Watch: interview with director Damien Chazelle about his new jazz-inspired film, Babylon
Monday, January 23, 2023
In an exclusive extract of an up-coming feature interview, Jazzwise writer Selwyn Harris spoke to Babylon film director Damien Chazelle
The new film from Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle, Babylon, opened in cinemas across the UK on 20 January, and is a lavish and visually opulent epic set in 1920s Los Angeles. Led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart, it's a tale of “outsized ambition and outrageous excess”, tracing the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood as the film industry transitioned from silent movies to talking pictures.
The soundtrack includes pieces scored for a "manic" 100-piece orchestra recorded in Los Angeles, as well as other cues scores with circus sounds from composer Justin Hurwitz, who commented that "a huge part of [the] scoring process was to find unique musicians to bring it to life" and credited musicians Sean Jones, Dontae Winslow, Ludovic Louis, Jacob Scesney, and Leo Pellegrino for their contribution to the score.
Watch our exclusive interview extract below and look out for an in-depth feature Chazelle's use of jazz in contemporary cinema in the April issue of Jazzwise which is on-sale from Thursday 16 March – Babylon is in cinemas now