By Jack Shanley
Outrageous, fascinating, dazzling and wild are just a few words to describe Damien Chazelle’s new film ‘Babylon’. The big extravaganza follows the rise and fall ofmultiple characters in the early days of Hollywood. I managed to catch a late screening on the night of its release and had mixed emotions at first. For the most part I was in awe but had a slight feeling of disappointment. A messy, chaotic blast from start to finish, it has everything from romance to comedy to even a dark horror sequence. ‘Babylon’ takes you on a journey, a cinematic experience that pays quite a wild tribute to the Hollywood Golden Age and the birth of the ‘talkie’. I felt it lacked direction, though. At times it just felt like a bunch of scenes thrown together, some necessary and others unnecessary. The scale is enormous, reflected in the size of the cast, thousands of extras and more than 100 speaking parts. The three-hour epic boasts an impressive cast and a wonderful soundtrack by Justin Hurwitz, not to mention the amazing costume design taking us rightback to the glamour of the late 1920s. But over everything I liked and disliked about ‘Babylon’, there was something at the forefront of the material, a deep passion for cinema which rises above all the criticism. Chazelle brings us into his heart and leaves everything on the screen. His passion, not only for the craft of moviemaking but cinema in general, carries a breath of fresh air into the cinema, shining a light on the impact of movies on his life. As soon as the lights go down and the opening shot fills our screens, we are bewildered as to what’s about to occur, perhaps a wild journey through cinema. Who knows? It’s that unknowing that creates a story slowly unfolding into joy as our eyes are transfixed for such a magnificent ending. I really enjoyed ‘Babylon’, would recommend people go see it, and give it a score of FOUR stars. You can watch ‘Babylon’ at your local cinema today. Director: Damien Chazelle – Rating: R – Genre: Drama/Comedy– Run Time: 3h 9m – Language: English, Spanish. For more film content please follow @movies4fanatics on Instagram.