Does La La Land Deserve The Hype?
Mia & Sebastain on an afternoon stroll through Los Angeles. (Photo:Lionsgate)
Damien Chazelle’s, La La Land is an Academy Award winning movie that was released December 9th, 2016. The film received 33 major nominations back in 2017 and ended up receiving awards for 18 of them. It’s known for its extraordinary cinematography, character development, and instrumentals. La La Land earned $449 million worldwide according to Box Office Mojo. Given that La La Land only had a $30 million production budget, the gamble paid off nicely for everyone involved.
The film is set primarily in Los Angeles and tells the story of Sebastian and Mia who are drawn together by their common desire to do what they love. Mia, who’s played by Emma Stone, is an aspiring actress with dreams of traveling to Paris to pursue the same inspiring career of her beloved aunt. Sebastian, who’s played by Ryan Gosling, is a dedicated jazz musician who’s struggling to make ends meet.
The pair’s growing success forces them to decide between pursuing their passionate love affair or their dream careers they’ve worked so hard to obtain. Chazelle explains, “The idea was to take the old musical, but ground it in real life where things don't always exactly work out”. Both Stone and Gosling played a strong role in ensuring their characters were portrayed realistically.
After seeing the film’s widespread support across social media, I was persuaded to watch it. What follows are the critiques and praise of Grandview students (including myself) regarding the notorious film.
GHHS sophomore Olivia Sanzo expressed her controversial and oppositional stance on the film’s use of highly celebrated instrumental music. Sanzo said, “The soundtrack felt sorta cheesy to me; it was distracting and unoriginal”. While I understand this perspective due to the film’s excessive use of theatrical elements, I still enjoyed the soundtrack. It included various playful tunes that made the film more engaging and memorable.
Mia & Sebastian at Griffith Park Observatory. (Photo: Lionsgate)
Musicals often use songs to convey a character’s emotions during a specific scene, but instead La La Land uses it to convey each character’s passion. The soundtrack adds to the overarching message of the film in an entertaining and innovative way that tells the story in ways words never could. Music is used to evoke strong feelings in the hearts’ of the audience. This creates an emotional connection between the viewer and the film.
In the film, Ryan Gosling plays a pianist and John Legend a guitarist. In real life, they’re both trained in the opposite instrument and had to learn to play their new instrument for the movie. According to composer Justin Hurwitx, all the featured piano performances in the film were originally recorded by pianist Randy Kerber. Ryan Gosling then spent two hours a day, six days a week in piano lessons learning the music by heart. When filming began, Gosling was able to play every single piano sequence without the use of a hand double of CGI.
GHHS sophomore Caroline Clifford agreed with me on La La Land's exceptional soundtrack. We also share a favorite scene from the movie that depicts both Gosling and Stone dancing on a street that overlooks Los Angeles.