If you love film, meaning you adore cinema, the history of it, the shear idea of it, you will be hard pressed not to adore Babylon like a fanboy/girl. On the other hand, if you are just a movie goer looking for La La Land or even Whiplash you might be left yawning a bit. Hopefully this review will help put it all in perspective. (Spoilers ahead)

The film opens on 11 and lives up to the title “Babylon”. This is old Hollywood at its infancy; vibrant, rule less, and a riot of lawless desire. In what is and what seems as one constant shot where you cant shut your eyes you overdose on the shear mythological energy of Hollywood. We meet our characters, the established superstar who can drink and nothing ever happens to him, the starlet yet to be discovered but who knows her fate to be famous, and the dreamer who is about to embark on this biblical mission like Dante.

From here we follow an allegory of the evolution of Hollywood. We see the invention of talkies, we see how public opinion of films change, styles change, desires change. As we do the film cools and dials down from 11. Our heros become mortals, the drink begins to effect them, no longer can they be stone drunk then the next second pop back to life and give the performance of a lifetime. They are now human and are being consumed by the industry that gave them godlike powers.

The gifts that are given to them prove their downfall, Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) the superstar is replaced by Bogart, a change in opinion leaves his career stalled, and unable to reach his desire to create real art, his life is taken, by himself, but with the industry pulling the trigger. Or ingénue LaRoix (Margo Robbie) is consumed by the industry, the drugs and booze that once fueled her now chains her, her raw sexuality and personality that brought her to the top now brings her down as society has taken a turn. It has used her up and discarded her like used panties. Our dreamer Manuel (Diego Calva) has replaced the magic he saw in Hollywood with power, and left his identity to become Manny. His hair slick back and greasy he is part of the war machine that destroys the lives of those angels he once was enamored by. He is the only one to escape, being banished by the triggerman, to never return again.

The film is allegorical on many levels … literally being dumped excrement on in the opening scene down to the decent into the inner most cave with McKay (Toby McGuire) as if a book on how to write a screenplay comes to life. This is one of my favorite scenes, with an old clown siting sentry outside a dark cave, a figure of wholesome entertainment destroyed and turned dark. Descending levels of hell like L’Inferno to the minitours maze center we see the soul of Hollywood literally eating rats, the very symbol of disease and lowest level of the animal kingdom drawing nutrients from it like sport. When it’s discovered that the money is fake (the only real motivation in this new Hollywood) it turns on him and literally chases him out of town, out of the country, out. This is actually him winning against his greatest enemy, having survived death, and atoning by returning to his roots in Mexico and restoring his original identity.

When Manuel returns with his family (the elixir in this case, his prize for defeating Hollywood, and literal return to it) we see a different world. His daughter is immediate bored, which, if you can remember the beginning of the film 3 hours ago you wouldn’t believe, and so Diego wanders like a ghost solo through town. He takes quick notice of a poster of Marilyn Monroe in a window; a telling sign how opinions and tastes have swung back around as she is a then modern representation of LaRoix’s character who was needlessly wasted. He enters a theater to see a film and is immediate lulled to sleep by it, almost drugged by it’s power. When he wakes he see’s a vision, as if in the presence of God themselves and given the knowledge go past to future. We see where cinema came from, it’s noble and pure origin, through the Hollywood-cation of the studio system, through the rebel 60’s and new wave, to blockbuster CHC 80’s, the evolution into CG, and beyond. Manuel wells with tears and is unable to control his emotion being bombarded with all this clairvoyance as we see film break down into experimental forms, into pure art of Dali, and then into just color, wavelengths of light, beyond art house, beyond student film, just color.

In this framework we see that Babylon is a art film in blockbuster clothing. When you place the knowledge and love of the history of cinema against this brazen and saccharine screenplay it becomes a mythological tale lifted right from the pages of Joseph Campbell. This is a film student film with A-List celeb power and is stunning.

Some may complain about the length (or pine after a copy of the 2 hour version locked away on Chazzell’s phone) but to me, while a marathon of a film, suits the history of cinema beautifully. As an audience member I physically felt drained by the end, much like the characters were drained by Hollywood in the film. In a word it was transformative.

My only regret, and it is a slight one, is that Manuel in the very last shot turn his gaze right to the audience. Looking straight down the lens back at us would have to me been the ultimate statement for the film, fully making it reflexive as we are actively taking part in everything that we just witnessed by being a part of the audience and watching the film.

But perhaps that’s just the film student in me;)

In any case a beautiful film that to me captures the ethereal soul of the industry with wonton abandon. Bravo.