By Elena Hijazi | Staff Writer

“It’s written in the stars. I am a star.” Those are words uttered by main character Nellie LaRoy (played by Margot Robbie) in Babylon, which most critics called “a 3-hour-long party!”. While this film evidently does not shy away from extravagance, it is safe to say that is the least interesting part about it. I had not watched a movie that ignited in me as much emotion and reverence as Babylon did in a very, very long time. I thought it deserved a fan to vouch for it given its unfortunate critical and commercial failure that is mostly to be blamed on its bad marketing. Ultimately, this is a film about the love of filmmaking.

The film showcases the Hollywood industry in 1920s Los Angeles and all that it entailed. It focuses on three characters navigating their careers in the film industry, and how their careers and lives got altered with the introduction of sound in film. Babylon was shot using film cameras as opposed to digital ones because its director Damien Chazelle felt it would be the most honest way to tell its story. He sums the movie up quite right by saying, “It is a love letter to cinema and a hate letter to Hollywood.” Babylon is spectacular due to the following reasons.

The Historical Accuracy: It took Chazelle 12 years to make Babylon, and his passion towards this project oozes from his intense research and attention to detail. What sparked his interest in writing such a script was his pre-existing love for Hollywood history and his findings of authentic pieces of writing from that era that rendered him awestruck. He had realized the level of recklessness in which movies were made back then, and so, he decided to make a movie about making movies under such conditions. Furthermore, the movie showcases the failure of Jack Conrad (played by Brad Pitt) after sound was introduced to film in 1926. This was the reality of many actors of that era like silent-film-icon Buster Keaton, who became unemployed the last 30 years of his career because he did not know how to be funny in his films when silence was not expected. Babylon very accurately portrays the Hollywood film history from little things like Jack Conrad mentioning going to the nickelodeons, female directors making films as early as the 1920s, and excess in inexorably chaotic environments of movie making.

The Cinematography: As usual, Chazelle never misses visually. His signature whip-pans (sudden movements of the camera from one object to another during which the image is blurred), his bright-colored mis-en-scene, and his technique of “starting with a short”, aka, making the first scene of the movie a short movie in its own right, are all present in Babylon. He uses these methods in all of his movies like a director who truly knows what he wants and how we wants it, and he manages to do that in unexpectedly creative and original ways every time. You can always tell when a movie was directed by Chazelle.

The Music: In true Chazelle-an fashion, the music in Babylon is jazz, just like it is in his Oscar-winning films “La La Land” and “Whiplash”. Chazelle used to competitively play in a jazz band when he was in college, and he is often referred to as a “musical director”. The soundtracks of his films are astutely made and vehemently capable of transporting your brain back to the film said soundtrack belongs to. Music changes everything in a film. It tells you what to feel. The music in Babylon is mighty genius and enticingly pliant. I would suggest listening to “Manny and Nellie’s theme”. The music is always the real main character of Damien’s films, and Babylon is no exception to this.

The Scenes Within the Scenes: The best scenes in this movie are those of the filmmaking process at that time. The astounding performance of both Robbie and her character Nellie as an actress with her insane ability of crying on queue and dropping her tears (or tear) from whichever eye and at whatever moment the director demands is phenomenal. Additionally, these scenes unveil the toxic environment of filmmaking during 1920s Hollywood with the endless repetition of certain takes just because, the derogatory treatment of the actors and workers, and (SPOILER ALERT) the death of the sound guy because they refused to let him out of the red room under hellish weather conditions. Achieving such an authentic tone while filming a set within a set is not an easy task, but Chazelle impressively pulls it off.

The Montage: All of this being said, the absolute BEST part of Babylon, without a doubt, is the montage towards the end. This montage is of the most infamous and crucial moments and films in cinema history, as character Manny watches it in the movie theater sobbing. This is truly what the film is all about: the love of cinema. “But in a hundred years, when you and I are long gone, anytime someone threads a frame of yours through a sprocket, you will be alive again. You see what that means…?”, Elinor, Jack Conrad’s agent tells him. Film is forever, just like art is, and the emotions that they can bring up in us can be overwhelming. I saw myself in Manny in this scene. It was life imitating art, indeed. Even if you don’t end up watching Babylon, I urge you to simply watch this montage.

I love film, and if you are reading this, you probably do, too. Give this film a chance; it is eloquently written, masterfully shot, and exquisitely inspiring. This is my take on Babylon, I bestow it upon you with an open mind and heart. Thank you for taking the time to read this.