The Basics of the La La Land Storyline
Directed by Damien Chazelle, La La Land is a world-famous modern masterpiece. The film perfectly captures the themes of love, ambition, and the sacrifices that come with pursuing one’s dreams. Taking place in sunny Los Angeles, La La Land tells the story of Mia, an aspiring actress who’s eager to get her career up and running, and Sebastian, an underappreciated jazz musician struggling to support himself financially and hoping to reach the dream of opening his own jazz club. Through the dynamic of the movie, the main characters progress through phases of prioritizing their relationship challenges over maintaining their career and passions. They decide that they are only holding their partner back from better improved versions of themselves. At the end of the movie, both Mia and Seb agree on a bittersweet goodbye.
Details that Make the Film
Visually, La La Land is extremely appealing to its audience. With its color pallet during musical sequences and iconic scenes, everyone can recognize it. Throughout the movie, it’s no surprise that the writers and directors had plans to show the significance of the plot through color theory. Some fans’ ideas suggest that Mia’s clothing color pallet fades to grey as the plot thickens and grows dreary. Others even argue that because Mia is seen wearing lots of blue while Sebastian is seen wearing shades of red when they finally come together, the color purple is all around, representing their new and growing relationship.
It also tributes to the classic Hollywood musical type while adding modern ideas. The movie is taped in wide ranges and smooth long shots that are very difficult to film and take long rehearsals and a very talented and particular cast and crew like Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
The writers for most of the music on the movie soundtrack, Justin Hurwitz, Justin Paul, and Benj Pasek, all compose the iconic piano cords everyone knows but also use music throughout the movie to guide the audience through the character’s emotions and the settings. They also commonly repeat songs such as City of Stars yet change or adjust lyrics and audio to refresh and perfectly match the current situation from a unique perspective.
Why the Ending is Necessary
Despite the controversy and overall public opinion, La La Land has one of the most impactful and emotional endings because it breaks away from the typical happy ending. Instead of ending up together, Mia and Seb achieve their dreams but go their separate ways. The ending sequence is filled with clips and videos from the longing for what could have been, in other words, the closure everyone needed. However, in real-time, they move from each other and it highlights the importance of how something needed to fall apart for something else to come together.
Overview
Although La La Land is often argued as overrated or compared to other modern-day romances, it is still one the most beautifully filmed pieces of cinematography with many talented people involved in the creation of it. With its mix of music, dancing, romance, heartbreak, and the desire to earn the things you work for, the movie perfectly captures this in a way that almost feels both classic and new.
