Babylon (18)
Directed by Damien Chazelle

LIVING UP to its name, Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is an epic depiction of the debauchery, greed and narcissism of Hollywood in the 1920s.

Chazelle explores the dark underbelly of Tinseltown in an ambitious extravaganza that, with a running time of more than three hours, is an assault on the senses, bursting onto the big screen like an unstoppable juggernaut. You can neither catch your breath nor take everything in as Chazelle throws everything into the mix including an elephant, a chicken and a snake.

Babylon is set at the moment when the golden silent era is about to be eviscerated by the arrival of the talkies, and it follows the rise and fall of the dreamer (an impressive Diego Calva who had to learn English for his first English speaking film), the starlet (a standout Margot Robbie as this troubled whirlwind-tornado-would-be-actress), and the matinee idol (a sublime Brad Pitt on charismatic top form).

Reminiscent of a classic western, the film portrays how an entire film industry and city were built from the ground up in the middle of the desert; how they improvised and made it up as they went along.

While a twenty minute long wild party/orgy scene is reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann’s work and a sight to behold, it is sequences that depict film-making itself that both hold the attention and prove the most entertaining. Another highlight is a powerhouse scene between Pitt and Jean Smart’s bitchy columnist, who could make or break a career, in which she puts his sudden fall from grace into perspective in a moving monologue.

Paying homage to Singin’ In the Rain, and not unlike an scaled-up version of Chazelle’s own La La Land, Babylon may seem a total mess, beautifully acted, but what the mess captures is the messy birth of the film industry itself. A marathon that tests the stamina of its audience.

Maria Duarte
Out in cinemas from today.