The Damien Chazelle film that aims to redefine the decadence era of the 1920s is chaotic beyond one’s expectations, claims star Margot Robbie. The ensemble affair, Babylon has already made a few rounds on the internet because of the sneak peek into the madness that runs high on every frame of the movie’s first trailer.
But even beyond that, the kind of promotional fuel that has been driven into the pitching of the movie has only served to heighten fan expectations. Now, Margot Robbie goes one step further and invokes the holy grail of all debauchery — The Wolf of Wall Street into reference.
Margot Robbie’s Babylon Exceeds the Heights of Decadence
For each era that has succeeded one after the other, there has been a response to the reaction of its predecessors. Thematically speaking, the staunch period of Enlightenment marked by rationality, logic, and reason above all things was followed by the Romantic period defined by the rustic, the sublime, and the art of finding beauty in the simplicity of things. So too did the decadent era of excess and debauchery find its origin as a response to its predecessor’s thematic elements, and this is where Damien Chazelle finds inspiration for the sensational epic, Babylon.
In his attempt to portray the industry as it was in the introductory age of sound technology, the director focuses his lens more on the carnal hedonism of the time instead of the transition and evolution of Hollywood from mimetic motion pictures to “the talkies”. Although both the themes overlap in Babylon, the overload of artistic quality in Chazelle’s ambitious 3-hour narrative is a documentation of the degeneration and decay of morality and the obsession with material superficiality. Babylon at the turn of the 20th century is a cannonball of immorality, vice, emotions, and a rejection of everything that is moderate and sanctionable.
Margot Robbie Raises the Bar For Damien Chazelle’s Film
In a promotional event for Babylon, Margot Robbie impressively condenses the elevator pitch of the film and manages to heighten the audience’s already increased hopes and expectations for the ensemble movie. While speaking about what the theatergoers might experience this Christmas, the actress who landed her breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013, claimed,
“I remember being on set for [The Wolf Of Wall Street] and thinking, I’ll never be in a film as crazy as this ever again. And then I made Babylon. There’s a dizzying amount of debauchery. One of the most disturbing, chaotic scenes I’ve ever witnessed is in this film, and it involves a fight with a snake. I won’t tell you who wins or loses that fight, but trust me, it’s insane.”
Damien Chazelle further adds, “Hollywood back then was a place where, from the most depraved animalistic behavior, emerged these works of art that were so beautiful and alluring. 1920s Hollywood really was a cesspool of vice, hubris, and excess. We tried to put that on screen. All of it.”
Granted Martin Scorsese’s take on the life of Jordan Belfort and his posse of cocaine-riddled banking epic is an unparalleled masterpiece in itself, but if the claims of Margot Robbie and Damien Chazelle are true, Babylon is set to defy limitations and contain the potential to be the magnum opus that will define and immortalize both Robbie and Chazelle.
Babylon premieres on 23 December 2022.
Source: Empire
