In 2022, writer and director Damien Chazelle used all of the goodwill and clout he earned from La La Land, Whiplash and other movies to make Babylon.
Chazelle put his heart and soul into this movie, and it still failed at the box office. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth watching.
This weekend, Babylon is making its debut on Netflix, and the timing couldn’t be any better.
With Netflix’s recent announcement that it’s bidding to buy Warner Bros. and totally transform how movies are made and watched, this 2002 drama chronicling a major change in the entertainment industry in the 1920s feels more prescient than ever.
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‘Babylon’ Has a Fantastic Cast
Babylon is set about 100 years in the past, just as the movie industry was switching from silent films to sound. It was the end of a golden age for Hollywood, and Chazelle lined up a lot of stars to take part in it. Jean Smart, Li Jun Li, Katherine Waterston, Tobey Maguire, Samara Weaving, Jeff Garlin, Olivia Wilde and more have small parts throughout the film. And their presence elevates the film.
However, the primary focus falls on three characters: Margot Robbie‘s starlet on the rise, Nellie LaRoy, Brad Pitt‘s Jack Conrad and Diego Calva‘s Manny Torres. Robbie and Pitt have the film’s best performances, with an edge towards his role over hers. Jack can see his downfall coming one film at a time, but he feels helpless to stop it. Nellie enjoys the same kind of obvious appeal that Robbie has herself, but her on-screen counterpart seems determined to destroy herself with drugs. As for Manny, he’s found his way into Hollywood by denying the truth about who he is and where he comes from.
The Story Revisits a Tumultuous Time in Hollywood
Some aspects of Babylon unintentionally mirror where the entertainment industry is today. The characters know that sound is going to transform film, but Jack and others are worried about losing their career in the process. That’s not unlike the way artificial intelligence is intruding upon the movie business today, as studios seem to be all too happy to embrace AI filmmaking even though the technology has questionable quality at best. And with Netflix poised to take over Warner Bros. and upend the entertainment industry, Babylone feels like it’s the right movie to watch right now, even though it takes place a century ago.
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The uncertain future of Hollywood and the movie industry in general adds a sense of dread to Babylon that Chazelle may not have intended. The story of a fall is sometimes just as interesting as the rise. The narrative paths of Jack, Nellie and Manny sometimes lead that trio into making the wrong choices. But it’s just as fascinating to watch them flail in life as it is to watch them win.
It’s a Throwback Epic That’s Rarely Made Anymore
Chazelle had $80 million to spend on Babylon, and it shows up in more than just the long call sheet of A-list actors. It doesn’t seem like anyone was around to tell him he couldn’t make the large-scale film he saw in his mind, no matter what he did. Even a three-hour-plus runtime wasn’t necessarily enough time for Chazelle to hit everything he wanted to include.
This movie looks and feels like an old-school Hollywood epic, and the reason why you may not see something like this again is that they don’t tend to make much money with it. So enjoy Babylon while you can, because this film is worth rediscovering.
Babylon is now streaming on Netflix.
