Without the heavy expectations of Oscars hanging over it, Damien Chazelle’s decadent, hedonistic depiction of early Hollywood, and inadvertently another love letter to the magic and wonder of movies and movie-making, was actually fairly entertaining albeit overly long at just over 3 hours.
The end result were three storylines that were all underserved, unfocused and hollow, a waste of all three stars - Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and an underrated Diego Calva - with the best moments actually being the scenes where Justin Hurwitz’s excellent, jazzy-focused, Oscar-nominated score, and Linus Sandgren’s brilliant but un-nominated camera work, took centre stage.
That opening sequence and the second scene that followed were major highlights that set the bar so high that unfortunately Chazelle was unable to meet again … until the final - albeit very self-indulgent and unnecessary - final scene.
Chazelle simply tried to tell too much and wanted to make too many points in this film, and it would have been better storytelling if he had focused on just one of the three storylines: the silent movie superstar trying to transit to talkies (Pitt in a fun, self-deprecating yet ultimately self-conscious role), the ride and fall of a starlet who buckles societal conventions but end up buckling under it all (Robbie in a role that was perpetually at a 10 even if the scene did not require even a 5, who perhaps Chazelle needed to exercise more restrain and nuances over her character), and the supposed audience surrogate, an immigrant who rose within the ranks of Hollywood studios (a charming Calva, reminiscent of a young Antonio Banderas, who nailed the wide eyed wonderment but not so much the frantic energy of a power studio executive).
If he has really wanted to explore all that, Chazelle would have been better expanding “Babylon” into a mini series which would have allowed these three characters and all the side characters to breathe and develop and seemed more human and relatable.
Of the supporting cast, Jean Smart had one terrific, Oscar worthy scene. Both Li Jun Li’s and Jovan Adepo’s storylines were shoehorned in and wasted. In a series, they could have easily been one whole episode to themselves to show depth and layers, but here they were seemed performative, painted in broad strokes simply for inclusivity: Asian, Black and Queer. Chazelle had no business in telling those stories or at least he was no equipped to be the person to tell those stories.
In that sense, Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” was a cleaner, more direct and accessible, and more emotionally resonant movie about the magic and wonder of movies than “Babylon”.
The best aspect of the film was truly Hurwitz’s score. Even just closing the eyes and listening to the score for that three hours may have been a better overall experience. Although Hurtwitz really ought to reduce his derivations of his own Oscar-winning “La La Land” score.
Sandgren’s cinematography was also excellent with a lot of interesting camera movement and angles. Many long shots that were immersive, dynamic and entertaining. Pity he was not nominated, though not sure who from this year’s list he should replaced.
Just for the first 30 minutes itself, “Babylon” should be watched on a big screen. It had so much potential but Chazelle just could not streamline his vision to tell a focused story.
