London - The Modern Babylon (2012)

Directed by: Julien Temple
Country: UK

Review: Julien Temple is commonly associated to musical projects. His documentaries and music videos included big names of rock such as Sex Pistols, Rolling Stones or David Bowie. In this film he makes a tribute to his hometown, showing the best and worse of the city by digging in its past and present. The process consisted in the aggregation of archive imagery, Londoners’ comments and a lot of representative music, making reference to several bands and styles. Carefully edited in order to portray the city with the right ambience and look, the film condenses more than a century in 125 minutes. Racism, violence and prejudice were predominant within a multi-cultural environment in constant transformation. Among joys, sorrows and some nostalgia, the film provided us with so much information that sometimes was difficult to absorb it completely. Yet, it never became boring in its quirky way and hasty rhythm.