Excess all areas
RESTRAINT GOES OUT OF THE WINDOW IN A TO HOLLYWOOD OF YESTERYEAR
REVIEWS BY DAMON SMITH
BRAD PITT and Margot Robbie star in this exuberant valentine to the golden age of American filmmaking when the industry transitioned from silents to talkies. Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who won a Best Director Oscar for
La La Land, here he conjures a whirling, hallucinogenic fever dream of sensory excess that crashes and burns, reignites, then blazes uncontrollably to cinders again. It’s a whiteknuckle rollercoaster ride with a big opening – namely the dilating sphincter of a distressed elephant about to jettison the contents of its bowels over charismatic lead actor Diego Calva and the camera lens – that
refuses to pump the emergency brakes.
The picture’s emotional heart is film assistant Manuel Torres (Calva), who yearns to rise through the ranks in Hollywood, starting with a lowly position working for suave matinee idol Jack Conrad (Pitt). Manny is hopelessly smitten with ingenue Nellie LaRoy (Robbie), who intends to torpedo her way to big screen fame (“You don’t become a star. You either are one or you ain’t. I am!”).
Their fates entwine with a motley crew of wannabes, leeches and hangers on including jazz trumpeter Sidney Palmer (Jovan Adepo), professional tittle tattler Elinor St John (Jean Smart) and alluring cabaret chanteuse Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li), who writes intertitle cards for silent films. Babylon flings every conceivable bodily fluid and secretion at the screen as Chazelle romps through hit-or-miss comedic set pieces, culminating in a tearyeyed ode to Singin’ In The Rain. In the midst of storytelling madness that careens from a razzle dazzling party festooned with drugs and debauchery to devastating personal loss, you have to admire Chazelle’s ambition and the film’s impressive technical credits led by glorious production design, costumes and composer Justin Hurwitz’s exuberant score. Restraint isn’t in Chazelle’s vocabulary and the ensemble cast embraces the spirit of gung-ho abandon with fervour.
The French-American filmmaker swings big and repeatedly hits himself in the face.
■ In cinemas Friday