Rated by the Washington Post as "The real star in “La La Land” is the movie itself, which pulses and glows like a living thing in its own right." Ever since the release of La La Land on the big screen, the movie has continuously swept through the nation and is predicted to sweep the Oscars just as they swept the Golden Globes with 7 awards. Hitting the Box Office with a total of 68.2 million, what is it that makes this Modern Musical so successful?
The Musical takes place in modern day Los Angles where two aspiring people fall in love and follow their dreams of acting for Mia (Emma Stone) and owning a successful Jazz Club for Sebastian (Ryan Gosling). Since both Mia and Sebastian are finding their place in the world, they encounter rejection and find completion and acceptance in each other. Starting out with their own personal views of their awkward yet romantic encounter, the audience sees a life of a "Dreamer" living and struggling in the land of showbiz. Once they both come to the realization of the deep love and connection between the two, they begin to understand the importance of self love and self appreciation which is more important than the love and appreciation of the world.
As the Musical continues, the path for the two becomes a little harder and a sort of distance between them occurs, both physical and internally. The dreams of one of the main characters begins to develop but not in the way he/she had it in mind and the miss communication and the wanting of stability pushes for the character to proceed with the job and causes damage to the relationship.
Hard as it is to see on the screen, the movie did an amazing job at identifying with the audience in the break up and in many other scenes in the movie. They portrayed how awkward and romantic movie dates start; how one feels in the "stars" when one is in love portrayed amazingly by their lovely dance in the stars in the planetarium. They also show how rejection and depression can really come into anyone's life and affect them in various ways. It showed the heart of dreamers and pushes on the idea of never losing hope for one's own dreams, no matter the circumstance.
The movie/musical would have failed if the chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone would have been replaced by any other actors. Since these two actors have previously worked together in Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011) and in Gangster Squad (2013) which makes this the third film in which these actors fall in love again and make us all fall in love with them again. Special credit has to be given to the actors since they both learned to tap dance, sing and act for their particular role within a span of 3 month, and to Ryan Gosling for also learning piano in an amazing way.
I highly recommend this film, it is a love letter from Hollywood to all the dreamers out there.
- The Author
