In 2016, this musical directed by Damian Chazelleindependent director who had gained much prestige with his film whiplash. But far from being a product for a limited audience, La La Land it had (and has) all the ambition of a very massive genre film, one of those films destined to become a classic. An intelligent combination of the purest codes of cinema from the Golden Age of Hollywood with a more disenchanted and melancholy look from all subsequent cinema.
The most transparent structure is the basis of the script of La La Land. She, Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), is an aspiring Hollywood star who works in a coffee shop. He, Sebastian Wilder (Ryan Gosling), is a jazz musician who dreams of having his own place to play and spread the music he likes the most. Mia and Sebastian are going to meet and fall in love, despite some initial conflicts, as also corresponds to the purest and most traditional concept of romantic comedy.
Around there are bad people who do not value or respect them, the world of their dreams seems to fall apart, but our heroes do not give up. It is easy to identify with them and love them. Not only that, the viewer wishes them happiness from minute one. And all this with a combination of beauty, color and music from classic Hollywood movies. Musical numbers that contrast with a less glamorous and less happy reality.
The highest point is when the couple is going to kiss in the dark of the room where they see rebel without a cause. When the film cuts it is a foretaste of what is to come as the scene that follows is larger than life. Beauty reaches its highest point. The game between the magic of cinema and the bitterness of life begins to deepen. That romantic perfection which, due to the clues that the film itself gives, the director uses to later turn the screw that is the very heart of the film.
La La Land It was from the beginning a film that sought to go down the path not of the classic musical, but of the modern musical that pays homage to the classic. clear references to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) of Jacques Demy either They all say I love you (1997) of Woody Allen. Musicals are traditionally the territory of happiness, of fantasy, of dreams, they are also the genre in which viewers take refuge from a gray and sad reality. This game makes it an easy movie to love, but at the same time sophisticated and capable of looking at everything from both sides. That is why its popularity but also its prestige. When the awards season started at that time, La La Land spiked to the point
Fourteen Oscar nominations showed it as a record film. Both of its leads were in their prime and the movie industry loves stories about show business. The film ended up winning six Oscars, including best actress, Emma Stoneand best director Damian Chazelle. But when the Oscar for best film was awarded, a mistake was made with the envelopes and it was announced that La La Land, mistakenly, had also won that award. In the middle of the acknowledgment it was learned that this was not the case, that the winner had been moonlit but that the company that delivered the envelopes had made a mistake. In an awkward and annoying way, the film’s own script had been replicated.
Six years have passed since the premiere and without that award, the film today remains a classic that can be returned to again and again. The songs are fantastic and their magic is intact. It can now be enjoyed on HBO Max, but is also available on Paramount Plus and QubitTV. Do not miss the opportunity to see it again or for the first time.
