Anyone seen the UK reggae film BABYLON?
guy_alcindor
621 Posts
Just wondering, I've been wanting to see this for the last couple of years, and never seen it for rent, even at Rep shops. I've seen it go for loot on the bay, but have heard it's an incredible account of late 70s sound system culture in London... 
Comments
After reading the Lloyd Bradley book, Bass Culture, which goes into the story of - and hypes - this film quite a bit, I went looking for it myself...only found PAL VHS tapes on the net from the UK, and all the hipster rental spots in my area came up empty, even on the special order. Maybe if you wrote to one of the sketchy bootleg type internet spots that reissue rare movies, they could dig one up for you.
I've not seen it for years now, but it's a great film and a classic of British cinema. It's not the most complex of plots, but there are some good, strong performances. It's basically about a bunch of soundboys hustling to make their name on the circuit, and the kind of shit they, and young black men generally, had to deal with in the UK at the turn of the 1980's, when the social and political climate took a sharp turn for the worse. It's only ever been available on VHS, but I'm sure there are bootleg DVDs around by now. Why it's never had a legitimate DVD release is beyond me.