Happy in La La Land

Jazz hands swinging in the afternoon to a forgotten yet familiar Hollywood beat.

La La Land is a tribute to the ones who dare to dream, foolish as they may seem. Director Damien Chazelle, of Whiplash fame, once more successfully manages to make his audience alert and aware of the rhythm and raw emotion present in jazz music, even if it’s just playing in an elevator.

Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a traditional jazz pianist, both have dreams that could either be the start of something wonderful or a pairing they cannot make true.

When they meet and fall in love, they encourage each other to pursue their aspirations, not realising the complications that come with having such big ambitions. La La Land is a trip to Los Angeles, the City of Stars, and the declining musical genre of jazz.

It speaks to the audience in a voice of comfort that says ‘I’ll be here and you will be OK,’ and because of this you glide on musical notes throughout the entire movie. Gosling and Stone’s chemistry makes you feel nostalgic for Casablanca, the 1950s and how passionate your grandparents were about jazz.

They are adorable to watch when combined with Gosling’s flair for the music he loves and Stone’s goofy acting. Chazelle tries to define success through his characters and what one must forfeit in order to achieve it.

Chazelle successfully appeals to his audience with this sunny, larger-than-life LA dreams musical through several visual tricks. In one scene set at the Griffith Observatory, he gives literal meaning to the phrase ‘dancing with the stars’ as Mia and Sebastian dance the night away in zero gravity.

The script is cleverly worded too, with the actors making reference to old classics such as Casablanca and Rebel Without A Cause in a clear attempt to tap into our nostalgia and remind us of a forgotten time.

La La Land is doused in Golden-Age Hollywood mise-en-scene, which works well as you find yourself once more longing for that time. It features multiple catchy numbers that will have you singing in the rain (or the shower!) for days.

My personal favourite was A Lovely Night to which Stone and Gosling lent their amateur voices. Falling in love is always better with a soundtrack and what better way to fall in love than with the characters’ own voices?

While neither have spectacular voices, you enjoy the lacklustre in them and empathise as though it was your own heart being pulled, tugged, and sometimes smashed.  There are times when La La Land is pastiche, borrowing too much from Casablanca and Ingrid Bergman.

However, this is perhaps the vision that Chazelle had in mind for it. He imitates his influences so precisely that it begins to seem unoriginal. However, perhaps the point is that he isn’t trying to be original here, but rather recreate something that already existed and give it life once more.

Sebastian is questioned in the movie: ‘How are you going to be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist?’ The film solves the very problem the characters face in the movie; they are stuck in a La La Land of their own, idolising and trying to be the next Humphrey Bogart or Louis Armstrong.

In conclusion, La La Land is colourful, vibrant and soulful from the very first scene and deserves its Golden Globe accolades. At the beginning, Mia says she doesn’t like jazz ... and neither does the audience have to in order to appreciate it.

This is a movie about dreams and reality, love and heartbreak and, of course, music. It’s a movie for everyone.

Now showing: Cineco, Wadi Al Sail, Dana, Novo, Mukta A2