I know it bombed, I can make a few guesses as to why, but it deserved better than that.
The opening is like the most frenetic Baz Luhrmann film increased by a factor of ten after Acid was dropped in the water cooler. And that last party in the tunnel would have been too much for "Fellini Satyricon". To say the film is polarising understates it wildly; it polarised me, towards both poles.
Not just over-the-top, some scenes are repulsive, but then others were so funny, I nearly fell off my exercise bike as I watched the film over three separate sessions; it's very long.
It's about the early days of Hollywood and that cathartic transition to sound in 1927. It sure isn't "Singing in the Rain", although there are references to that film.
Real-life figures weave though the story and we see filming in the Californian sunshine in open-air studios, the gold rush like mania to get into movies, the worship of big stars and their abandonment when their use-by-date is up or when the intrusive microphone picks up a voice that doesn't seem to fit a face. There is even a cringe-worthy nod to Fatty Arbuckle's fall from grace.
Quick cuts and huge scenes dominate the first hour. Just as it gets too much, the film settles down, and out of the chaos, a compelling story emerges.
Manuel "Manny" Torres (Diego Calva) an enterprising guy from Mexico makes himself useful, takes opportunities offered by Brad Pitt's fading star, Jack Conrad, and works his way into making movies. However he almost fatally falls for silent screen discovery, "It Girl" Nellie LeRoy (Margot Robbie), until her self-destructiveness almost destroys him as well. There are other characters and their adventures together are wild, embarrassing, funny and ultimately sad.
Worth the price of admission: Manny transporting the elephant; Nellie and her director at war with the early sound system, and Manny learning he is about to pay off a sadistic gangster with movie prop money.
Along with streams of obscenities and projectile vomiting we get witty dialogue and keen insights into a fascinating period of Hollywood history.
An unusual, vibrant score drives "Babylon". There's homage to the Jazz Age and even a twist on Ravel's "Bolero", but a lilting, off-key piano delivers a haunting theme.
"Babylon" nearly had one of those bittersweet endings that make some movies unforgettable. If writer/director Damien Chazelle had ended the film as Manny and his new family walk away from the Kinoscope Studio in 1952, after showing them where he used to work, that finale would have stayed with you. But he milked it. Instead we get a mangled over-emphatic 15 minutes of repeat scenes and homage to the movies. Indulgence that dissipates the powerful mood already achieved.
R18 hurt "Babylon". The early excess set a tone. But I became invested in the characters, and the true test for me is would I watch it again? Yes. Just not right away.
The opening is like the most frenetic Baz Luhrmann film increased by a factor of ten after Acid was dropped in the water cooler. And that last party in the tunnel would have been too much for "Fellini Satyricon". To say the film is polarising understates it wildly; it polarised me, towards both poles.
Not just over-the-top, some scenes are repulsive, but then others were so funny, I nearly fell off my exercise bike as I watched the film over three separate sessions; it's very long.
It's about the early days of Hollywood and that cathartic transition to sound in 1927. It sure isn't "Singing in the Rain", although there are references to that film.
Real-life figures weave though the story and we see filming in the Californian sunshine in open-air studios, the gold rush like mania to get into movies, the worship of big stars and their abandonment when their use-by-date is up or when the intrusive microphone picks up a voice that doesn't seem to fit a face. There is even a cringe-worthy nod to Fatty Arbuckle's fall from grace.
Quick cuts and huge scenes dominate the first hour. Just as it gets too much, the film settles down, and out of the chaos, a compelling story emerges.
Manuel "Manny" Torres (Diego Calva) an enterprising guy from Mexico makes himself useful, takes opportunities offered by Brad Pitt's fading star, Jack Conrad, and works his way into making movies. However he almost fatally falls for silent screen discovery, "It Girl" Nellie LeRoy (Margot Robbie), until her self-destructiveness almost destroys him as well. There are other characters and their adventures together are wild, embarrassing, funny and ultimately sad.
Worth the price of admission: Manny transporting the elephant; Nellie and her director at war with the early sound system, and Manny learning he is about to pay off a sadistic gangster with movie prop money.
Along with streams of obscenities and projectile vomiting we get witty dialogue and keen insights into a fascinating period of Hollywood history.
An unusual, vibrant score drives "Babylon". There's homage to the Jazz Age and even a twist on Ravel's "Bolero", but a lilting, off-key piano delivers a haunting theme.
"Babylon" nearly had one of those bittersweet endings that make some movies unforgettable. If writer/director Damien Chazelle had ended the film as Manny and his new family walk away from the Kinoscope Studio in 1952, after showing them where he used to work, that finale would have stayed with you. But he milked it. Instead we get a mangled over-emphatic 15 minutes of repeat scenes and homage to the movies. Indulgence that dissipates the powerful mood already achieved.
R18 hurt "Babylon". The early excess set a tone. But I became invested in the characters, and the true test for me is would I watch it again? Yes. Just not right away.