The most important movies that defined New Hollywood as we know it aren’t just famous today, but will continue to be revered as relics of an era that permanently changed cinema as an art form. Hollywood has undergone various forms of evolution, but some periods and modes of transformation have ultimately proved to be more resilient and impactful.
These are not to be confused with the best movies of all time, as some films that become immortal may not leave an indelible mark on the artistry to revolutionize it, even if they become beloved enough for their adoration to be passed down for generations. Often, the changes they bring about aren’t even as easy to notice without hindsight.
Many modern movies have reshaped the industry, but it’s currently at a major point of reinvention. The box office still struggles to meet the pre-COVID-19 pandemic standards, which permanently changed people’s viewing habits. The future remains uncertain, but one movie that captures the feeling of being at such a juncture itself was a victim of this phenomenon.
Babylon Is A Love Letter To Hollywood
Damien Chazelle’s 2022 epic movie, Babylon, is a modern masterpiece that tracks the events during the most-documented period in cinema history: the transition from silent films to movies with sound, or talkies, as they were referred to at the time. With a runtime of over three hours, it is almost woefully obvious why it struggled at the box office.
However, that shouldn’t be the case. Movies with similar runtimes have received, if not commercial success, at least critical acclaim, like 2025’s One Battle After Another, which one might argue, depending on the quality of the statistics, found both. A movie so in love with Hollywood that its editing is glitzy, chaotic, and nearly impossible to rationalize should be popular.
From depicting how scenes were filmed with audio on sound stages to how the infamous hedonism of Hollywood had to make way for a more sophisticated lifestyle due to the format’s popularity as a serious form of art, Babylon mourns what is lost with a passion. Handheld, long, tracking shots alternate with rapid cuts to infect the viewers with energy.
Babylon Criticizes Old Hollywood’s Most Shameful Moments
Yet, Babylon isn’t just a wide-eyed proclamation of love that ignores the flaws of the bygone era. It’s also a harbinger of truth, a reverent recreation of an era when working in films was as perilous as it was exciting. From blackface and deaths on set to animal cruelty and uninhibited debauchery, it is critical of old practices, too.
What makes Babylon‘s ending so good is that it captures the moving nature of the industry, known for creating moving images for entertainment. From the nature and quality of audiences to the constant developments in technology, it is an industry that keeps up with demands, leaving both the good and the bad in the past, and Babylon is the observer.
Damien Chazelle Proved He Can Handle Large-Scale Stories
Damien Chazelle’s legacy to future film historians will be defined by Babylon, which Margot Robbie still defends despite its status as a flop, because of the scale of story it tells in an era when small-scale storytelling has become the norm outside action blockbusters or thrillers. La La Land is arguably what put Damien Chazelle on the map, though.
First Man might remain his least-known movie, but what Chazelle hadn’t tackled before Babylon was ensemble storytelling, especially on a scale as large as Babylon‘s, which follows multiple people in different jobs during a formative period in Hollywood. The balance with which he explores their evolving lives while maintaining the jazz-like rhythm of the movie is highly commendable!
Margot Robbie Gave A Career-Best Performance In Babylon
Robbie’s love for Babylon makes sense. It features what might be her best performance ever, even better than her three Oscar-nominated performances. She plays Nellie LaRoy, a woman who almost literally finds success overnight before soon becoming too swept up in the grandeur of Hollywood to even keep up with the demands of her job as a leading lady.
Just like Brad Pitt’s Jack Conrad was inspired by real actors, so was Nellie LaRoy, which is another aspect of Babylon I love. It pays homage to the greats, even demonstrating the flaws in both their personas and their lifestyles behind the screen, while respectfully not naming them. They were products of their time, but they were fantastic actors, too.
Babylon Has Become More Popular In Recent Years
The underlying realization that Hollywood has always had larger-than-life personalities with questionable lives and pasts who made the way for the next evolution, while the industry has survived, is perhaps what makes Babylon relevant despite its nostalgia. It loves tradition and evolution simultaneously, and is saying we should trust that even the current juncture will not prove fatal.
At the time of release, it was panned both critically and commercially. Fortunately, the film has developed a cult following in the years since then. After 3 years, I am relieved to realize that many in the film community now recognize it as perhaps the 2020s’ most underrated masterpiece, Babylon loves movies, and it deserves the same kind of love.
Babylon
4/10
- Release Date
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December 23, 2022
