues to hang around until he becomes a producer. He continues to push to chase the dream, with him continuously finding ways to impress the right person or finagle his way into adding another notch to his belt. Each objective he completes, it leads him further and further to where he wants to be. Everything is happening for a reason, and his wish to be involved in the glitz, glamor, and magic of moviemaking slowly turns into a reality. Nellie is the example of this “American Dream”, which is why he becomes devoted to her like he is. She represents everything he adores about the movies. The relationship between him and Nellie begins and ends in Hollywood, as he dreams about her almost as much as he does in making it big in the industry. He is enthralled with her beauty, ambition, personality, and drive. When they find each other in New York, they are excited to see where they are at in life, and Manuel is like a kid again, talking to his movie star friend who he met the day before she became a star by chance. He’s just happy she remembers him, but she reminds him of the conversation they had two years back recalling her line, “I was always a star, remember?”. It meant the world to him that their interaction, when they were both considered nothing in Hollywood, stayed with her, as it meant something to her too. Their friendship wasn’t by chance but fate, just like their destinies in Hollywood. It leads to them being forever intertwined, as Manuel sees his helping as his obligation. At first, Manuel doesn’t see Nellie’s problems because he’s in love, something we all can relate to.

She foreshadows it by talking about hiring her dad as a business manager despite knowing he’s not good at it or owing money for gambling debts but swearing she doesn’t have a problem by commenting, “I only gamble if I’m, you know, pissed, or drunk, or having a great night”. It’s a funny line Manuel won’t think much of in the moment but will look back on as the foreshadowing he missed and should have taken seriously. Still, he just loves being there with Nellie and can hear her talk about her problem with ice cream toppings “messing up a good thing” because she’s just this fascinating person in his life. What also grips him about her is the vulnerability she tries to downplay in this moment, what drives her. It’s the understated moments like the two seeing Nellie’s mother at the Thackery Sanatorium, and she doesn’t respond to anything Nellie says before she calls it a waste of time. It’s like when Nellie speaks with a fire when talking about how she proved all those casting directors wrong, how she loves making everyone under her squirm now that she’s a star, and how she gets to do things on her terms, refusing to be controlled. She’s always been on her own and she made it happen. Manuel admires her for it. As he watches Nellie put on her sunglasses before going to some restaurant at night, it motivates him to continue down his path. Unfortunately, he becomes so blinded by the dream that he nearly loses his identity in the pursuit. He lives in Los Angeles and could drive thirty minutes into Mexico to see his family, but he never does since he finds it easier to be on his own. In reality, he is so obsessed with the idea of making it in Hollywood that he’s willing to strip himself naked to achieve it. He Americanizes his name as time passes and asks to be referred to as “Manny” to seem less ethnic. When he starts to become a producer and is at William Randolph Hearst’s house party he tells someone he’s from Madrid, Spain instead of Mexico, he changes his look and attire, and he adjusts his speech to remove his accent as best he can. Manny does see the problem with it, but his desire to succeed at that level is more important than this, which is why he sees these changes as necessary. It’s the same reason why he pushes the rising star in Sidney Palmer to don blackface to make up for the lighting issue.

Without saying it, Manny acknowledges with his eyes that he knows it’s wrong to request Sidney do this, but he has to put the pressure on him to do so because of his dedication to his job. There’s no time for morality. It’s about the here, the now, and getting another movie completed to hopefully make the studio more money. That’s all that matters. The band is mixed, so they look darker than Sidney on camera. On the wide shot, Sidney looks white. Since the South is segregated, they will see the band as mixed, and they won’t be able to book the movie there. Just like that, half of the revenue for the picture is lost. Wallach might even pull the plug on the feature entirely, costing many people jobs. All of this will fall on Manny. Knowing what this means for the studio and his own reputation, he has to play the “devil in disguise” role to influence Sidney to concede, mentioning how Sidney’s lone decision to simply “change his appearance” for a role since he’s technically an actor is not a big deal and he could risk “all these guys’ abilities to feed their families” otherwise. He boils it down to a mere argument over makeup and doubles down by saying it’s all on Sidney as the star. He gives Sidney the chance to cross this line with him and further his success in film by backing down. Though he does for the sake of finishing the picture, the difference between him and Manny is that Sidney’s values and passion for his own personal artistry are much stronger than stardom. He’s disgusted with himself for going through with it and quits right after. Even if he has to go back to clubs and may never get that shot again to become a huge star, Sidney refuses to compromise his morals and values. At that time however, Manny is willing, despite him knowing it’s hurting his soul. Still, he saw the changes he had to make to seem less ethnic as a way of looking more professional in the eyes of the higher-ups, and it works. It’s sad to watch, but at that time in Hollywood, there is a lot of truth to this element of the story and this particular character wanting more and doing everything he can to get there. If you control everything you can control, you can get there. He knows what he has to do and can, so he will.

After the successful Sidney Palmer shorts are revealed as Manny’s idea, Bob offers Manny the sound chief job at Kinoscope to him and to leave MGM because of a new direction they want to go in. With his own success in mind, Manny details his plan to Kinoscope to further advance his career and impress the executives. Knowing that they’re starting to grow tired of Nellie’s bombastic personality and how she “owes gambling debts all over town and sounds like a donkey”, he talks about changing Nellie into a lady, remaking her into an actress of sophistication “like the ladies of MGM” by changing her parts, fixing her voice, making sure she avoids drugs and gambling, and bringing in Elinor to write a story about her “amazing transformation”. In doing so, along with the right endorsements, it could protect their investment in her and Manny can help her friend while she’s slowly sliding down the ladder of stardom, as evidenced by the visual appearance of both of them when he excuses himself from the meeting to talk to Nellie. It works for a time, but there’s so much Nellie has to correct about herself to appear high class and worthy of her stardom that she can’t help but refuse the changes in an amusing crash-out scene. It becomes the unofficial turning point, Nellie’s fall from grace. With the rabbit fur-wearing Mildred poking at Nellie and an executive grabbing her ass, Nellie tries to roll with it, but she breaks (“This is what a degenerate fucking animal from Jersey does!“). She could be a star again. Manny can save her career. Nellie just has to be fake and humor these awful people who dangle the carrot of power in front of her and all the other people who want to be stars. Because of this, they’re forced to go along with whatever bullshit is thrown their way. Let’s be real, it happens in modern times too. Unfortunately, someone like Nellie, who fought for everything and rose up from nothing so she could be herself and be in control, just can’t give in to the bullshit anymore, as it eats away at her. It’s just not who she is and she’s tired of pretending otherwise. The same thing happens with Sidney, who leaves the same party while all the white attendees try to act like they’re cool with him by referring to his movies as an “olive branch in these divided times”. Manny can’t believe it, but he doesn’t give up on her, even when he should.

Of course, the toxicity of Nellie and her refusal to adapt in anyway leads to her fall until she becomes a mere footnote in history, dragging down Manny’s once promising career with her. It’s this tragic reality of moviemaking that exists under the much talked about surface of Babylon that audiences need to pay attention to. In the middle of all the bizarre happenings like Nellie and her father fighting and losing to a rattlesnake in the desert in front of hundreds of onlookers or McKay ranting about movie pitches of a 10-year-old prodigy who ends up being a 50-year-old midget or Wyatt Earp being a “full-fledged retard”, there are these thought-provoking, deeply emotional reminders of harrowing themes like mortality and the insatiable drive humanity has to chase immortality in some fashion, despite its impossibility. Most of us come to grips with death at some point, but the stars of Hollywood struggle with every aspect of it. Vanity is how they reach their peak, which is why aging, being a step slower, or not being the star they once were, and being notified of these facts, can have a depressingly profound effect on those who aren’t ready for the news. The tragedy of it all is explored with Jack Conrad. During the silent era, he’s the biggest movie star in the world and the most bankable. He’s a joy to be around (except to all his ex-wives), and he’s the guy everyone wants at the party. When everyone is confused by Nellie asking if they want to see her dad fight a snake, Jack is the first one to yell “Fuck yeah!” to get everyone riled up. When Manny moves up the ladder and kind of forgets about Jack and Jack calls him, he just tells Manny that he’s happy for him and how he deserves it. He lives for Hollywood, he wants to pay it forward and help others, and it’s because he sees himself as one of the people that helped build it. He sees responsibility in his status. It’s why he wants more for the art of film. Jack explains with love how he sees sync sound being for movies what the discovery of perspective was for painting. Despite arguments from one of his wives in stuck-up Broadway actress Estelle, Jack sees movies as high art. In a pivotal scene that could live on for generations because of Brad Pitt’s fantastic performance, he explains the importance of movies and how what he does means something to millions of people.

Since his own parents couldn’t afford to go the theater, they went to vaudeville houses and nickelodeons and what they saw on the screen meant something to them, the real people who are on the ground. Pointing out the difference between the stage and film, he notes that a success on Broadway is 100,000 people going to see it. In the movies, that’s a flop. The dialogue is just incredible. People have the audacity to question Chazelle’s love of the industry? This means everything to him too! The proof is in these characters! Just like Damien Chazelle, Jack Conrad cares about the art form and wants to push it forward because he knows film can be so much more. At first, Jack is unsure if people want talkies but becomes a big proponent of it once he sees it as the answer to redefining the form that he’s been wanting from the outset. Jack tells Irving straight-up to not stand in the way of progress and how sound is the future. It’s not until he experiences failures in his transition to sound and hearing people snicker at his acting where he starts to see his reign as the king might be over. Jack puts on a brave face and still reiterates how they shouldn’t stand in the progress of the industry, but his true feelings are evident when Elinor asks him if he misses silent movies. The notable pause before he says “No” reveals a thousand words. The end is near, and the insecurities of a once dominant superpower in film are starting to show. It cracks open following Elinor’s piece on him asking if his career is over. What follows is one of the most honest, poignant, and haunting realities revealed about the industry they all love. In a monologue for the ages, Elinor lays out the facts. There was nothing wrong with Jack’s voice. There’s nothing he could have done. It’s just that his run is over. It’s not a dry spell. Though Jack argues how she’s a cockroach and how he’s been counted out before, Elinor counters this by questioning why he thinks cockroaches can seem to survive a housefire, but people don’t. Explaining herself, she details how there will be a hundred more Jack Conrads and hers, and hundreds of similar conversations until the end of time. This is all bigger than the both of them, life that is. No one wants to be left behind, but hundreds of years into the future, well after they are gone, someone will watch one of Jack’s movies and he will be “alive” again, adding that “One day, every person on every film shot this year will be dead”.

The adventures and tales of the movies will live past our shelf life, and “A child 50 years from now will watch you and feels like he knew you, though you’ve breathed your last before he breathes his first”. The compassionate yet bittersweet message is for Jack to appreciate the gift he was given to establish his legacy and live forever in a form of immortality with what he did onscreen. It’s to be grateful but to accept that it’s now over. At this point, Jack doesn’t argue with her, as Elinor calmly and brutally eulogizes his career to him with the utmost sincerity. A teary-eyed Jack knows she’s right, as much as he doesn’t want to outright say it. He did help build a portion of Hollywood with his passion and love for the art form, but it’s now outgrown him, and it will outlive him. All he has now is the past. The silver lining however is that it will help him live forever, as new eyes may see what he’s done every day after he’s gone (“I’ve been the luckiest bastard in the world. I had a good run, didn’t I? Yeah, I enjoyed that”). That is the magic of moviemaking, and why we love this stuff so much. Even though we know all of this will end at some point, man, was it the ride of a lifetime. This is one of the most overlooked performances of Brad Pitt’s career by the way. His range has been taken for granted because of his looks, and it’s getting ridiculous. What he does with just silence in this crucial scene with Elinor is enough to turn heads to the talent he really is.

For the record, I didn’t think anything could top the party at Don Wallach’s mansion, but Nellie trying to film her first sound picture with Ruth directing and the sound guy Lloyd getting involved was one of the best scenes of the year by far. The havoc involved in trying to make a movie while this technology was still in its infancy and before the kinks were worked out was hysterical to watch unfold. From Nellie having trouble with her lines and missing her mark since its more important than it was in silent movies, to little things like the electricity buzzing and the air conditioner being turned off because it’s too loud and could ruin the sound of the movie, to everyone screaming at each other because of how hot it is combined with how strenuous filming this one scene is will have the viewer on the floor laughing, especially with Max making constant demands to try and make things smoother while absolutely losing it (“Now if anyone stops this scene again, I will shit on you! I will shit in your mouth! I promise you!’). It really gives incredible insight into how difficult it was in making a movie in 1928, how the pill-popping actress struggles under the pressure once she realizes how different things are and how just the pitch of her voice can ruin a take, how costly just moving a microphone can be in a production like that, and how something as small as the wrong shoes, a ticking watch, or a pin in the director’s ankle can affect the sound. It gets the point where almost everyone on set comes to blows because of the increasing tension under the heat, but they finally get the take done and cheer like they just won the Super Bowl, only for Bill to die because of the heat (“Get back in your fucking box Bill!”). It’s not only a hilarious scene that makes the movie, along with Lady Fay saving Nellie’s life following a snake bite, but it encompasses the time period in film magnificently through sheer entertainment, incredible comic performances, and a screenplay loaded with ridiculous fun. It does get dark though, scaringly dark. The slow-burn of suspense that builds from the low-key terrifying presence of gangster James McKay as he sips on brandy mixed with ether, and McKay eventually leading Manny and the Count into a horrifying cave where they venture into what the twisted psychopath refers to as the “asshole of LA” and the “only place left in the city to have fun these days” is legitimately unforgettable.

The feelings of uneasiness, genuine fright, and personal questioning of what will happen next as the hair raises on the back of your neck is something that has to be experienced to be believed. From the initial image of Manny seeing the sad clown hanging outside of the entrance to the demented red lights that liven the darkest depths of what is nearly Hell itself, it’s a freaky sequence so intensely bizarre that I can’t help but agree with McKay himself in that it cannot be forgotten. You could write a book on this sequence alone, but I don’t want to spoil its details, even though I desperately want to discuss it and its vivid and deranged imagery.

Somehow, filmmaker Damien Chazelle handles it all with his direction, his attention to detail, the fantastic production design all-around, and the masterful editing in combination with a score by Justin Hurwitz that should have won the Academy Award. There is a love of movies here that is not only seen through the eyes of people like Manuel, Jack Conrad, and Nellie LaRoy, but it is felt with how the story of Babylon unfolds. Tragedy or not, the engrossing experience of the seductive and sinister industry we have all dreamed to be a part of at some point will bring a tear to the viewer’s eye, as they see the glamour at its highest peak but also the devastation of reality hitting our favorite characters just as hard. As successful as the rising star can be, they can be torn down to pieces in an instant if the powers in charge decide to spit them out because they don’t see their value being worth what it once was. It’s a hard pill to swallow. Still, it really is the most magical place in the world, and it can be amazing. It answers the desire we all have in wanting to be a part of something bigger and what it may take from us during this ever-important chase. Sadly, the film also serves as a reminder that there is only so much time that we are allowed to revel in it all before the world passes us by. Despite this and even at the movie’s darkest moments, the fascination and passion for Hollywood and the magic of moviemaking resonates with the viewer to the point of a near altered state of consciousness, where the imagination is captured to such an intense degree that you find yourself in a separate state of appreciation for what was accomplished in its runtime, capped off in a transcendent ending that makes the audience feel as if it just watched a piece of history. When the trumpets sound and the credits roll, how can one not sit there in silence and revel in an epic like this?

Babylon is magnificent and a modern-day classic.

Fun Fact: Emma Stone was set to star as Nellie LaRoy but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.