Babylon movie captures the ups and downs of different Hollywood artists from the golden era. It is a movie that is inspirational and demotivating at the same time. Perhaps its sad ending was a big reason why viewers didn’t receive it warmly. It was a revolutionary change for Hollywood when the era of silent movies transformed into talkies. The characters could finally be heard muttering their dialogue and emoting the scenes even better.
But the glorious time didn’t capture the plight of the silent movie actors. The ones who were big stars were left jobless. Babylon peeps into their lives and the sensational and scandalous lives of Hollywood stars of the early period.
Babylon Ending Explained
La Roy and Torres are desperate to achieve success and fame. They meet Jack Conrad (played by Brad Pitt). Jack is a mega superstar of silent cinema. The meeting is fruitful as both achieve meaty opportunities to enter the showbiz world. Babylon captures the efforts that go behind the shooting process.
Attaining the perfect shot is a herculean task, and Babylon captures it very well. La Roy and Conrad are talented individuals, but their happiness is short-lived. Hollywood begins transitioning to talkies. Silent movie stars fall into trouble as they find it daunting to memorize lengthy lines.
They face trouble as they fail to perfect their verbal expressions. Conrad and La Roy realize that no matter how hard they try, they will never achieve the fame and success found in Hollywood. The truth is haunting and depressing for both. Torres, on the other hand, seeks success as he grabs a meaty post in the direction department.
What Happens With Torres And La Roy?
As Torres climbs the stairs to success, his arrogance and ego also start rising. His kindness and humility disappear, and he becomes a rude and narcissistic person. The pressure to shoot the perfect scene and ensure everything’s in place stresses him out. He forces Palmer to do blackface and asks La Roy to give up the carefree lifestyle she led earlier.
La Roy ends up turning into a drug addict and getting into heavy debt. Torres feels saddened to see all this. He loved her deeply once. To help her in this grim situation, he decides to pay her debt. But he is stunned to know that all the money he had was fraudulent. Torres packs his bags and runs from the town with La Roy.
Viewers think that happy times await this couple, but that’s not true. After their engagement, Torres is caught by the dealer’s men. He has to run away again, but he fails to find La Roy. It is then revealed that La Roy has been found dead. Also, Conrad kills himself as he is unable to accept the fact that his fame will vanish soon.
Hollywood Is A Collection Of Memories
Now we move to the final scenes of the Babylon movie. Torres is back in Los Angeles, the city that gave him so many memories. He has his family along with him, and he gets deeply immersed in the old memories. He gets a ticket to enjoy the classical musical Singin’ in the Rain.
As he takes a seat in the jam-packed theater, he is taken to the glorious past—the days when silent movies ruled Hollywood. It’s a beautiful scene as we see the crowd enjoying and laughing merrily while watching the musical while poor Torres cries, remembering the past.
But eventually, Torres gets over the grief. He smiles awkwardly. Though Torres lost it all as the era of silent movies vanished, he should be proud of the fact that he was part of such an intricate system. Hollywood is a dynamic industry that evolves according to the latest trends. The industry cannot stop or wait for anyone.
In the end, Torres realizes that it’s all about being a small component of something that is too diverse to grasp or understand. The people associated with Hollywood will come and go. But their contributions to cinema won’t be forgotten ever and will remain in the vivid memories of people for a long time.
