Review: La La Land

     Damien Chazelle’s La La Land (2016) is essentially a film about Hollywood. It seems his idea of creating a city symphony for Los Angeles is fulfilled through the two main characters in the film, Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a struggling jazz pianist, in that the relationship the two have with each other serves as an embodiment of what happens in LA: relationships fail and people change, often for the worse. Instead of getting beautiful shots of the city itself, Chazelle gives his audience fantastic musical numbers and dance routines juxtaposed with shots of single locations that represent a changing and aging city.

     Being a film about Hollywood, La La Land is extremely self-reflexive. The tap dance routine between the two leads begins with Emma Stone taking off her heels after a party to put on tap shoes, as if to acknowledge how ridiculous musicals can often appear in their spontaneity. The height of this self-reflexivity comes during Mia’s vision of a past that could have been. The opening sequence of the film, a long take with possible hidden cuts of a dance routine on an LA freeway, is represented in Mia’s vision as a set of an old musical from the studio system. This set, complete with a director with puffy pants and a megaphone labeled “DIRECTOR,” features extras holding steering wheels while walking up and down a highway set rather than filming on location.

     However, the film is also makes reference to Chazelle’s first film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009). Aside from evolving from the original concept of Guy and Madeline, La La Land features “Boy in the Park” on the radio, a song originally written for Guy and Madeline. In addition, the film expands upon Chazelle’s love of jazz. His first film followed a trumpet player, his second, Whiplash (2014), followed a drummer’s quest to become “one of the greats,” and La La Land features Sebastian, a jazz pianist who is a bit of a jazz purist and refuses to see how the music has changed. Chazelle’s own views of jazz seem to be reflected in the film with Sebastian’s angry reaction to the question of Kenny G and portrayal of contemporary jazz in a comical way.

     The film reminded me of David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr. (2001), in part because they are both films about Hollywood and the problems that exist with “show business.” Singin’ in the Rain (1952), itself a film about Hollywood, can serve as a link between these two films: Mulholland Dr. and Singin’ in the Rain both open with a dance routine that has no bearing on the plot and the film served as an influence for La La Land. Both films provide an alternate view at how characters’ lives could have been different, although this aspect of La La Land is clearly set up as a fantasy unlike Mulholland Dr. where it can be difficult to determine what is happening at any moment. However, it is this desire for an ideal relationship on the part of the characters that really seems to tie these two films together.
     Overall, La La Land is a beautiful film. The use color evokes that of the ‘50s rather than draining the color like many films today. Linus Sandgren’s cinematography only adds to the beauty through the extensive use of long takes, particularly during the dance routines, which utilized single takes for the entirety of the routine. Chazelle’s references to the styles of the old studio system both feeds the Age of Nostalgia and presents new ideas. While the film is underlined with the typical stigmas associated with LA, La La Land does seem to try to put a positive spin on the town. It does not have the classical Hollywood happy ending, but it still feels like a happy ending, which serves as one of the films greatest triumphs.

Submitted by Michael Levy