''Babylon'' is a 1980 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Franco Rosso Franco Rosso (29 August 1941 – 9 December 2016)Bill Douglas Centre"Franco Rosso 1942-2016" ''Babylon'', 27 December 2016.Martin Stellman"Franco Rosso obituary" ''The Guardian'', 2 January 2017. was an Italian-born film producer and director b ...

. Written by

and Martin Stellman, it is an incendiary portrait of racial tension and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

set in Brixton, London. The film, anchored by

Dennis Bovell Dennis Bovell (born 22 May 1953) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of a progressive rock group called Stonehenge, who later changed name and became the British r ...

’s propulsive score, is partly based on Bovell’s false imprisonment for running a Jamaican sound system, Sufferer’s Hi Fi, in the mid-70s. Produced by

Gavrik Losey Gavrik Losey (born 1938) is an American-born participant in various aspects of filmmaking including producer and production manager. Gavrik was born in New York, the son of film director Joseph Losey and fashion designer Elizabeth Hawes. He att ...

and the National Film Finance Corporation, the film is regarded as a classic.

Plot

''Babylon'' follows a young reggae DJ ( Brinsley Forde, M.B.E., frontman of the British group Aswad) of the Ital Lion sound system in Thatcher-era South London as he pursues his musical ambitions while also battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbours, police, and the National Front.

Cast

Production

''Babylon'' was filmed on the streets of

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

and

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The story centers on

sound system Sound system may refer to: Technology media * Sound reinforcement system, a system for amplifying audio for an audience * High fidelity, a sound system intended for accurate reproduction of music in the home * Public address system, an institution ...

culture and themes of police brutality, racism, poverty, and disillusionment with lack of opportunities. ''Babylon'' was filmed on a six-week shooting schedule, entirely on location in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

and the West End. The production headquarters were above a rambling church in

. The set was totally closed to visitors, including journalists, because of the film's sensitive subject matter and the fact that shooting was taking place in an area of London where there was racial tension. The cast of actors were carefully chosen, with the help of casting director Sheila Trezise, Franco Rosso, and Martin Stellman, who all already had many contacts within the black community. Aside from the regular actors, there were many extras. The vast majority were West Indians living around the

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

Peckham Peckham ( ) is a district in south-east London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon place name meaning the vi ...

, and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

areas.

Music

The film features an entirely reggae and dub soundtrack, including artists such as Yabby U,

I-Roy Roy Samuel Reid (28 June 1944 – 27 November 1999), better known as I-Roy, was a Jamaican deejay who had a very prolific career during the 1970s. Biography Born in 1944 in Saint Thomas Parish, Jamaica, Reid graduated from Dinthill Technical C ...

, Aswad, and

Release

''Babylon'' world-premiered at

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

' ''

Semaine de la critique Critics' Week (), until 2008 called International Critics' Week ('), is a parallel section to the Cannes Film Festival organized by the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics. History Critics' week was created in 1962, after the French Syndicate of ...

'' in 1980. It received an X rating, and was released in the United Kingdom in late 1980, and appeared at the

1981 Toronto International Film Festival The 6th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 1981. The festival screened films from more than twenty different countries. ''Ticket to Heaven'', a Canadian film, was ...

on 11 September 1981. Originally deemed “too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension” to play at the

New York Film Festival The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center. Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, NYFF i ...

, the film was not released in the United States until 8 March 2019. The U.S. release was distributed by

Kino Lorber Kino Lorber is an international film distribution company based in New York City. Founded in 1977, it was originally known as Kino International until it was acquired by and merged into Lorber HT Digital in 2009. It specializes in art film, art ho ...

and Seventy-Seven. On 20 August 2019, ''Babylon'' was released on

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Reception

Critical response

''Babylon'' received praise from critics both at its original 1980 release and 2019 U.S. release. Many praised its representation of Black youth life in South London during the Thatcher-era.

Wesley Morris Wesley Morris (born December 19, 1975) is an American film critic and podcast host. He is currently critic-at-large for ''The New York Times'', as well as co-host, with J Wortham, of the ''New York Times'' podcast '' Still Processing.'' Previou ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' chose the film as a critic's pick, claiming the film "still feels new… You’re looking at people who, in 1980 England, were, at last, being properly, seriously seen.”

Hua Hsu Hua Hsu (born 1977) is an American writer and academic, based in New York City. He is a professor of English at Bard College and a staff writer at ''The New Yorker''. His work includes investigations of immigrant culture in the United States, as ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

noted how "few films portray this moment in black British life quite like Franco Rosso’s ''Babylon".'' The film also received acclaim for its themes of racial violence and police brutality. Robert Abele of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called the film "assertive and ebullient... alive as a movie can be". Jaya Saxena of GQ describes Blue's journey as "a story with literally epic stakes". The film has an approval rating of 100% based on 27 critic reviews on the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

Accolades

For ''Babylon'',

won the 1981 ''Evening Standard'' British Film Awards Most Promising Filmmaker award.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0080406, title=Babylon
2019 U.S. Release Official Trailer

Fan site

Assessment of critical reputation
1980 films 1980 independent films 1980s British films Black British films British drama films British independent films 1980s hood films Films about Rastafari Films about social realism