Babylon: what does the title of Damien Chazelle’s new film, with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, mean?


This January 18, Damien Chazelle gives you an appointment in the dark rooms in the company of Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, heading to the Hollywood of the 20s and its decadence. But then, what does the famous “Babylon” in the title mean?

WHAT DOES IT TALK ABOUT ?

1920s Los Angeles. A tale of overweening ambition and wild excess, Babylon traces the rise and fall of various characters during the creation of Hollywood, an era of boundless decadence and depravity.

HOLLYWOOD BEFORE THE ERA

He made our hearts beat to the rhythm of the cymbals of Whiplash, put stars in our eyes with La La Land: Damien Chazelle is determined to take everything in his path with the release of his new film. In cinemas from January 18, Babylon is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated releases and which will mark 2023.

And for good reason, carried by a cast to die for, like Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Tobey Maguire, this oh so ambitious project has been in the mind of its director for many years. It took him no less than 15 years of research and script construction before bringing this unique fresco to life, a scintillating homage to cinema.

The basic idea is to make a huge, epic film, with many characters, set in the early days of Los Angeles and Hollywood, when they were starting to become what we imagine they are now.“, describes the one who received the Oscar for Best Director in 2017.

Paramount Pictures

Set in the 1920s and describing the transition from silent to talking, the feature film immerses us in this Hollywood all in grandeur and decadence. An era of depravity and sins, nicknamed at the time “Babylon” in reference to its biblical symbolism: “Babylon the great, mother of fornicators and abominations of the earth.”

Another reason that may explain the choice of this title: the incredible work Hollywood Babylon, in which filmmaker Kenneth Anger sheds light on the hidden faces of countless Hollywood celebrities, and reveals a host of anecdotes about pre-Code-era cinema. A book that undoubtedly strongly influenced Damien Chazelle in the making of his Babylon, to be discovered on January 18 at the cinema.



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