With an excessive three hour runtime, this is an ambitious epic aiming at capturing the essence of the roaring twenties on screen. And, overall, it succeeds. With enormous set-pieces, from a vast historical film shoot to an underground prohibition-era, a society soiree for the rich and refined to a wild a, this is a movie with massive aspirations and an even bigger budget. And with long scenes really investing in capturing the crazed, unregulated pizzazz of the time, it really gets to reach its goal. Where it succeeds less is in narrative clarity, preferring an episodic structure and a script that leaves a bit to be desired. It does also stray into the realms of hysteria but this was never going to be a subtle film.
Review of Babylon
