Babylon shows us Hollywood as it was in the 1920s

NoW

Recommendations for this week

2023.02.10

Credit

Article. Im Sooyeon (CINE21 Reporter), Yun Huiseong, Seo Seongdeok (music critic)

Design. Jeon Yurim

Photo Credit. Paramount Pictures

Babylon

Im Sooyeon (CINE21 reporter): Damien Chazelle already demonstrated his deep love for old Hollywood in La La Land. Now he’s inviting us back to Los Angeles, this time with a period piece that takes place in the 1920s. But any look back at Hollywood in those days will reveal it wasn’t all glamor. The year is 1926 and the era of silent movies is still hanging on. Manny (Diego Calva), a Mexican man with dreams of working in the pictures, drops himself into a drug-laced, sex-crazed party with hopes of making some connections and meets Nellie (Margot Robbie), an aspiring actress who’s already a natural. Nellie lands a small role and goes on to become a scene stealer with her natural talent, propelling her to stardom, but it all comes crashing down when the industry starts to change with the release of The Jazz Singer, the first “talkie,” or film with sound. Babylon’s peek into the barbarity of Hollywood’s industry feels overproduced at first and struggling under the weight of one-dimensional metaphors but the dramatic moments are breathtaking when they take over. It’s fascinating to watch the way Chazelle captures the perspective that silent films were brilliant and deserve to be honored, while the arrival of film with sound was like an onset of diarrhea. Still, even as movies gained sound, Technicolor was introduced and computer graphics made it possible to conjure up anything, what ultimately makes them sublime is that they’re an experience to share with the world. It’s the kind of movie that proves you can still love a film that’s so superficial as to be off-putting because that superficiality is exactly what makes the art accessible.

Abbott Elementary (Disney+)

Yun Huiseong: Set in a public elementary school in Philadelphia, ABC’s Abbott Elementary was one of the most acclaimed comedy series in the United States last year. Awards don’t tell the whole story, but it won major accolades including Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards, among others. It’s a little harder to explain what makes the show so special. Abbott Elementary isn’t some overly sophisticated series rife with punchlines that competes for your attention like all those breathtakingly beautiful or short and clever viral videos. The show is a mockumentary, following a style pioneered by shows like The Office. The scenes of minor events taking place in a small, tedious institution come from a long line of similar pedigree. There are references to Netflix and TikTok but the first-season finale makes more allusions to 1980s teen classics Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Breakfast Club. Janine (Quinta Brunson) and Jacob (Chris Perfetti) complete a challenge in proper “teacher style” in the 11th episode of the first season and say they did so in a “good old-fashioned” way, which perfectly describes the direction and virtue of the whole series. Every scene in the show feels so commonplace that they hardly seem fit for a work of fiction, covering things like underfunded schools, teachers whose passion and skill never come in equal measure, and challenging but wonderful students. It’s exactly the kind of world you can find anywhere outside the TV screen, but if that’s what you’re looking for your entertainment to capture, Abbott Elementary does an amazing job playing the part. Brunson, one of the leads and also a writer and producer, is herself from Philadelphia and her mother is a teacher with 40 years of experience. Brunson even named the series after one of her own elementary school teachers as if to emphasize the realness of the story in the show. How many people can say their life became a TV series? When the whole world seems to be trending towards shows about drugs, violence and crime to turn everyday life into something dramatic, Abbott Elementary proves that it can be enough just to show some love and sincerity. That the show won so many awards despite this simplicity is a hip-hip-hooray for the ordinary and how comforting it can be.

Spotify’s BUTTER playlist

Seo Seongdeok (music critic): Sometimes we get picky when we go to listen to soul or R&B. I don’t want it too loud or noisy. But it has to have the right groove. And I need to it be chill enough that I can listen to it in bed. Also, I don’t want some classic soul I’ve heard before—I want it to be fresh and new. In short, it’s like we want to be alone without having to feel lonely. BUTTER, a playlist on Spotify, is the perfect choice to scratch that itch. There’s familiar faces like Silk Sonic and Beyoncé, but BUTTER’s strength lies in its amazing ability to capture specific preferences in great detail within a widely varying genre. “I Can Only Whisper” by Charlotte Day Wilson and featuring BADBADNOTGOOD perfectly captures what the playlist sounds like. But BUTTER also has more retro-sounding songs like “Adonis” by Adi Oasis and even moves into hip hop territory with songs like “Gorilla” by Little Simz. Where else would an artist like Masego, with his ability to combine jazz, R&B and hip hop, feel so at home?