Babylon review

 As you can guess I was looking forward to seeing Babylon, the new Damien Chazelle movie, because, you know, Tobey. I’ve been watching the trailers, featurettes and reviews ever since the first trailer was released and ever since the first screenings were held. The mixed reviews at first worried me, because they were not quite all over the place, but in extremes. People either loved or hated the movie. Over time, as I watched and read more reviews, it started to intrigued me. I read and watched the reviews carefully, comparing other people’s notes and opinions. There’s something interesting happening here.

 Because I’ve seen so many reviews I had some expectations, but I tried to be careful. Mainly, because most reviewers avoided spoilers, which made getting the plot difficult. I didn’t want to walk into the cinema with an idea about the plot, more than that we got to follow five characters. My expectations did influence how I experienced the movie, but it didn’t necessarily spoil it for me. For instance, the movie wasn’t quite as extreme as I expected; there was definitely not as much nakedness as I expected. However, I might have been desensitized to nakedness through my slash fanfic writing and regular trips to spa’s and nudist beaches. Also, I’m European; usually more desensitized to a lot of things compared to Americans.

 The ending(s)

There are too many endings (not starting at the end to be contrary, but this is the one point most people talk about no matter if they liked the movie or not).

 Duration

The movie is too long. I only partly agree with that. The pacing for me was just fine; I wasn’t a moment bored and somehow Tobey, who appears to the end of the movie, managed to creep up on me. However, I watch a lot of Classic Doctor Who where the pacing can be that of a snail. So, don’t take my word for it.

 Performances

The performances are great by the whole cast. This is the point where I did experience some underwhelment. Obviously, in the trailers and featurettes, they showed the best clips and with that the best part of the performances. Tobey really shone in the trailers and it made me really look forward to his performance. Me being underwhelmed had nothing to do with Tobey’s performance; he really is brilliant. I just somehow expected more (quality, not quantity) from Tobey.

The person who underwhelmed me the most was Brad Pitt, because to me it felt like he was playing Brad Pitt. Diego Calva was great, especially since it was his first Hollywood (leading) role and he held his own among the more experienced big names. My favorite performance (besides Tobey’s) was from Jean Smart. She has some of the best lines and wonderfully funny delivery like (paraphrased): “To be a witness of moving pictures and magic…Ah, who am I kidding; look at these idiots!!!”

 The Extravaganza, gore and dirt

In one review someone said: “In some scenes, he goes too far and somehow doesn’t go far enough at the same time” I agree with that. And this coupled with another reviewer who said: “A Scorsese coke film by a squeaky clean director.” sums up the problem with Babylon, I think. It feels like Damien Chazelle put things in there just for shock value, but doesn’t understand how to do this engagingly, or something. I don’t know. It just didn’t quite work for me.

 Characterization

Several reviewers felt the characters weren’t explored quite enough. Especially Sidney Palmer, played by Jovan Adepo, and lady Fay Zhu, played by Li Jun Li, got lost in the movie. I think they were there to highlight the roles different ethnicities played in early Hollywood and maybe how they got sidelined? I don’t know, the movie is not really clear about what it wanted to say about these two characters.

 Story telling

Quite a few reviewers complained there’s not enough focus and therefore the storytelling is all over the place. I can see why people felt like that, but to me it felt like a natural (chronological) flow of people going through life. To me it felt like I (time) travelled with them into the talkies era till it all ended for every single one of them. I do understand the criticism, because it’s not always clear what a character is doing at a certain time or why a character is doing something at a certain time. The story can feel a little dislodged and random at times because of this. But isn’t that how life works as well?

 Legacy

It’s not the greatest movie I have ever seen, but it’s definitely not the worst either. I believe this movie will have some staying power and build up a cult following. I hope it will.

In one review the reviewer, who did not like the movie, said he would change his opinion if Damien Chazelle, in about 5 years time, comes forward and says (paraphrased): “I intented this movie to be meta and ironic in the light of today’s movie climate”. I think this might happen. Apparently Chazelle anticipated the mixed reactions and even welcomed it. And the movie climat is rapidly changing at the moment with streaming services taking over. Some reviewers pointed out we are in a similar transition right now and the box office results of Babylon are a result of this. In other words, this is a movie about suffering the fate of great transition itself suffering a similar fate of another great transition. That’s why I believe this movie will eventually be seen as a masterpiece.