Babylon

Drug-induced decadence is nothing new in Los Angeles, but director Damien Chazelle sought to capture it in its extreme in Babylon, his exploration of 1920s Hollywood during the advent of the “talkies era.”

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The film features a glittering cast including Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde and Samara Weaving, but one new face is Calva, who plays rising film producer Manny Torres. Calva is an established actor in Mexico, but Babylon represents his first American film.

He recalled his unique introduction to one of his co-stars when Chazelle asked him to come to California and pretend to be a PA on a commercial he was filming with Pitt.

“So, I came to California and then Damian told me ‘Actually, you’re gonna pretend you’re a PA on this commercial. I want you to work in this commercial as my assistant.’ So I was at work for two days in the commercial. I have like my backpack full of Coca-Cola … and I met Brad that way, as a PA, and he was great. And then Mary [Zophres] said the secret like, ‘Brad, have you met Diego? He’s acting in Babylon.’ And Brad turned to me and Damon and said, ‘I think somebody has something to explain to me.’ “

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Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle’s audacious new film “Babylon” is out in the world. Or rather, the highly-anticipated movie, the last major Oscar contender of the year (Unless “Avatar 2” surprises), has been seen by critics in New York and LA, and the responses to the wild film have been dividing.

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The post-film Q&A was lively and eventful, with various mishaps adding to the pratfall-like comedy. Brad Pitt almost fell backward out of his chair at the beginning of the discussion, luckily catching himself with the help of some help from Robbie and Smart. Later on, his microphone didn’t work, which led to further antics.

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Brad Pitt tried to answer a question about the tracking shots and choreography and then threw his non-functioning mic behind him in frustration, causing an eruption of laughter. He eventually borrowed Robbie’s microphone. “I shot the first four days, [witnessed] some amazing choreography, and it was raucous, and it was bawdy, and it had this great energy to it, and half the background is naked, and they’re snorting cocaine off someone’s ass,” Pitt explained. “And then I had three days off, and I came back, and it was still going. I was like, oh my god.”

“I still marvel how much this man got in one shot,” Pitt continued. “I’ve never quite seen it. I’ve been really fortunate to work with some of the great filmmakers, and I already consider Damien Chazelle one of the greats.”

The actor described the screenplay when he first read it as “something spectacular … a very visceral read … It’s extreme, it’s big, it’s bawdy, and at the same time underneath it, there’s just real heart and need for meaning.”

“None of us really matter in it,” Pitt said of his character and all the other characters in the film, one of the themes being cinema will outlast us all. “But we’re all a piece, a little piece of this art of storytelling, and I feel pretty damn honored.”

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One of the most anticipated presumed Oscar contenders, and one of the very few remaining to debut before year-end, dropped last night (11-14) with the first screening of Academy Award winning director Damien Chazelle’s Babylon.

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As for possible acting nominations, Robbie has the showiest role and goes all in. Lead Actress is tough this year but she’s putting it all on display in an impressive turn so she will have supporters. Calva’s Manny gets a slow build but socks it home by the end. But perhaps the single best written and performed scene, for me at least, was between Jean Smart’s feared gossip columnist and Pitt’s fading movie star as she brutally gives him the truth about his career. Though she is in the film throughout, this is the one scene where Smart really gets her moment and the actress delivers it chillingly. Supporting Actress is tough this year, but there could be a place for her. Pitt, here ‘Once Upon Another Time In Hollywood, is really impressive, underplaying much of it, but giving a funny, wise, and ultimately poignant performance that deserves to put him back in contention. The studio will campaign him for Supporting, feeling the lead is actually Calva. Maguire, by the way, is truly creepy and certainly memorable in his scenes that come toward the end.

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