Reviewed by Sohail Ahmed ||
The 2022 film, Babylon, is a character study, one which pays homage to the decadent revelries of the 1920’s and the hedonistic ambience that permeates both the parties off-camera, and the movie shoots on-camera. Before delving into the eponymously titled film, it is imperative that we provide some historical and cultural context as to the time period and the advent of modern technology that ushered in a new era, one in which Hollywood would come into its own fully.
“Talkies”, or motion pictures with sound, were heralded as an engineering marvel, and while many supported Hollywood’s plans for the future, those who worked in the industry, along with those who identified as film “purists”, both neophyte and scholar alike, knew all too well that the rise of new technology would render their own jobs as obsolete, a vestige of an era in flux. After all, this is Hollywood, a city and industry run off a creed that does not seem to embrace longevity, and yet, there always seems to be a nostalgia for yesteryear, even amongst those society writes off as vapid and materialistic, the very socialites and debutantes that remain in vogue as a career prerequisite. Now, before I digress further into a tangent chronicling each respective epoch in the annals of cinema, I would like to say that this film is not a linear, plot-driven film. It is, on the other hand, a Tarantino-esque case study on the life and times of a coterie of colorful characters involved in the industry in the early 20th century. That being said, now is the time to grab concessions, take your seat, and please…., put your “smartphone,” or any other “smart” gadget, on vibrate. Alas, the time has come for us to begin. 1…2…3….
Imagine yourself in a Ford Model-T Roadster driving up the dizzying canyons that sprawl the San Andreas fault, giving birth to a nascent Los Angeles which was little more than a haven for farmworkers, and of course, the debutantes that made their way to “Tinsel Town.” Decadent parties, filled with all sorts of colorful characters topping up on bootleg liquor, nerve pills, and a coterie of other psychotropics large enough to fill a buffet table. Add in the “Flappers,” the Blonde Bombshells, the James Dean lookalikes, and a mansion up in the hills, and you will get the idea. If, by chance, any of this reminds you of any number of scenes from The Great Gatsby, it is because they share a lot more than an influx of well-to-do families from the more bucolic regions of the country, they share the political frenzy known as the “Roaring Twenties.” Unlike the prim and proper snobbery that called the eastern shores of Long Island home, however, the Hollywood elites of which I speak of have one thing that separates them from the aforementioned New Yorkers, and that was “Manifest Destiny”, an ideology and mantra that spurred many Westward in hopes of great riches from the days of the “California Gold Rush” of the mid-nineteenth century. They were INVESTED, and it was a Love Affair, and THAT is exactly what drives this story and surrounding social commentary, a man from humble beginnings, and his impossible dream. Manny, the story’s protagonist, is a keen student of film and buses tables at all the premieres and parties, looking to prove himself amidst the bacchanal of self-indulgent movie moguls and their orbiting band of talentless sycophants, actors in all the fine regalia and accoutrements of the former half of the twentieth century.
Now that you know a little of the backstory, instead of simply ranting and raving about the excesses of Hollywood, let us take a look at the changes that took place between the Two World Wars, but instead of a modernist diatribe akin to that of T.S. Eliot, let us take a more post-modern approach. Hollywood was just beginning to usher in “Talkies,” and this advent of the sound put many in the industry on edge, and rightly so, given their jobs and overpriced mansions were at stake. Manny traverses this frenetic world with a glint of naivety, but with that a good heart, and gets his first break working on set through a foxy, cocaine-laden encounter with a laudable vixen of an actor, “The Devil in the Red Dress.” Manny will surmount every obstacle hereafter, be it the cunning of industry moguls, or the reckless and half-baked ideas of stage hands, and succumb to heartache. Never Fear, however, as Manny too will get back up from that one, with a smile on his face, “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed” as ever. Throughout the highs and lows of the story, many of which are accompanied by some sort of anti-heroic shenanigans and comic relief, Manny’s character does not budge, while the world and those around him remain in flux.
Decades later, Manny revisits Hollywood, the particulars of which I will not divulge, and looks back on everything that really ever mattered to him and drew him to the film industry in the first place: A seminal novelty in the form of “Cinema.” Long before the inception of modern technology and the instant-gratification that comes with it, binge-watching was not an option, and even those middle-class families well off enough to frequent the cinema weekly focused not simply on a sensorial experience, but a confluence of a crowd that cheered, booed, and jested, in an institutional cornerstone of the community, a place where upstanding folk would spend a weekend evening with their families. Nowadays, unfortunately, the only static element circling the screening rooms are the teenage buzzards looking to swipe some popcorn and impress their high-school sweethearts with “free tickets.” Times have changed, but this is not an attempt to lambast the status quo, nor reminisce over an epoch fraught with myriad problems, it is a means to “bridge” the gap or cultural divide. If this movie ends upon one of your streaming services, please do not put it aside as something to kill the time, but view, and savor it, as a case study that reconciles emotions with a history often glossed over in the textbooks, and all of the nameless stars who went out “not with a bang, but a whimper”. It is a long movie, often concerning itself with mundane scenes that do not seem to drive the plot, but past all the costumes and props lay the soul of a generation etched out around the mid-twentieth century, as silent film was on its way out. My hope is that you will savor the film, and, in the process, discover the love affair that once set Hollywood ablaze, even when “Tinsel Town” was no more than a series of dim lights at the bottom of the Mulholland Overlook, a fickle gem that never managed to actualize its personality and potential.
