Babylon

Babylon is a subjectively irrelevant and aesthetically disjointed depiction of early Hollywood with hackneyed (Brad Pitt), uninteresting (Diego Calva) and annoying (Margot Robbie) lead characters. Chazelle overshot the mark. If it weren’t for the accompanying jazz interludes, you wouldn’t even recognize him in this. The wild parties and scenes of hectic filmmaking are entertaining, but you can sense the strong theatricality in them. The scene of filming on the first soundstage is the best of the whole film, both in its execution and cinephilic dimension. But as soon as the overly long runtime veers into into a fatalistic lament over the inability to go along with progress, it gradually goes downhill, all the way into the “LA shit hole”, i.e. the most WTF scene in the whole film. (07/03/2023)

We live in the golden age of television, and creators should realize that even though it's a privilege for them to make movies, when they are supposed to be so long, they should process them in the form of a miniseries. This is also the case with Babylon, where the talented Damien Chazelle apparently filmed the material exactly according to his vision... however, not many people came to see the movie in theaters which was a box office flop. In addition to the Hollywood theme, which clearly doesn't interest people much (see Mank, Fabelmans); I also blame the length. It's simply extremely demanding to sit through a whole movie in one go at the cinema, and I think after this and First Man (which didn't impress me much), young talent will continue to engage in streaming wars, and no one will easily give them big money for a movie. What pleased me was once again the great Brad Pitt, who was consistently cool throughout most of the movie, and slightly disappointed me was Margot Robbie, who will have to make a lot of effort to avoid four consecutive flops, and in my opinion, she should accept less eccentric roles next time (one Harley is enough). So yeah, it's a good movie, slightly overrated in my opinion, but physically very demanding to process, but all the more authorial, if it were split into three parts next time, it would have turned out better. (23/02/2023)

I guess I'm too old for this kind of conceptually and dramaturgically disjointed and incoherent films, where nothing works and the mess on the screen slaps you so hard that you're completely numb and tired at the end. The only thing that works a little bit is the references to old classics, but these days they can emotionally enrich you incomparably more and they only need half the running time. This looks like it wasn't even made by Damien Chazelle, but by some egomaniac who merely needed to propel himself over his supposed genius. The production design and music are top notch, the should by shat on elephant shit and flushed. (07/09/2023)

The Hangover meets The Great Gatsby. A trampled reel with La La Land inserted into the projector upside down. Above all, a pure ode to the joy of cinema and at the same time the shine and misery of great actors. Every time it seemed that Babylon was taking a breath for the final act, another twist came. And another one. From stabbing joy to sadness on demand, the most positive emotions hand in hand with pain. Damien Chazelle probably got an excessive budget for the last time and used it to the last cent for a film that too few viewers saw. But in creating this, he climbed so high that it takes courage to even follow him. (21/02/2023)

“Never have I seen such a maelstrom of bad taste and sheer magic.” Two feature films in one, each about something different. One is riveting, bold, frantic, brash; like a Mad Max: Fury Road of the film industry during the silent era. The other is also very good, but classic in themes and concept. It's about nostalgia for bygone times, inevitable progress and the love of cinema. Both are superb, though each in their own way. The first is an ocean liner better, for it is purely Chazelle's. The latter, for all its qualities, comes across as "merely" Chazelle's respectful homage to Sunset Blvd., Cinema Paradiso and the like. The worst thing for both films, however, is that they pretend to be one, which doesn’t help either of them. (28/05/2023)