“Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem. Here’s to the hearts that ache. Here’s to the mess we make”.
La La Land opens up with a musical number that sets us back to the Golden Age of Movie Musicals.
From then on we are immersed into 1950’s nostalgia, dazzling musical numbers, vibrant colorful scenery, reminiscent of Jacques Demy‘s very own musicals, and into a blossoming romance that even a very un-Hollywood meet cute won’t stop from happening. All the while being swayed by enchanting songs, instantly transported in a dream state.
Mia is the aspiring actress working as a barista on the Warner Bros lot. Sebastian is the jazz musician harboring the dream of opening his own jazz club. They meet once, twice, thrice and fall in love. But in the “City of Stars”, is that ever enough? Artistic ambition grows and gets in the way.
And if for a split second we want to go back, erase the mistakes and rewrite the story, we know better. Even our two protagonists know they cannot hold on to the past forever. They must inevitably move on, keeping only a small memory of the past, in the form of a pair of tap dancing shoes…
“This is the dream! It’s conflict and it’s compromised, it’s very, very exciting”.
La La Land seems made for every aspiring artist, actor and musician or better yet for every dreamer. It is not a comedy but it makes us smile. It is not a happy romance but it has a happy ending. It is magical, enchanting and maybe, just maybe, it is exactly what we needed to see right now.
La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, was released in the UK on January 13th.
#Peace.Love.LaLaLand
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