On February 26, 2017 La La Land made history by being announced as the winner of the Best Picture Oscar for 2016. Only it hadn’t actually won the award. The wrong envelope was handed to presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and, when Beatty noticed the mistake and hesitated reading the card, Faye snatched the card out of his hands and read out the name on it, La La Land. The producers, director and cast all walked on stage to accept the award but keen eyes were quick to spot that some commotion was going on behind them as the acceptance speeches were being read. Mid acceptance, it was revealed that in all actuality, Moonlight was the winner. Warren Beatty took most of the blame in the heat of the moment but the real culprits were Faye for taking the envelope out of his hands and the representative for PricewaterhouseCoopers who was distracted and gave the wrong envelope to them in the first place. So for just about a minutes time La La Land was the announced Best Picture winner. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were given a second chance the following year to announce the Best Picture winner and you can bet those envelopes were double checked by everyone before they walked the stage.
As for the film itself: La La Land is a throwback to the golden age of Hollywood musicals as well as a love letter to the city of Los Angeles in general. From the opening shot where the image expands from the 4:3 aspect ratio to Cinemascope, a direct homage to The Girl Can’t Help It, it is clear that this is going for audiences that are nostalgic for this era of the movies. With that in mind the film opens up with an elaborate musical number filmed on the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange leading into downtown Los Angeles. Cars are stuck in gridlock and the sounds of horns transform into an urban beat that becomes a musical number involving dancers, bikers, musicians and singers all celebrating the warm, consistent climate of the city. It’s hard to believe that this musical number was seriously considered to be cut from the film at one point. It’s the first thing to be filmed but was nearly on the cutting room floor right up until the film was finalized for release.
The film follows the lives of two people living in the city, both of whom are struggling to achieve their dreams. The first is Amelia “Mia” Dolan (Emma Stone), an actress working in a coffee shop on the Warner Brothers lot while attending auditions that never seem to pan out - Her most recent audition was going well until her monologue is interrupted when the casting director takes a phone call in the middle of an emotional scene. That evening her roommates convince her to attend a lavish party with the possibilities of someone in attendance being able to help jumpstart her career. Instead it ends up being a lot of drinking and making out. Mia leaves the party early only to find out her car has been towed. While walking home she is lured into a restaurant by the sounds of jazz music on a piano.
Sebastian “Seb” Wilder (Ryan Gosling) is a jazz musician trying to save enough money to open up his own jazz club. He works at a restaurant playing generic Christmas music but is unable to help himself from diverting to jazz despite warnings from the owner of the place (J.K. Simmons). His impromptu playing ends up getting him fired but not before attracting Mia in from the streets. She tries to offer him a compliment but he storms out of the restaurant before she can get it out. Months later the two meet again at a party where he is performing in a 1980’s pop music cover band. After the party the two walk to their cars together, lamenting wasting a lovely night together despite having some obvious chemistry. For the next hour these two will get to know each other better, fall in love, and encourage each other with their individual dreams. By the time we get to the end of the picture both will have achieved their goals but have lost each other in the process. This is called La La Land, where dreams can come true but often come with a hefty price.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are a charming couple and are doing their best to emulate the style and tone of those classic movie musicals from a bygone era. But neither of them has quite the talent of Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers when it comes to their dancing abilities. Just watch the choreography during the A Lovely Night song and it’s clear as day what is missing. Their dancing, while technically proficient, is nothing to get awestruck over. It’s muted and slow paced, well timed and choreographed but hardly difficult. Compare that to the moves Astaire and Rogers do during the Heaven song in Top Hat. There is energy and speed in that dance that really showcases those two’s talents as dancers. No one watching Astaire and Rogers is thinking those moves are easy to accomplish. When Fred and Ginger are dancing it can feel exhausting just watching them. The same cannot be said about Emma and Ryan. With those two it feels more charming and quant than awe inspiring. Later in the film there is a sweeping dance number amongst the stars where the two leads appear to float into the cosmos as they are dancing together. They are seen almost completely in silhouette hiding whether it really is the two actors or just doubles. Fred and Ginger never needed to hide if it was really them. It’s a beautiful moment but it is also cut short, something that would have been a real show-stopper in an actual musical from the old days.
La La Land showcases Los Angeles well, hitting many of the iconic landmarks as well as some of the lesser known staples. A scene in the old Rialto Theater transitions from a screening of Rebel Without a Cause, showcasing the Griffith Observatory into Sab and Mia actually going to the location and seeing several of the famous rooms inside. It is here that the dance amongst the stars takes place. We get dance numbers on Mount Hollywood Drive overlooking the city as well as a good long look at the Warner Brothers backlot. There are too many other famous locals to list here but anyone familiar with the Los Angeles area will be thrilled to see so much of the city represented in loving detail. This really is a love letter to the city.
La La Land does not have the traditional happy ending. Sab and Mia really do fall in love with each other but that is not always enough to make a life together. She pushes him to take a good paying gig with a touring group that plays music he doesn’t have any passion for but will bring in the money needed to realize his dreams for the jazz club. He pushes her to write and star in her own one-woman play with the hopes that someone important will see it and help launch her acting career. When few people show up for her play she is devastated, knowing she will not be able to afford paying for the stage she had booked based on the tickets sold. His musical group is seeing success and has to go on tour taking him away from her for long periods of time. All this tension causes a rift in their relationship. She panics and flees back to her parents home in Nevada. While she is away he gets a call from a casting agent looking for her. They saw her play and want her to audition for a big role that will be filming in Paris. If she gets it it will separate them for even longer while she films and he is on tour. It’s all she could have ever dreamed of, but at what cost?
Some people dislike this film because of how it ends. This is not the type of film where the couple end kissing each other as it fades to black. This is a movie about sacrifices and successes. As Mia gets success as an actress she meets a man, marries and starts a family. Sab buys his jazz club and performs there nightly. The two meet again when Mia comes across his club while out with her husband. Sab sees her as she’s listening to his music, gives her a bittersweet smile and the film fades to black on that. Just prior to that, though, we get a montage of the entire movie played out in a more idealized fashion with their meeting, courting and marrying each other instead. It’s a fantasy the two can imagine about how their lives could have been, played out in an extravagant musical dance number. In its own way it’s reminiscent of the final moments of An American in Paris which also ends on a drawn out dance sequence.
I haven’t seen Moonlight since it first released whereas I have seen La La Land many times over the years. Consequently I cannot as yet speak for whether, in my opinion, the Academy got it right the way they voted. La La Land is, for me, a special picture that speaks to my love for the motion picture industry and for Hollywood in general. At the time I wanted it to win and what happened that night crushed me. When I do get around to rewatching Moonlight I’ll have a better perspective on why it was chosen over this film. I don’t see my opinion being swayed but I won’t count it out, either. Until then, I stand by my feelings that La La Land is an amazing film that is easily my favorite of the year and one of my all time favorite romance films of all time.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt
Best Director: Damien Chazelle (won)
Best Actor: Ryan Gosling
Best Actress: Emma Stone (won)
Best Original Screenplay: Damien Chazelle
Best Cinematography: Linus Sandgren (won)
Best Costume Design: Mary Zophres
Best Film Editing: Tom Cross
Best Original Score: Justin Horwitz (won)
Best Original Song: “Audition” (The Fool Who Dreams) by Justin Horwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Best Original Song: “City of Stars” by Justin Horwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (won)
Best Production Design: David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (won)
Best Sound Editing: Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Best Sound Mixing: Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steven A. Morrow
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Release Date: December 9, 2016
Running Time: 128 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone
Directed By: Damien Chazelle
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