Babylon is about the early days of film making just before the early talkies arrived and changed everything. Oscar winning writer/director Damien Chazelle (La La Land) envisions a hedonistic anything goes film industry that makes movies by day and party-until-you-drop nights, the less clothes the better.
Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is magnetic, she is a star even though she hasn't been in a film yet. Nellie crashes (literally) into an elephant sized party (again literally) and is discovered, suddenly she is the
"it girl".
Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) is a silent movie star at the peak of his career, the advent of sound will change all that.
The film also stars Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and a cast of 1000's. Nobody makes movies with this much excess anymore, the amount of frenetic activity over it's 3 hour running time is almost exhausting but strangely entertaining. One of the best scenes is when Nellie is at a stuck up Hollywood party and she tells the Bear and Rabbit joke. Each character has their own arc and story line.
Tobey Maguire (Spiderman) arrives late in the film playing gangster James McKay in a very creepy, gruesome WTF moment, this is so over-the-top that even the characters on screen say WTF.
"Babylon" is the kitchen sink approach to film making, Damien Chazelle had all these ideas plus the budget so he probably figured "why not?" My guest and I found it interesting and oddly thought provoking, other viewers will not be so forgiving.
A few trailers to watch:
There are two Babylon Official Red Band Trailer with boobs shown September 12, 2022, at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Q8vjFP08Ehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmRNjPbj1foAnd the trailer for everyone else
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5muQK7CuFtYWatch Babylon with an uninhibited, fun loving cinemaphile for a good time, watch "
All Creatures Great and Small" with your other gentle friends.
Rated a hard "R" for drugs, sex, boobs, more drugs, more sex, more boobs, and their tragic consequences.
