Babylon

Alternating between its two modes – rollicking satire and elegiac reflection – with whiplash abandon, Damien Chazelle's three-hour extravaganza, ...

The cocaine-addled starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is meant to be a tragic diamond in the rough, sneered at by snobs, but comes across as a grating exhibitionist whose greatest talent is control of her tear ducts. The visual extravagance is blessedly not pumped up by CGI, but it is larded with cinematic clichés, like the camera swooping across a room towards the bell of a trumpet (a move repeated ad nauseam), or conversations jazzed up by whip pans. Dedicated to the proposition that more is more, Babylon is a marathon of excess. Babylon’s determination to wallow in decadence leads it to portray an artistically glorious period (1927 alone saw the US releases of Murnau’s Sunrise, Keaton’s The General and von Sternberg’s Underworld) as one of decline and feverish hedonism. Viewers steeped in the period will recognise details scavenged from the lives and careers of Clara Bow, Jeanne Eagels, John Gilbert and Anna May Wong, as well as an homage to Morocco (1930) and recreations of scenes from MGM’s The Hollywood Revue of 1929 and even the 1918 Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle short The Cook. Periodically during its more than three-hour runtime, the film pauses its bombastic, unrelenting assault on the senses in order to tout the magic of movies.

Damien Chazelle seemingly did not satisfy his fascination with Hollywood with 2016's La La Land as he has returned to the setting with Babylon.

Damien Chazelle's party-starting paean to the Silent Era certainly packs a punch, but can 'Babylon' keep the night going on forever?

The rest of the film follows each as they rise through the ranks – Nelly as Tinseltown’s favourite new ingénue, Manny as a top producer. It’s frustrating, and discourages the audience from engaging emotionally. Every character kicks off their adventure with a well-written intro scene, adding sufficient layers which make the audience sympathise and care about what they do next. This makes for a seriously exciting first act, but – as with all substance-fuelled benders – the effects eventually wear off. First though, there’s plenty of fun to be had watching all of the madness. Nellie tells him about her dreams of becoming a star and living the hedonistic high life (“I just want for everyone to party forever”).

CINEMA Babylon. Directed by Whiplash and La La Land's Damien Chazellea, and boasting a stellar cast including Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Tobey Maguire, ...

A feel-good flick with a great cast and an uplifting story, be sure to give this a go! Packed with action, great performances, and a solid story, give this a go if you're a fan of slick and uncompromising sci-fi. Yun Jung-yi is part of the military elite and has made a name for herself after a string of almost flawless victories.

Babylon's cast reunites Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Yet this time throws them back almost half a century more to the ...

She also wrote a novel called Three Weeks, which was considered sort of the Twenties version of 50 Shades of Grey. And I didn't have a really clear vision of what I would do, which was kind of exciting. There was something kind of appealing about playing James, because he was unusual and I really liked the character. The Spider-Man star, who is also an executive producer on Babylon, cameos in the movie as an unhinged LA mob boss. I liked the role that he plays in the story, and where he comes [into play], hoisting the film and these guys into that underbelly, into that world. She was the original “It Girl” named after her 1927 movie of the same name. Following in the footsteps of his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, the 59-year-old takes up the role of an established, ageing movie star; one who is increasingly feeling irrelevant to industry changes. Manny goes to every length to impress his superiors, compromising along the way by saying he's actually from Madrid and convincing a Black star to wear boot polish on his face to keep racist audiences happy. After Chazelle’s Oscar-winning La La Land star Emma Stone had to drop out of Babylon due to scheduling conflicts, the 32-year-old Aussie was cast as the hyperactive actress. And as a result, is facing something of an existential crisis himself. The Oscar-winning director is following up Whiplash, La La Land and First Man with his 1920s set passion project. Babylon's cast reunites Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.