In the fantastic action movie “Babylon of our era”, the actors Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry, or rather, their screen characters, save the new race of people from certain death and confront the sect of noelites. The film at the box office did not earn a lot of money and barely recouped its budget. Let's try to figure out what the viewer might not like in this picture?
Short story and filmmakers
The film "Babylon of our era" is rich in a variety of plot intricacies. He falls into the category of science fiction films, but if it were possible, the creation of the Frenchman Mathieu Kassovitz could be called "fantastic science fiction."
His picture is about a not so distant future: by 2027, according to the plot of the film, as a result of a terrifying war, the entire population of Eurasia will turn into poor, dirty and wretched people. But America will stand stronger than ever. And in order to get there for permanent residence, the mercenary Turop undertakes the most dirty work: he agrees to deliver the unfortunate girl from the Kyrgyz monastery to New York in a sect to treacherous noelites. But on the way the main character changes his mind to do this and now is already turning into a fierce defender of Aurora, who also turns out to be the “chosen one”, the representative of the new race. In the finale, the girl dies very spectacularly, but leaves her children “re-educated” from the villain to the noble knight Turopa. Here is such a heartbreaking story.
Mathieu Kassowitz shortly before the "Babylon of our era" shot the thriller "Gothic" with Holly Berry in the title role, which turned out to be much more successful at the box office. But then a whole team worked on the horror film, including producer Robert Zemeckis. In the case of Babylon, Kassovitz simultaneously assumed the functions of director, producer and screenwriter.
"Babylon of our era": actors. Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel is famous for its reincarnations as tough guys. It is always assembled in the frame and as brutal as possible. The actor became most famous for the role of Dominic Toretto from the Fast and the Furious franchise. Since then, Diesel has only gained popularity year after year. He came to the Mathieu Kassowitz project in 2007, just after the release of the “Fast and the Furious” screens.
In the film “Babylon of our era”, the actors Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry, or rather, their characters, first meet in the Noelite monastery in Kyrgyzstan. The hero of the Diesel Turop sees in the girl Aurora just an object that needs to be transported from point “A” to point “B”, to receive his award in the form of an American passport and to be washed off. But as the story progresses, Vin Diesel (Turop) realizes that such as Aurora have a future, and that he cannot leave it to the “noxious” noelites - a bunch of fanatics. A little later, it turns out that Aurora managed to become a twin mother through the
virgin birth , but during childbirth she dies, leaving her new friend - Turop - her legacy in the form of two children.
Melanie Thierry as Aurora
Melanie, who played the role of the same Aurora, is a French actress. Thierry worked for a long time as a model, and in 1996 made her debut in the little-known French film "American".
For a long time, Melanie Thierry remained known only within her own country. And only the main role in "Babylon" allowed to become famous throughout the world. However, after the release of the action movie Kassovitsa, little has changed in the career of the actress: she is still removed only within her own country, with the exception of the British drama “The Zero Theorem”.
The film "Babylon of our era", however, helped Melanie gain a higher status in her homeland. She was more often offered the main roles: for example, in 2010 she played Ms. de Montpensier in the historical film “Princess de Montpensier”, and in 2011 she got the role in the crime drama “Unfinished novel”.
Actress Yeo as Rebecca's sister
The Malaysian actress of Chinese origin Michelle Yeo in the fantastic picture of the Frenchman Kassovitsa got the role of the Kyrgyz nun Rebecca. That's how things get confused in Hollywood movies!
Michelle Yeo has a very interesting biography: she was born in Malaysia, but her parents were pure ethnic Chinese. As a child, Michelle studied ballet, a little later - modern dance. Parents personally took her at the age of 17 to enter the London Dance Academy. But due to a spinal injury, Michelle lost the opportunity to perform at the best ballet floors in Europe, so the future actress quickly rebuilt and began to break into the modeling and film business.
Michelle began acting in films in 1984. On her account there are many fighters (“Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), in which Yeo demonstrates his excellent physical shape. By the way, Michelle is the only actress whom the famous Jackie Chan in his films allowed to independently develop the stunt part.
Gerard Depardieu as Gorsky
The film "Babylon of our era" could not have done without the French cinema star. This invited celebrity was Gerard Depardieu.
Depardieu in the fantastic film Kassovitz played a Russian by the name of Gorsky, which, incidentally, is not the first time that the actor has done: he also played
Grigory Rasputin in the Russian film "Rasputin" and Zhora in the sitcom "Zaitsev + 1". So in the picture Kassovitsa Gerard, most likely, practiced in front of a whole string of "Russian" roles in the future.
However, Depardieu became famous not by these screen characters. Spectators from all over the world know the French actor as the leading actor in the comedies “Between an Angel and a Demon” directed by Jean-Marie Poiret, Unlucky and Dad by Francis Weber, and also as Obelix from the series of family films Asterix and Obelix.
But cooperation with Russian directors did not pass without a trace for Gerard: he became so attached to Russia that in 2013 he even received Russian citizenship. And a little later he abandoned the French, substantiating his decision by the fact that present-day France with its values ​​does not inspire him. Despite the provocative statements by Depardieu, the actor is very willing to be invited to shoot in French and European cinema: in 2015, Gerard appeared in the melodrama “Valley of Love”, in 2016 he starred in the Italian film “Creator: Past”, and also played the main role in the Russian film "Sports without Borders".
Charlotte Rampling as the Noelite Priestess
In the film “Babylon of our era”, the actors Vin Diesel and Melanie Thierry are hiding from the sect of the noelites. The image of the treacherous priestess of this community on the screens embodied a British actress named Charlotte Rampling.
The woman began her acting career in 1966. Since then, the actress has played many famous roles:
Irene Adler in the detective "Sherlock Holmes in New York", Ann in the thriller "Spy Games", Milena in the film "Basic Instinct-2" and etc.
Wilson as a brilliant doctor
Lambert Wilson in the film "Babylon of our era" played a brilliant doctor - the creator of Aurora. Indeed, in fact, the brain of a unique girl is a computer. This car was invented by Dr. Arthur Darkvandir, whose image was embodied by Lambert Wilson. But then the scientist was separated from his “invention”, and only after many years he has the opportunity to help Turop and Aurora raise a new human race, created in the likeness of a girl.
Wilson is a French actor. His most memorable role is Merovingen from the Matrix series.
Other role performers
Also in the work of Mathieu Kassovitz you can see a French professional athlete named Jerome le Bannet. Jerome is a great master in kickboxing and boxing. He was invited to the project to participate in spectacular battle scenes.
In addition, actors such as Mark Strong (“Robin Hood”), Dmitry Voronkov, David Belle (“Malavita”) and Jan Unger (“Bloody Countess - Bathory”) appear in the frame.
As you can see, the cast of the picture is not so bad, so the reason for the failure of the Kassovitz project is difficult to name. Most likely, he let us down a script that even in the form of an annotation looks extremely implausible, and in some places even ridiculous. And since it is difficult to believe what is happening on the screen, it means that the misadventures of the main characters will leave the viewer indifferent.