‘Babylon’ traffics in riotous, bawdy, revolting excess

Titles should reveal something significant about a film, so let the title “Babylon” serve as an announcement and a warning. Prepare, then, for wild sexual orgies, plenty of pills and drugs, tons of alcohol, projectile vomiting, explosive defecating near and on individuals, plus gratuitous, pervasive, obscene cursing. And that’s just the first half of this three-hour plus extravaganza.

In fact, the last hour dramatically changes tempo and mood with a few good, quieter scenes. Not that anything remotely charming or inspirational lurks on the horizon. A better title would be “Dystopia” for the chaotic, riotous, loud, first 90-minutes plus. Those scenes revolve around three central characters: Nellie LaRoy, an aspiring, terrible actress determined to live out her dream of achieving stardom; Jack Conrad, already a famous, philandering silent film star; and Manny Torres, a Mexican American soon to fall into the role of Conrad’s assistant. Also, of significance are: Sidney Palmer, a talented Black jazz musician who will be lauded and then racially insulted; Elinor St. John, a gossip columnist; and Lady Fay Zhu, who romances and dances erotically with the women.

The historical backdrop of the slightly less ridiculous second half is ostensibly the transition from silent to sound film, with scenes still consistent with its outrageous approach; that is, insanity rules. Throughout, several actual directors’ and actors’ names are used. I doubt they’d have endorsed this version of themselves, but that’s poetic license.

Writer/director Damien Chazelle seems influenced by Tarantino’s 2019 “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” also with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Both directors and their actors embrace cutting loose with abandon, Pitt as Jack Conrad, Robbie as Nellie La Roy. Newcomer Diego Calva as Manny Torres serves as the audience’s proxy, an onlooker alternately appalled, shocked, and struggling to cope. All the technical elements contribute: Justin Hurwitz’s music, Linus Sandgren’s cinematography, and Tom Cross’ editing.   

To be fair, “Babylon” has been nominated for several awards, proving, perhaps, that there’s no such thing as going too far with tumultuous, noisy, boisterous presentations. For me, this induces headaches. So, to borrow from Dante’s “Inferno,” “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” I wish I’d been warned. “Babylon” screens at area cinemas.