La La Land got a lot of weird flak when it first released, mostly during awards season, but looking back ten years later, it’s just as lovely as I remember it. Imperfect, undoubtedly, but the beauty in the cinematography isn’t something to dismiss, nor are the performances.
Both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have gone on to do incredible things since, and there’s a poignancy in that detail that adds magic to the film. There’s a sense of hope in the movie that feels especially necessary when everything is so bleak today. It’s a bit like the hope that we can see Gosling’s latest release, Project Hail Mary, which is what made me want to rewatch La La Land in the first place.
Hollywood is a fascinating place because, back when La La Land was released, there was an unbeatable sense of hope in filmmaking. We could’ve never predicted that a global pandemic would shut down the world as we know it, and AI would threaten all our jobs. When I bawled my eyes out during Stone’s “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” I was a new critic with big dreams, determined to keep going. Now that I’m here, it’s nothing as I thought it’d be—it’s a mixed bag of chaos in every way, but the belief that we can come out of this in the same way the characters do momentarily brought hope back.
The belief that humanity is still capable of creating beautiful things without the theft that is AI is exactly what both these movies are about. La La Land is about the movies and the people who came before us, while Project Hail Mary is about those who’ll come after. And while this isn’t me comparing the two films because, really, all they have in common is Gosling as a leading actor, there’s something about the specific form of hope he conveys as an actor. The same can also be said about Barbie and The Fall Guy. Gosling’s specialty deserves recognition because it’s easy to say that all these movies would lose a significant amount of charm if it weren’t for Gosling embodying the distinct characters.
As an homage to what Hollywood can be and the importance of persevering against all odds, La La Land is indeed a lovely little movie that gorgeously brings out the glamor with a surprising amount of color. From the costumes to every set piece, there’s a vibrancy in the movie that we’re missing nowadays, and it makes rewatching it even more enticing. Sure, those of us who live in LA would loathe the idea of an outright musical in the middle of traffic, but even that scene has a bit of hope in it. There’s something that sparks with the colors, the planetarium scene, and the amount of classic references scattered within that, while we do see in plenty of other movies, it feels more important today.
In fact, it’s proof of how you create an homage to something as opposed to what AI does by stealing. You deliver a love letter by putting heart into every frame, and that’s exactly what Damien Chazelle does. The movie explores passion and promises with two vastly different people at the center, and it allows their love story to touch on the magic that an excellent movie will always have. As a romance author, I always want a happy ending, but the hope that La La Land leaves us with in those final few shots is something I still think about because it’s a reminder that though some people don’t find forever, the mark they leave on each other is indescribable.
The love story we get with Mia and Sebastian is full of colors and a glimpse of magic that’s especially believable in the movies. It might not be perfect, but it’s an effortlessly gorgeous reminder of how vital passions are. With an impeccable score that I still listen to and deeply memorable performances, it’s the type of movie that’s worth watching today when we’re in a state of hopelessness. Still, to this day, I’ll always stand by the fact that Stone deserved her Oscar win, as did Chazelle for his directing.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Lionsgate