Damien Chazelle filmed a 2-hour version of "Babylone" on his iPhone

Damien Chazelle's "Babylon" is a long, long journey through early Hollywood. At a sprawling 189 minutes, the film has one of the longest running times of any commercially released film this year, narrowly beaten by "Avatar: The Way of Water." But Chazelle made a much shorter version of the film: it was shot in his garden on his iPhone.

During a Q&A in Los Angeles for “Babylon” (via ) in November, Chazelle told the audience that he prepared for filming by rehearsing and shooting a full version of two hours of the film in his garden. To accomplish this task, Chazelle enlisted his wife, Olivia Hamilton, who plays silent director Ruth Adler in the film, and her leading man Diego Calva, to play all the roles in the film.

"We rehearsed the whole movie in his garden, just Olivia, Damien and me," Calva said during the Q&A. "It was a very rare kind of situation."
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While the backyard cut of "Babylon" would likely not be distributed by Paramount Pictures, the final film's much longer running time has been cited by some pundits as a reason for "Babylon's" poor performance at the box office. The film earned $3.6 million in its first week against a projected budget of $80 million.

With Calva, "Babylon" stars Brad Pitt as silent film star Jack Conrad and Margot Robbie as rising starlet Nellie LaRoy, with Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart supporting the performances as as industry professionals struggling with the transition from silent cinema to sound cinema.

"Babylon" proved to be one of the most polarizing films of the year, with critics alternately praising and disparaging the film. In a mixed review, IndieWire's chief film critic David Ehrlich called the film "Caligulan's silly ode to early Hollywood," which "reminds us that movies have been dying for over 100 years, then – through his prayer of a moving and endearing finale to the galactic mastermind – interprets this as uplifting proof that they will indeed live forever. He just has no idea how the movies will do it, or where it might go from here."

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Damien Chazelle filmed a 2-hour version of "Babylone" on his iPhone

Damien Chazelle's "Babylon" is a long, long journey through early Hollywood. At a sprawling 189 minutes, the film has one of the longest running times of any commercially released film this year, narrowly beaten by "Avatar: The Way of Water." But Chazelle made a much shorter version of the film: it was shot in his garden on his iPhone.

During a Q&A in Los Angeles for “Babylon” (via ) in November, Chazelle told the audience that he prepared for filming by rehearsing and shooting a full version of two hours of the film in his garden. To accomplish this task, Chazelle enlisted his wife, Olivia Hamilton, who plays silent director Ruth Adler in the film, and her leading man Diego Calva, to play all the roles in the film.

"We rehearsed the whole movie in his garden, just Olivia, Damien and me," Calva said during the Q&A. "It was a very rare kind of situation."

Related Related

While the backyard cut of "Babylon" would likely not be distributed by Paramount Pictures, the final film's much longer running time has been cited by some pundits as a reason for "Babylon's" poor performance at the box office. The film earned $3.6 million in its first week against a projected budget of $80 million.

With Calva, "Babylon" stars Brad Pitt as silent film star Jack Conrad and Margot Robbie as rising starlet Nellie LaRoy, with Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart supporting the performances as as industry professionals struggling with the transition from silent cinema to sound cinema.

"Babylon" proved to be one of the most polarizing films of the year, with critics alternately praising and disparaging the film. In a mixed review, IndieWire's chief film critic David Ehrlich called the film "Caligulan's silly ode to early Hollywood," which "reminds us that movies have been dying for over 100 years, then – through his prayer of a moving and endearing finale to the galactic mastermind – interprets this as uplifting proof that they will indeed live forever. He just has no idea how the movies will do it, or where it might go from here."