Babylon                2 ½ stars

One word can summarize the Damien Chazelle tribute to old Hollywood known as Babylon. That is extravagance. In the opening scene there is a lavish party for the rich and famous taking place in the mansion of a Hollywood producer complete with drunkenness, cocaine use, nude dancing and a live band. The scene seems to go on forever, only ending with a live elephant being led through the ballroom in order to distract the partiers from the possible overdose death of a drugged out teenager. The movie is full of over-the-top situations and scenes full of extras that are designed to give us a sense of utter chaos. This is how Chazelle sees the world of Hollywood filmmaking in the twenties and thirties (which may not be far from the truth). Other scenes take us to the California desert where elaborate sets are created involving hundreds of people for simultaneous filming of movies. In the silent film era you don’t have to worry about the noise interfering with your scene. Throughout the movie we follow the exploits of three main characters, Manny Torres (Diego Calva), a young Mexican American man starting at the bottom of his career in Hollywood, Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) an unknown actress who is ambitious and certain that she is to become a star and Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), an aging Hollywood actor who doesn’t realize yet that his career is rapidly coming to an end. Their stories as well as those of a handful of other characters show us how people achieve fame in the film industry only to see their lives ruined or suffer humiliation after the public becomes tired of them. It is a theme as old as Hollywood itself, only Chazelle is determined to assault our senses with all the debauchery, treachery and extreme cruelty that he can pack into Babylon’s three hour runtime. It feels like he is trying to give it a Baz Luhrmann treatment only without the caring for the human qualities of the characters. This is from the same man who brought us La La Land, First Man and Whiplash, all more interesting and entertaining films than Babylon. There is a fascinating scene about the making of the original Singin’ in the Rain (not the Gene Kelly version) and a final homage to Hollywood where we see some of the most famous images from popular films including 2001:A Space Odyssey and Avatar. Margot Robbie I must say gives an amazing performance of the confident Nellie LaRoy and should not be blamed for this overproduced and overhyped movie.