A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 46 wins & 161 nominations total
J.C. Currais
- Truck Driver
- (as JC Currais)
Marcos A. Ferraez
- Police Officer
- (as Marcos Ferraez)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe character of Lady Fay Zhu is loosely based on Anna May Wong (1905-1961) the first Chinese-American actress in Hollywood whose career spanned both silent and sound films.
- GoofsA "Jackass Forever" billboard appears in the 1952 epilogue.
- Quotes
[Jack finds George crying with his head in the toilet]
Jack Conrad: Aw, Georgie. Who was it this time?
George Munn: [panting] Claire.
Jack Conrad: Claire. Well, Claire's a lesbian. That's an uphill battle for anyone.
- Crazy creditsThe Paramount logo is the 1920s version, fitting the era the film is set in.
- Alternate versionsIn Singapore, before the film could passed with an R21 classification for theatrical release, the distributor required to remove a scene depicting a deviant sexual act in which the authority felt it has exceeded the classification guidelines which states that "any material that is about or promotes deviant sexual behavior" would be refused classification.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Movies of 2022 (2022)
- SoundtracksMy Girl's Pussy
Lyrics by Harry Roy
Music and additional lyrics by Justin Hurwitz
Performed by Li Jun Li
Featured review
It's really three films.
...and I wish I could rate them separately. The first act of the film is a fast paced tale of innocence cast into a world of debauchery. It's a beautifully shot, fantastic tale showing the dramatized excesses of show business and the people who would do anything to gain entry into that world. 9/10
The second act was a somewhat more tame and methodical tale of the inner-workings of 1920's film production, with the standout scene being the "hello college" scene. Out of place however, was the whole tangent around the party leading up to the snake. While decidedly funny, I didn't like the pacing very much. 6/10
The final act was a tricky one, and probably could have been 30 minutes shorter. Despite absolutely loving Toby's character, the little side-quest they go on pushed to already exaggerated "Babylonian" theme to to a point of absurdity. It's obvious that some sort of narrative bridge was needed to set up the final scene, but I felt it was overdone. Pitt's character arc wasn't bad, but it lost a lot of steam and I honestly wouldn't have noticed if his character had only been mentioned in the pre-credits sequence. 4/10
If there is one strong point throughout the entire film, it's the use of the dueling saxophone score and quick cuts to drive home the manic energy present throughout the film. Without that score many of the slapstick-heavy scenes would have felt tiresome in an already very lengthy movie. I have a hard time recommending this film to any but the most serious of film nuts, but it's impossible to deny that the bones of a great story are here, they just needed to leave some of the fat on the cutting room floor.
The second act was a somewhat more tame and methodical tale of the inner-workings of 1920's film production, with the standout scene being the "hello college" scene. Out of place however, was the whole tangent around the party leading up to the snake. While decidedly funny, I didn't like the pacing very much. 6/10
The final act was a tricky one, and probably could have been 30 minutes shorter. Despite absolutely loving Toby's character, the little side-quest they go on pushed to already exaggerated "Babylonian" theme to to a point of absurdity. It's obvious that some sort of narrative bridge was needed to set up the final scene, but I felt it was overdone. Pitt's character arc wasn't bad, but it lost a lot of steam and I honestly wouldn't have noticed if his character had only been mentioned in the pre-credits sequence. 4/10
If there is one strong point throughout the entire film, it's the use of the dueling saxophone score and quick cuts to drive home the manic energy present throughout the film. Without that score many of the slapstick-heavy scenes would have felt tiresome in an already very lengthy movie. I have a hard time recommending this film to any but the most serious of film nuts, but it's impossible to deny that the bones of a great story are here, they just needed to leave some of the fat on the cutting room floor.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Vavilon
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $110,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,351,455
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $3,603,368
- Dec 25, 2022
- Gross worldwide
- $63,562,440
- Runtime3 hours 9 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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