It's a bravura set piece, and one of several vignettes that may have viewers wishing Paul Thomas Anderson had directed the film. Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022, How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire, 'Barbie' at CinemaCon: Love or Hate the Doll, 'This Movie Is for You', Margot Robbie Thought 'Barbie' Would Not 'See the Light of Day': They'll Never 'Let Us Make This Movie', 2023 Emmys Predictions: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie, The 25 Saddest TV Character Deaths of This Century. By the time we were shooting, we all felt on the same page. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. Though Robbies hardly the only center of the movie, as Chazelles self-described gallery of characters includes Brad Pitt as Jack Conrad, a fading-out actor of the Douglas Fairbanks or Valentino; Calva as Manny Torres, a PA who rises in the ranks and falls for Nelly; Jovan Adepo as jazz musician Sid Palmer; Jean Smart channeling Louella Parsons as alcoholic Tinseltown columnist Elinor St. John; Li Jun Li as the Anna May Wong-inspired Lady Fay Zhu; and many more in the gaggle best left unspoiled. ------------------------------------------, Park Chan-wook's mesmerizing "Decision to Leave" is a dreamy seduction that plays with our trust, "EO" is the gorgeously hypnotic drama about a donkey whose journey will break your heart, Surrender to Alejandro Irritu's Netflix movie "Bardo," a surreal "chronicle of uncertainties". Critics Choice nominations for writer-director Chazelle and star Robbie are among the many nods, as well as Best Picture, Best Editing, Cinematography, and Score. Directed by Damien Chazelle. It was a big meal of a screenplay, he said. As an IndieWire exclusive, you can now read the full screenplay for Chazelles Babylon here. Because the outset, it wasn't the goal to push those kind of limits. The party is where the film's five main protagonists are first introduced. Damien Chazelle worked on Babylon for over 15 years. It was so dusty you would come home head to toe covered with dust, and when I take my boots off my feet are caked in dirt and dust. The next week brought the battlefield scenes. That started my brain going.. It was my ideal of a real collaboration, a give and take between actors, where we had a lot of time to discuss the characters in the script before cameras started rolling. The Film Industry Lost Some Titans This Year What Happens Now? Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. This Article is related to: Film and tagged Babylon, Damien Chazelle. Related There was just this overall vibe of totally unhinged behavior that I didn't think was a reality until at least the '60s, '70s, '80s. If all that sounds drastically unlike Damiens previous work, well, thats intentional the La La Land filmmaker wanted to make a movie at the other end of the storytelling spectrum to that acclaimed 2016 musical when approaching Babylon. Today at TIFF, months before its Christmas Day theatrical opening, Oscar-winning filmmaker Damien Chazelle came to show off the trailer of his Hollywood period opus, Babylon. In other words, I adored all 180-plus minutes of it. Learn more. Chazelle told him, Nothing. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of serviceapply. While Chazelle did trim several sequences, including a marinara food fight and a trip to Mexico, I was surprised by how much stayed in the movie, said Pitt, who plays a hard-drinking matinee idol who does not transition easily out of silents. In some ways, it did feel like a parallel experience, discovering the movie through the scouting. Damien Chazelles manic vision of a wild, wild west Hollywood heyday, Babylon, screened for the very first time November 14 in Los Angeles for Academy members and select press. #BabylonMovie pic.twitter.com/BnKQiOz2Zd, Scott Menzel (@ScottDMenzel) November 15, 2022. 5 min read. Rumor was Chazelle had written another musical, but Im told that is not the case here. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The ballroom at the Ace Theatre in downtown L.A. required eight days of shooting, with hundreds of extras and an elephant, plus other hallway and room sets filmed in other locations. It's hard to imagine something as dramatic as the shift that they went through there. Here's What's Been Said About It. hold the ones you love and watch movies always and forever. The signs are conflicting. It's one of the most impressive screen turns for Pitt in a long time. "Babylon" is also exasperating. EARLIER EXCLUSIVE, 7:45 AM PST: Several studios are lining up for Babylon, a script that Damien Chazelle has written to. ', This helps to explain why Nelly operates at such a frenzied level throughout the film. Set in the 1920s, the maximalist epic tells a story of ambition and excess, full of sex, drugs, and movie stars, as the industry makes the transition from the silent film era to talkies. We're going to live each day like it's our last!'". Playing a fictional character in old Hollywood in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood led to Pitt snagging his first acting Oscar; maybe he can strike gold twice. To prepare, everything in the film was storyboarded, and Chazelle shot the big scenes on different locations with his iPhone, and cut them together like an animatic, with music from Hurwitz. Exteriors were grabbed at Sheas Castle in Antelope Valley. 2023 Emmys Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie. We're just going to live each day like it's our last, because it might be!" When he calls EW in early October, he's still hard at work putting the finishing touches on Babylon, his sweeping epic (out Dec. 23) about the rise and fall . Justin Hurwitzs score is one hell of a wall of sound. Brad Pitt stars as world-weary aging film icon Jack Conrad, who crosses paths with rising starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) as she does whatever it takes to reach stardom. On the other, in 2013 Baz Luhrmanns $105-million period extravaganza The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, scored $150 million domestic and two craft Oscars. I just need way more. I was like holy shit, I dont know if I have more. Margot Robbie tries but the script fails her. Its one of the most impressive screen turns for Pitt in a long time. However, this means that it'll be just over four years in between Damien Chazelle pictures. Makes the eternal mistake of reminding you of much better movies you could be watching, only in this case it's like a hundred of them. Cinemablend is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. We had a whole trip to Mexico, Margot Robbie said. Chazelle's direction is in overdrive here, and viewers may suffer, ahem, whiplash. Remove Ads Cast Crew Details Genres Cast Especially in those conditions, theres something about the sun and the sweat and the dirt and shooting in that environment. Daisy Edgar-Jones will next begin production on Twisters, the sequel to 1996's Twister. Chazelle was the son of university professors, and as a child he had an interest in both filmmaking and music. Is this a love letter to cinema or a suicide note? After First Man underperformed at the box office, despite being a critical success, such a high-priced period piece was thought to be a pretty risky bet, which led Chazelle to rework the script and come down on the budget. When Babylon was announced back in November 2019 and given a Christmas Day 2021 release date, it was likely believed that the film would have little problem meeting this more than two-year window. Kevin Polowy (@djkevlar) November 15, 2022. More than a year after First Man debuted, Damien Chazelle officially revealed what his follow-up movie would be. He never did come up with a strong storyline. Those camera boxes were death traps, said Chazelle. . artists, biography, musician, songs or emotional, dancing, choreography, songs, tune or musical, sex, sexual, relationships, erotic or sensual, weird, surreal, bizarre, dream or confusing. Whereas there really was an end of the silent era. What are we to make of Babylon? Per THR, Pitts character is supposed to be based on real-life figure John Gilbert, whos best known roles are probably in King Vidors The Big Parade, and for starring alongside Greta Garbo in one of her breakout roles in Flesh and the Devil. Many films simply punted on 2020, hoping that 2021 would allow for a return to theaters for potential blockbusters and awards hopefuls. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. Realistically, the studio is looking at the numbers for another, more recent period saga, Ridley Scotts House of Gucci, starring Adam Driver and Lady Gaga, which scored $54 million domestic. I like to begin by having the actors surprise me having the actors bring their own ideas and personalities to it and then we can refine it, refract it, find something together. Damien expects so much of you as an actor. Side note, Pitt is being true to his word about taking less acting roles. At 02:51:40, a billboard for Jackass Forever appears in the 1952 epilogue. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. More at Emma Stone, who along with Chazelle won an Oscar for her work in La La Land, is circling to star. A fun-loving guy who's name is everyone, whether it be the wild parties of the 1920's to all the movies that come out. There might have been moments during that day where I regretted that it was one of the harder day ones Ive ever had., Next came Nellys first day shooting a movie, dancing and crying on cue. Babylon has already racked up a Golden Globes win for Best Original Score while garnering nominations at upcoming awards ceremonies. Joshua Rothkopf (@joshrothkopf) November 15, 2022, I have some really really bad news to share with you, #Babylons a flaming hot mess, a tonal disaster, easily Damien Chazelles worst film & one of the worst films of 2022 , Erick MMT Weber (@ErickWeber) November 15, 2022, #Babylon is both a sensational celebration of cinema as an art form and a deeply probing condemnation of the mechanics behind said art form. Influencers: Profiles of a Partnership 2022, How to Pitch Stories and Articles to IndieWire, Dressing to Be Seen: How the 'Babylon' Costumes Defined Jean Smart's Gossip Reporter, The Finest Victrolas, the Most Squalid Toilets: The Stories Behind 5 Key 'Babylon' Sets, 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Scripted Variety Series, 2023 Emmys Predictions: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie. Damien Chazelle is an American director and screenwriter. He is a writer and director, known for Whiplash (2013), Whiplash (2014) and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). We want to hear from you! The 'Breathless' filmmaker leaves behind a body of work that revolutionized modern cinema. This definitely wound up being a shoot where it was lots of takes. He created characters (played by Diego Calvo, Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt) to follow that trajectory. Heres how Chazelle went about making Babylon.. 2023 Deadline Hollywood, LLC. SALON is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. The opening party Bacchanalia was also impossibly challenging to film. Diego Calva plays Manny Torres and Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in "Babylon" (Paramount Pictures). Babylon is a fever dream of a movie thats best when its being a straight out comedy. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, tracing the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood. It is bold, unique, intense, insane, ultimately profound. However, her potential replacement is none other than Margot Robbie. I wanted to tell a story about society at that time and how it shifted when sound came in. Pitt looks movie star handsome here, which helps, but his character's loss of passion may mirror how the star felt about the script, which saddles him with despair for at least its last hour.