LOS ANGELES, United States —
Brad Pitt and
Margot Robbie said Hollywood has largely kicked its former drug-filled
excesses, as their new film “Babylon” about 1920s Tinseltown hedonism entered
the Oscars race.
اضافة اعلان
The eagerly awaited Paramount movie from “La La
Land” director Damien Chazelle, also starring Tobey Maguire and Jean Smart, had
its first screening for critics late on Monday at the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.
It charts the fortunes of largely fictional
Hollywood actors and producers trying to navigate the transition from silent
movies to “talkies” — as well as a lifestyle of cocaine-fueled, no-holds-barred
parties, and wild on-set misbehavior, all depicted in graphic detail.
Asked at a post-screening discussion if “Babylon”
had made her nostalgic for the movie industry’s so-called “Golden Age”, Robbie
noted that “there’s way less drugs now” in Hollywood.
“Sadly true!” joked Pitt.
The movie from Chazelle, who won a youngest-ever
best director Oscar for “La La Land” and was also nominated for the screenplay
of “Whiplash”, is one of the final major award contenders to be shown to voters
this year. Reviews remain under embargo.
They had to communicate because they don’t have language, of course. They had to communicate with the face
Across three hours, “
Babylon” portrays a nascent
1920s and 1930s Los Angeles filled with wild parties featuring drugs,
elephants, and topless dancers, along with spendthrift, lawless film sets in
the California desert.
It also tackles topics such as racism, and the
devastating effect that rapidly evolving technology had on stars of the silent
era, many of whom were abandoned almost overnight by the industry.
Chazelle said he was inspired to make the film after
reading about the “weird phenomenon where towards the end of the 20s, there was
this rash of suicides, deaths that seem that they could have been suicidal drug
overdoses”.
Those deaths coincided with Hollywood’s transition
from silent movies to sound, and “gave it this brutal face”, said Chazelle, who
based his characters on multiple real silent-era stars and moguls.
Pitt said he and Chazelle had discussed a period of
history when Hollywood was “the wild, wild west”.
“I had kind of dismissed that era — hadn’t really
paid attention to it — because it’s not an acting style I relate to. It’s not
what we gravitate to now. It’s very big,” he said.
“They had to communicate because they don’t have
language, of course. They had to communicate with the face,” he explained. “It
wasn’t until I sat down and saw some of the films at Damien’s urging that you
find a real charm in them, and a warmth in them.”
“Babylon” will be released in North American
theaters December 23, and elsewhere next year.
Read more Odd and Bizarre
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
