Babylon ★★★
DRAMA (2022)
Directed by: Damien Sazel
InterpretationsCast: Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Diego Calva

Running at just over three hours, the film is an epic, chaotic, impressive, merciless ensemble with copious virtues but also striking flaws.

Damien Chazelle’s most ambitious film to date (La, La Land) opens this week in Greek cinemas to take us on a journey to Golden Age Hollywood. There, in the early 1920s, we find the four main characters – and dozens of others – meeting in an orgy. Manny (Diego Calva), a young Mexican errand boy who dreams of working in the entertainment industry; Sidney (Jovan Adepo), a skilled jazz musician who is also looking for his chance; Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), a big star – and an even bigger silent movie buff; and Nellie La Roy (Margot Robbie), a blonde beauty who came out of nowhere, convinced she’ll be the next big screen star. Their paths will cross and part again as the roar of the transition from silent to talkative shakes the entire industry.

Running at just over three hours, Sazel’s film is an epic, chaotic, impressive, merciless (many adjectives might fit) ensemble with copious virtues but also striking flaws. Already from the opening scene of the party, we understand that here we have come to a scene of endless revelry and at the same time hectic creation, where the main characters go to the shooting almost immediately after the alcohol and drug-soaked debauchery of the previous night. This episode and several others are just amazing, and Chazelle adds comedic elements to a sleazy extravaganza filled with plenty of nudity and all sorts of… secrets that somehow goes against the conservative norms of modern Hollywood. His allies, in addition to the beautiful music of Justin Hurwitz, are, of course, his two shining stars: Brad Pitt, intimidatingly tough as the alter ego of Rodolfo Valentino, and, above all, the dazzling Margot Robbie, a real force of nature, undoubtedly in the best performance in her career so far. And then begins … chaos. Along with the mentioned successful scenes, there are also weaker ones that break the rhythm, create a “belly” in the narrative and can tire the less patient viewer. In addition, the character of the trumpeter Sidney, although important in theory, seems awkward, almost an addition to the rest of the instrumental parts of the film.