Babylon

Babylon propose une représentation subjectivement non pertinente et esthétiquement décousue des débuts d’Hollywood, avec des personnages principaux éculés (Brad Pitt), inintéressants (Diego Calva) ou ennuyeux (Margot Robbie). Chazelle a dépassé toutes les bornes. Sans les interludes de jazz qui accompagnent le film, on n’y reconnaîtrait même pas l’œuvre du réalisateur. Les fêtes endiablées et les scènes chaotiques de tournage sont divertissantes, mais on y perçoit déjà une forte théâtralité. La séquence du tournage de la première scène parlée est la meilleure de tout le film, à la fois pour sa chute et pour sa dimension cinéphilique. Mais lorsque Babylon s’éternise et vire à la complainte funeste sur l’incapacité d’évoluer avec le progrès, le film se détériore progressivement jusqu’au Los Angeles présenté comme un véritable trou à rats, soit la scène la plus « n’importe quoi » du film. (06/03/2023)

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. (06/09/2023)

Babylon can make a very impressive first impression. Within the opening thirty minutes, Damien Chazelle serves up physical humour that even Dumb and Dumber would be proud of and a wild orgy of fun filled with sex, cocaine, alcohol, loud music and plenty of reasons for anyone who despises Hollywood to despise it even more. The Wolf of Wall Street would probably walk away from this party disgusted halfway through. But this is where we meet several protagonists who will spend the next few years trying to carve out a little fame, fortune, wealth or respect in Hollywood. And far from all of them succeed. Babylon looks like a grand Luhrmann-type film at first glance, but it's only superficial. Chazelle knows very well how to make the viewer admire his depiction of Hollywood in the 1920s and 30s on the one hand and despise it on the other. He knows how to make his characters laugh, but at the same time make the viewer worry about them, wish them luck or watch their slow, unavoidable fall. And while it looks truly spectacular – not only during the lavish parties, but even during the actual filming of one small scene, which the director manages to turn into an absurd grotesque – at its core this epic drama is actually a rather intimate story of people who have been "there" for a while, had a chance to create dreams and didn't notice that their own lives were turning into a nightmare. Great film. (05/01/2023)

“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)

An epic Masterpiece by Damien Chazelle and a future cult classic! I'm sorry I missed the film at the cinema and I deserve a bullet in the head, this one of the best films I've ever seen. Movies, jazz and cocaine clearly define Babylon, a film divided into three acts and they all have their own angle. The first act is one crazy sick and epic party, where my only regret is that I didn't attend it. The 1920's and depravity of the highest caliber, drugs and sex at every turn, that’s the first 30 minutes. Thanks to the daring, crazy dance creations and the incredibly dynamic music, it draws the viewer fully into the plot and keeps them there until the end. (I'll be watching this act a lot, it’s properly wild!!). Act Two – The Birth of Hollywood – is a wonderful peek behind the curtain as it was and is still going on with all the bad and the good. The journey to fame for ordinary people, the making of movies – incredibly chaotic and people are getting hurt at every moment – the battle of the big companies (Warner, MGM), the transition to talkies, in short, it was incredibly engaging for me and it was great to have been able to experience from the beginning the film industry I could not imagine life without today. Chazelle's strong ambition made my dream come true. The third act takes an unexpected turn into a twisted underground exploitation hell. The underworld of early Hollywood is reminiscent of the world's greatest evil and my mouth was wide open with all that was happening on screen again. The whole film is uniquely shot, 3 hours passes like water thanks to the incredibly fast pace, the dynamics ( the pace here is better and faster than in Avatar 2, and that's saying something). Thanks to the great jazz music, even an ordinary scene can get incredibly dramatic, and I felt like the whole movie was one crazy action ride, pumping me up with one awesome remarkable scene after another. Margot Robbie gives the best performance of her career, she steals the show and outdoes even the excellent Brad Pitt, while the likeable Diego Calva is brilliant. The film isn't afraid to be twisted, bizarre, sick and even brutal (I really didn't expect to see gore here!!), and if that crocodile had eaten someone at the end, I would have been over the moon. A film that has heart, incredibly explosive energy, a compelling script, top actors, top direction and top ideas. I have nothing to complain about. 10/10. (09/03/2023)

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)

An opulent fresco depicting the transformation of old Hollywood into new. I'm terribly sorry that I didn't catch it in the cinema, I wish I had when I think it was there for a measly week. Damien Chazelle pays deep tribute to what movies mean to people with a cynical comedy framed by weeping and mourning for the change that is the only certainty in the world. Margot Robbie is fantastic, she’s insufferable, but at the same time very genuine and worth of protection. The music is incredible, as only Chazelle and Hurwitz can deliver. (21/07/2023)

Explosive in places, but mostly unnecessarily theatrical, hectic and extremely long. Chazelle is recognizable thanks to the musical interludes, which are imaginary mini-peaks of the film. An ode to old Hollywood that has its positive moments, especially on the technical side. Starting with fantastic cinematography, impressive production design and good music. But watching this coked-up wilderness for 190 minutes requires a great deal of patience. Most of the dialogue passages oscillate somewhere between a selection of Tarantino and Scorsese, but never getting it right. A bold, unusual but hard to digest film. (11/03/2023)

Babylon is an experience. This is the kind of film you go to the cinema for, and I don't know if I'll see anything better this year. Just as good, perhaps, because I trust Oppenheimer, but hardly better. The three-hour ride through the iniquitous Hollywood of the 1920s stomps Luhrman's kitschy The Great Gatsby into the cocaine-sprinkled dance floor already in its half-hour opening, and continues to unfold in an almost Tarantino-Coen style, where every scene is perfectly written and acted, plus irresistible black humour mixed with suspense and all manner of bizarre sequences, all set to an absolutely frantic pace driven by Hurwitz's impeccable score. And the actors! Margot Robbie has never been better, Brad Pitt hasn't got such a beautiful opportunity in a long time, and the little-known Diego Calva keeps up with them just fine. I was in seventh heaven and didn't want to leave. Although film awards leave me cold at other times, I'd like to see Babylon in every single one. But what strikes me all the more is that it has not been not nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor or Actress… Hopefully at least the music will succeed, because Justin Hurwitz is simply a genius, as are the sets and the costumes. (28/01/2023)

Un colosse de film. Babylon évoque les vieux Hollywood, non seulement par son thème, mais aussi par son style opulent et ses décors démesurés semblant combiner la mégalomanie de David Lean et la vulgarité de Martin Scorsese. C’est précisément à propos de ce type de spectacles grandiloquents que beaucoup disent : « Plus personne ne fait de films comme ça aujourd’hui. » Et pourtant, si, ça se fait de temps en temps. Une épopée vraiment épique. C'est aussi un contrepoint très rafraîchissant par rapport à certaines œuvres ayant glorifié la cinématographie récemment, parce qu’il montre que le cinéma n'est pas seulement une affaire de glamour et de sentiments, mais aussi, et surtout, de sueur, sang, poussière et même de beaucoup de merdes... Allez le voir sur grand écran, moi, je vais sûrement y retourner ! (07/01/2023)

This lavishly spectacular epic looks back at the wildly ecstatic and tragically sad stories of movie stars whose dreams and livelihoods went up in smoke when interest in them waned. The return to the 1920s, when talkies were ascendent, serves not only as an expression of love for films as such, but also as an extraordinarily sharp criticism of Hollywood as a factory built on oppression and the trampling of human rights. This hypnotising picture switches between genres depending on the prevailing moods of the characters – the first third of Babylon is a dreamily magical and merry narcotic trip, the second third is more of a comedy and the rest is drama-oriented with crime elements. Though the film as a whole may not seem entirely cohesive and it flirts with bombastic excess right from the start, its individual parts are masterfully directed in most cases. Throughout its runtime, however, it is primarily a stylised and exaggerated behind-the-scenes look into filmmaking that illustrates how many of the films that we love and admire were often made in a sea of iniquity, blood, sweat, vomit and excrement. (04/01/2024)

Je ne suis pas fan des films de trois heures, mais j'ai volontiers regardé ce divertissement opulent et décadent et j'aurais peut-être même tenu une heure de plus. Premièrement, la musique est absolument parfaite. Il est vrai que j'y entends toujours La La Land, qui ne m'avait pas plu outre mesure, mais ça convenait joliment à ces fêtes endiablées. Deuxièmement, je ne peux pas ne pas mentionner Margot Robbie, qui a sûrement énormément apprécié et savouré son rôle. Une énergie terrifiante émanait de cette femme incapable de vivre avec quelqu'un et surtout avec elle-même. Sa performance était captivante et je ne comprends pas qu'elle soit si peu mise en avant. Troisièmement, les costumes, la mise en scène, le montage, la grandeur et – une chose que j'apprécie dans un métrage si long – le fait que je ne me sois pas ennuyé un seul instant. La scène répétée pour raison de son, potentiellement agaçante, s'est avérée être l'une des meilleures scènes du film. Enfin, mentionnons la dose de folie relative, de dépravation par moments, l'humour frôlant avec le vice et l'ambiance générale du film. Pour moi, c'est le meilleur travail de Chazelle jusqu'à présent. La splendeur et la misère d'Hollywood, où le succès peut durer une seconde et être suivi d'une chute encore plus rapide. Un excellent moment de cinéma, qui se verra peut-être apprécier au fil du temps. (25/11/2023)

I was really looking forward to Babylon, so my disappointment was even greater when I spent three hours watching a movie that I could only react to with a slight shrug. Even the introduction with the elephant should have warned me to lower my expectations, but I ignored it and continued to hope. I know. I have only myself to blame. Gradually, it became increasingly clear that the creators were trying to shock the audience, and I'm sure they succeeded with the prude American public. For me, a European, their attempt shamefully failed. A naked female body truly doesn't shock me (unless it is morbidly obese or rachitic and emaciated, and even then, I'm disgusted rather than shocked). As a long-time consumer of pornography, urination play doesn't surprise me, and I consider defecation and vomiting to be the last desperate attempt by filmmakers to grab attention and create "controversy." Sure, that's not what the movie was about. It was mainly about the story, but I found it somewhat weak. Only Brad Pitt and Diego Calva impressed me with their performances among the actors. Margot Robbie pushed too hard, and my disappointment was considerable. I found the filming of Nellie's first sound scene amusing, I was surprised by the significant number of casualties during the filming of movies, and I still can't help feeling that this film must have sexually aroused more than one American lawyer when they saw the number of potential lawsuits. If the creators wanted to pay tribute to the art of filmmaking (judging by the ending), the Hungarians clearly beat them. / Lesson learned: Drugs, alcohol, and gambling are bad. 3*- (11/04/2023)

J'ai depuis longtemps remarqué que mes commentaires reprennent depuis des années quelques idées identiques; que mes  « critiques », comme les appelle euphémiquement FilmBooster, décrivent les orbites d'idées prévisibles qui reviennent régulièrement et dont les cercles elliptiques fermés tournent autour de l'Étoile radieuse qu'elles ne toucheront jamais, mais comme si, après x répétitions, elles pourraient enfin y arriver, bien qu'en tant que cafard à l'ombre d'un bâtiment rougeoyant mais pris en réalité par les flammes, je sache depuis le début qu'elles ne le feront jamais et que je m'échapperai à nouveau de l'échec vers la sécurité de l'ombre de la prochaine cave, d'où je regarderai vers le haut pour la prochaine révolution. Chazelle a construit son monument cinématographique avec des quantités gigantesques sur les bases d'une transition entre la révolution au sens moderne du terme et la révolution dans le sens classique de ce mot, qui signifie revenir, tourner en rond... Ses Étoiles de l'écran argenté, son film ne revient pas seulement aux costumes, mais garde l'idée du film comme cycle propre à lui-même - l'idée d'un retour du même matériel comme essence du film, qui change constamment et qui, comme une révolution moderne, semble dévorer ses enfants, mais qui en réalité reste une révolution classique qui ne fait que répéter une éternelle similitude et donne à ces enfants apparemment morts une survie éternelle à travers l'idée de l'essence même du film. Le spectateur de cinéma, tel un cafard, y trouvera donc toujours son compte, car il sait, même inconsciemment, à quoi s'attendre. Une auto-duperie idéologique parfaite que Hollywood a une tendance obsessionnelle à projeter dans tout, tout le monde, partout... - récemment de plus en plus dans le passé (réécriture anachronique de l'histoire selon les mesures actuelles du politiquement correct, et autres) , mais n'a pas peur du futur utopique, comme on l'a vu récemment dans un « opus » de plus de trois heures intitulé Avatar : la voie de l'eau, où une race fascinante de pseudo-humains ne fait que remplir les devoirs chrétiens d'une famille nucléaire bourgeoise associée à un fantasme écolo/New-Age de fusion avec une nature non corrompue, dont le message est porté par une création entièrement assistée par l'image numérique CGI sur-technologisée et coûtant des milliards. Heureusement, Chazelle a montré dans la deuxième partie le revers de la « planète Film », que Hollywood aime souvent ignorer dans la création de ses produits parfaits, mais son épiphanie pseudo cinéphile reproduit seulement de son être la forme conventionnelle linéaire d'une l'intrigue basée sur un ensemble « histoire d'amour-désir-collision-crise-catharsis, etc. », qui nous est présenté comme l'essence même de l'idée du film. (19/01/2023)

An incredible treat. Another tribute to the craft of filmmaking. While Spielberg took a rather sensible approach in The Fabelmans, Chazelle went for a drug-induced adrenaline rush. Sure, the three-hour running time is unnecessarily excessive, but the movie just races by anyway. Aside from Babylon being a fun and crazy ride with some wtf scenes, it has plenty of moments that will be a feast for a movie fan's heart, especially the very end. Not to mention the soundtrack! Hurwitz is a god. (12/03/2023)