When I saw La La Land Monday evening with a group of friends, the film was fresh off of its new record-breaking Golden Globe wins from the night before. I had bugged my parents to go see the movie musical all winter break, so the anticipation before seeing the film had been built up over a long period of time. In my opinion, this made me look at it that much more critically because of the high expectations that I had had.
So when I finally strolled into the local movie theater and bought my ticket, I strongly felt that I would absolutely adore La La Land right from the get-go. However, I only realized that I liked the film until the credits began to roll at the very end of the movie.
For the first thirty minutes of the film, director and writer Damien Chazelle creates an artistic and slightly alternative universe of modern day L.A. with colorful numbers and comedic perfection that captures remnants of the classic musicals of the late 1950's and early '60s. The opening number "Another Day of Sun" in particular hearkens back to the classics with its unique setting and style of music. For avid musical theater lovers, "Another Day of Sun" is supposed to seem like an indicator that the movie will sort of follow the very basic happy tune that the majority of mid-twentieth century musicals tend to have.
The number includes the introduction of our main protagonists, Mia (played by Emma Stone) and Sebastian (played by Ryan Gosling). Their comedic first interaction is far from a meet-cute and sets the tone of the film. Both Mia and Sebastian (but mostly Mia) are each determined to not become a couple and to not fall in love. In a classically tragic twist, the two fall in love and are far better matched than they both had imagined.
I went into the theater sincerely believing that La La Land would have the happy that almost every musical within the same genre has, and since it didn't end the way I expected, I loved it even more. The title is an obvious play on L.A.'s name (L.A. = La La, seems clear to me). Additionally, the high expectations that the protagonists and the audience had for the central romantic relationship is further tragic evidence of the reasoning for the film's title. Mia and Sebastian are both dreamers and struggling artists who find each other and have a fantastical type of love.
The end of their relationship is ultimately linked to a lack of communication and dedication to the other's passions and interests. For example, when Sebastian overhears Mia talking to her mom about Sebastian's employment (or lack thereof) situation, he interprets it as her wanting him to get a steady job (i.e. working for John Legend's fictional band) instead of opening the club he has always dreamed of owning. Mia had no idea that his intentions to join the band was based off of making her happy and ends up seeing this as him giving up his dream, even though he got the job just to make her happy.
The downfall of Mia and Sebastian's relationship is so incredibly profound. The irony of La La Land is that the film is extroadinarily realistic and does not give the satisfactory ending that every member of the audience craves. Rather than making everyone leave the theater overjoyed and with a warm and fuzzy feeling, director Damien Chazelle leaves us in an accepting state that love is far from perfect and is not always a part of "La La Land".
