La La Land is a romantic musical film written and directed by Damien Chazelle that stars

Emma Stone as Mia, an actress struggling to find her role and Ryan Gosling as Sebastian, a jazz

musician struggling to find an understanding in this modern world. Now, when it first released in

2016, it honestly seems to take the world by storm, everyone was talking about it, from

filmmakers to musicians, theater fans just every form of artists seemed obsessed with it, and was

without a doubt swept the Oscars (almost). I think a large part of that, had to do with the fact that

it was something weird and really haven’t seen in a while—it was a musical, like an actual

musical with an original story and soundtrack. It really reminded us of a golden age of movies,

and what a lot of us fell in love with movies in the first place, they are first and foremost—

magic. And I’d say that there’s no better representation of magic in cinema than musicals.

Filmmaking

I think one of the greatest qualities of the film La La Land is that it blends modern day

technology with old school styles and techniques to create what is truly a timeless look and feel.

The cinematography by Linus Sandgren is nothing in short of dreamlike, the fact that they are

shooting on film, with the cinema scope format as well as super vibrant colors and even classic

style vignettes in the corners of some shots, really help make the film something made decades

ago. The sets are stunningly designed with so much attention to detail, the locations are

thoughtfully chosen, the nice balance of iconic tourists spots as well as overlooked local places

combined to show the beautiful city of Los Angeles in this remarkably detailed way. In fact,

what I love the most about the film visual style is how it doesn’t really care that much about

realism. There are shots that look really aesthetically pleasing in film, it is not trying be grounded

gritty representation of life or location but instead a heightened and romanticized portrayal of our

world. When we talk about escapism in the film, La La Land sure knows how to divulge in the
notion. It’s an epic, giant, bubbly experience that has no shame in being a little over the top. At

every turn La La Land makes an effort to be more visually interesting. I am not just talking about

those big sweeping long takes sequences but the scenes where people walk and talk in broad

daylight—extra effort is always made to make things look just a tad more beautiful and magical.

This film is also a brilliant example of all departments coming together to elevate the

material. For me, the most important part of filmmaking is the balance of every aspect of the

process because ultimately, film is the one medium that exist to combine every other artform:

literature, performance, photography, music, architecture, interior design, fashion, hair and

make-up, and so much more. So, the magic of film for me is when all of these are able to come

together so harmoniously and give us the special experience alas, the magic of cinema. That is

what La La Land is able to accomplish. The film on the technical level has no strongest asset just

as it has no weakest link, the best technical compliment I could give to this film is that it is

perfectly balanced and I wouldn’t change a thing of it even if I could.

Cinematography

The cinematography, specifically the color story in itself definitely proves that La La

Land has one of the best cinematography. Something I noticed within my first viewing of La La

Land was the color (nothing significant about it, just that). The movie is incredibly vibrant which

makes sense considering how exciting the plot itself. There was something more colorful about

La La Land compared to the other movies and that is its use of primary colors red, yellow, blue.

The primary colors are each very different from one another (obviously). Through those colors

you get a sense of separation and from that nothing really meshes together but it looks pretty

good.
We all love color in different colors together because it looks pretty, with all this being said, the

Director of Photography Linus Sandgren heavy use of these colors as a symbol for Hollywood.

Everything looks pretty, luxurious, and vibrant. We get that from the party scene from the song,

Someone in The Crowd in the beginning, but the colors don’t provide us with much heart or

connection they’re also different from one another they just look good and that’s it. The reds are

being reds while the blues are being blues and the yellows, yeah being yellows. This vibe you get

from the film perfectly represents where our two protagonists are at in the story. Mia and

Sebastian are their own selves in this beginning. It’s evident that Mia comes with a lot more of

this vibrancy in her introduction than Sebastian which makes sense considering how wrapped up

in her Hollywood glamour she tends to be.

The most notable and obvious example of these primary colors causing a separation is the

pool party specifically this shot. Sebastian is in all red whereas Mia is in yellow, the two are just

not together in any way. Two completely different colors. Two completely different people. That

same night the famous tap-dancing scene that appears on the cover happens in the scene. The

primary colors aren’t so separated, in fact, purple takes up most of the color palette by mixing

the primary colors to this extent the audience feels a sense of warmth, a sense of connection at

one of the most important parts of the film. This balance and mixture play out throughout the

relationship during the dark orange vibe you get in the jazz club scene or the purple you get in

the Observatory scene and last but not least the green light shining across the room when they

play City of Stars. You might also recall Mia’s first interaction with Sebastian, watching him

play in the restaurant. Keep in mind the color palette and that scene is almost entirely orange.

(coincidence?)
 Through all these moments of these two together we get a balanced mixture that makes

everything feel pretty in its own way. All the colors are in the right places, for a second

Hollywood and the glamour that comes with it just doesn’t matter. This warmth goes away or at

least starts to; the same time Sebastian plays a show with his new band in front of Mia. For the

first time we start to see these primary colors popping out again red, yellow, blue, yellow, red

somewhat brightness with little connection to the audience specifically, Mia. We get this feeling

in this scene that maybe things aren’t mixing as well as they used to and coincidentally, after this

everything starts going downhill for their relationship. At both characters rock bottom in the

film, Sebastian misses Mia’s big performance and we see those character traits reversed.

Sebastian is at the shoot surrounded by reds yellows blues sort of similar to how Mia was

surrounded by all that in the beginning. Meanwhile, Mia is performing a show and her setting

remains pretty neutral and mostly dark similar to Sebastian’s intro. Each character has changed

for either the better or the worse and they’re on the opposite sides of the spectrum.

In the final scene where Sebastian and Mia think about what could have been in this

amazing montage. The primary colors are more out there than ever. You have entire setting that

are all red, setting that are all blue, you have black and white at one point. It’s all cute but it just

seems a little off and a little one-dimensional which somehow represents the notion of

Hollywood and Separation. Hollywood is all about perfection. Hollywood lacks authenticity in

real emotions and heart. If they stayed together, they would have had this amazing almost perfect

relationship but lacks heart and the warmth. And life really isn’t like that. You feel all that

happiness and epicness when watching that montage but it isn’t until the camera cuts back to the

scene of them driving up to the club and sitting in those chairs watching the pianist perform that

you realize and really start to feel that emotion in this relationship.
 It is in that final scene that the color really does sum up one of the most important

messages of the story. That message being behind every red, yellow, and blue there lies different

shades and the trueness of those colors isn’t always on its surface. Color is obviously a huge part

of this film, without it, the story definitely wouldn’t have worked the same way or have been

nearly as effective.

Music

Musicals use song to open a window into the characters’ emotions, but every once in a

while, a piece comes along that uses the music as a mechanism to give greater meaning to the

narrative. In La La Land, the music isn’t a reflection of the characters’ emotion, but rather, it’s

their passion.

Mia and Sebastian are full of passion in the beginning of the film. Sebastian is in one of

the lowest spots of his life, but his passion for jazz is stronger than ever. Mia still has a spark of

passion that keeps her auditioning over and over again, despite hitting a wall of rejection. By the

middle of the film, Sebastian begins to pull himself out of his financial hole by performing music

that he hates, and Mia’s theatrical spark is snuffed out after a long line of disappointments. The

color has faded from the film, and the music is gone.

The first song we hear after this musical drought comes from Mia taking one last stab at

being an actress, and after watching her be rejected during a dozen auditions already, we see her

begin to sing. Her song shows us that the passion has returned. The casting director sees that

passion, too, and Mia gets the role of a lifetime.

Five years later, when Mia and Sebastian cross paths and see how each other’s lives have

turned out. In the meantime, we are presented with the culmination of everything we’ve seen
thus far. The color returns to the world, and the film ends with one last blast of golden age

musical splendor. The ending is bittersweet, but the moment when you realize that this film used

its musical numbers not only to tell the story, but also to frame its storytelling, is pure magic.

The color. The cinematography. The story. The acting. The music. Everything about La

La Land continues to amaze me with every watch and I can’t wait to see it again.