So, apparently Damien Chazelle wanted to make his love letter to the movie industry for over a decade now, but according to IMDb's trivia about the film, "he was not there, yet". Well, we think that he was there since the beginning of his own cinematic journey, and we were able to enter his mind in 2022, with Babylon.
Babylon (2022) dir. Damien Chazelle
Alright, I'll be honest with you. I knew, from the moment I saw that Damien Chazelle is going to make a movie about early Hollywood, that I will love it.
However, I can tell why many people thought that Babylon was all over the place. It's 3-hour running time, all this fuzz, yelling, abrupt scene changes and multiple sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll attitude, Babylon can be a long shot to take. If you can overcome all these, you will be introduced to one of the greatest films of the 21st century.
Babylon, according to the original logline is, A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
Babylon (2022) dir. Damien Chazelle
We have Manny Torres (Diego Calva), a young man who just wants to live in a movie set. He wants to experience what it feels like to work behind the big screen. Will he be able to live his dream?
There is Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), a wanna-be-manifesting-really-hard Hollywood star, all exciting about drugs and ready to share a cry wherever she is told to. Is her talent going to be recognised or this is going to be the beginning of her end?
We are introduced to Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), a well-known established actor, a real star of his era, who tries to find the balance between making a great movie, and be on the spotlight. Yet, something does not fit it. Will he be able to adapt to changes?
Alongside with our three main characters, we meet on the route of old Hollywood, from 1920 to 1950, various figures of this imposing era, who try morally or immorally to establish their presence in the movie spectrum.
Babylon (2022) dir. Damien Chazelle
The way Damien Chazelle never lets you take your eyes off the screen but also your ears from the always impressive soundtrack in his movies, will never leave me indifferent. There is a secret magic to every film he makes, from character development to the masterful tone that lets his creativity and his own perspective as an auteur to triumphs.