“We often look at the time period as though maybe the most ‘extreme’ thing that happened was having a few too many martinis. The reality is that these people were op- erating in a no-holds-barred kind of world in which an entire industry and city were being built from the ground up, and that takes a certain kind of madness. Hollywood in par- ticular was a wilder, rowdier, more diverse, more free-form place than people realise. It’s a very American story in that way. A group of out- siders, brigands, misfits and dream- ers, fleeing their hometowns, pitch- ing a tent and building an industry from scratch in the desert, and that industry becoming a global behe- moth,” explains Chazelle. Babylon takes us on a journey from the heights of Hollywood dec- adence to the depths of depravity, recreating the feel of Los Angeles before it became a sprawling me- tropolis. Chazelle needed to find the faces and voices to bring life to the characters he had been creating for more than a decade. First up was the casting for Nellie LaRoy, an un- known actress who’s trying to get her big break into show business. When Margot Robbie read the script for the first time, she said it was the strongest reaction she had ever had. “I was like, ‘I have to do it. This role is mine,” says Robbie. For a role like Nellie, Cha- zelle needed a truly fearless actor; someone who can take the screen as though she’s grabbing it by the sides and shaking it to do whatev- er she wants. “That, to me, is Nel- lie. That, to me, is Margot. In many other respects they are incredibly different people, but there’s an en- ergy and fervour and hunger that they both share,” says Chazelle. The casting of Brad Pitt as Jack Conrad, a silent movie star at the top of his game, was just as natu- ral as it sounds. “Brad’s one of the few people to- day with whom you get some sense of what the old school movie star really might’ve been like. That sort of larger-than-life aura that a star of that time could exude seem-
Holivud je prošao kroz niz brzih i ponekad naizgled kataklizmičkih promena tokom 20-ih i neki ljudi su preživeli, ali mnogi nisu, kaže Šazel / Hollywood underwent a series of rapid and at times seemingly-cataclysmic changes in the ‘20s, and while some people survived, many didn’t, says Chazelle
đenih i sanjara koji beže iz svojih rodnih gradova podiže šator i gra- di industriju od nule u pustinji, a ta industrija postaje svetski behe- mot – priča autor filma. „Vavilon“ nas vodi na putova- nje od visina holivudske dekaden- cije do dubina izopačenosti, stva- rajuci sliku Los Anđelesa pre nego što je postao grad koji se širi. Šazel je morao da pronađe lica i glasove kako bi oživeo likove koje je stva- rao više od decenije. Prvo je obavio kasting za Neli la Roj, nepoznatu glumicu koja pokušava da se pro- bije u šou biznisu. Kada je Margo Robi prvi put pročitala scenario, rekla je da je to bila najjača reak- cija koju je ikada imala. – Moram to da uradim. Ova uloga je moja! Odmah sam to zna- la, bez dileme – kaže Margo Robi. Za ulogu poput Neli Šazelu je bila potrebna glumica koja zaista nema strah. Neko ko može da uz- me ekran, da ga protrese i uradi šta god želi. – To je za mene Neli. To je za mene Margo. U mnogim drugim aspektima one su neverovatno ra- zličite, ali postoje energija, žar i glad koje dele – kaže Šazel. Izbor Breda Pita kao Džeka Konrada, zvezde nemog filma na
ko magično – kaže Šazel.
vrhuncu igre, bio je jednako pri- rodan. – Bred je jedan od retkih ljudi danas kod kojih imate neki osecaj o tome kako bi zvezda stare škole za- ista mogla da izgleda. Ta vrsta aure vece od života kojom je zvezda tog vremena mogla da odiše naizgled bez napora. To je stvar sa Bredom, posebno u ovom trenutku njegove karijere. Ne vidite rad, sve je bez napora. To je deo onoga što je ta- Holivud je bio divljije, bučnije, raznovrsnije, slobodnije mesto nego što to ljudi shvataju Hollywood was a wilder, rowdier, more diverse, more free- form place than people realise
Da bi igrao zvezdu nemog fil- ma, Pit je takođe obavio sopstve- no istraživanje. – Vratio sam se i učio. Gledao sam dosta Gilberta, Ferbenksa i Va- lentina. Ima pravog šarma u tim na- stupima. Nemi filmovi nisu imali dijalog na koji biste se mogli oslo- niti, tako da predstave imaju stil koji je drugačiji od onoga što ima- mo sada, a što sam želeo da uhva- tim – rekao je Bred Pit.
Moram to da uradim. Ova uloga je moja, znala je Margo Robi čim je pročitala scenario ‘I have to do it. This role is mine,” knew Margot Robbie as soon as she read the script
ingly effortlessly. That’s the thing with Brad, especially at this point in his career. You don’t see the work, it’s completely effortless. That’s part of what’s so magical about it.” Pitt also did his own research into order to portray a silent film star. “I went back and studied. I watched a lot of Gilbert, Fairbanks and Valentino. There’s a real charm in those performances. Silent films didn’t have dialogue to rely on, they only had the occasional title card, so the performances have a style to them that’s different than what we have now, that I wanted to catch,” says Pitt.
Vratio sam se i učio. Gledao sam Gilberta, Ferbenksa i Valentina, otkriva Bred Pit / I went back and studied. I watched a lot of Gilbert, Fairbanks and Valentino, reveals Brad Pitt
36 | Vavilon » Babylon
Babylon » Vavilon | 37
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