As another Oscars ceremony rolls around the corner, cinema’s elite prepare for a night of acceptance speeches and glamour. Perhaps none are more poised for a night of success than those involved in the creation of Hollywood’s golden child, “La La Land.” Damien Chazelle’s second critically lauded directorial project stars the Academy Award nominees Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
“La La Land” features Stone as Mia, an aspiring actress searching for her big break, opposite Gosling as Sebastian, a young, LA musician attempting to revolutionize jazz. Chazelle’s musical follows their love story through the ups and downs of show business and personal life, delivering a heart-wrenching story of hope, dreams, and reality. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards this year, including the highly coveted Best Picture, this musical is tied with “Titanic” and “All About Eve” for most nominations ever received. Its rapid rise to box office and critical success has prompted many to question just why this musical has reached such levels of popularity.
The answer to such a question lies greatly in the type of entertainment the film provides– family-friendly, lilting, and picturesque.”La La Land” paints Los Angeles life in technicolor shades, playing with the color palette to rejuvenate its take on the Hollywood Golden Age musical classics. Its soundtrack, which earned three nominations including Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” and “City of Stars,” further mixes traditional jazz beats and instruments with synths and electric guitars. The musical grounds itself with the age-old story of two people hopelessly in love trying to prioritize achieving their dreams.
Drawing inspiration from iconic musicals like “Singing in the Rain” and “An American in Paris”, Chazelle’s own take on the genre manages to stay true to these giants while also delivering a new spin which appeals to today’s audience. His choice to saturate the film with fantastical, dreamy images of sunsets, galaxies, and city life (to name a few) earned Chazelle a nomination for Best Directing.
Senior Sam Pierce expressed a different take on the matter, saying, “I think that the movie was so popular partly because of the acclaim it received. People don’t really want to miss out on movie they see as being of high quality. And I feel like a lot of movie critics felt a personal connection to the movie both of its connections to old Hollywood and its subject matter of the struggling actors and musicians.”
As the film is a favorite to take home the night’s biggest award, many do wonder if all the critical acclaim will translate into a win. Were it to follow in the footsteps of its 14-nomination counterparts, “La La Land” would indeed take home the award for Best Picture. Some question whether it truly deserves such a title, especially in comparison to other nominees like “Moonlight” and “Hidden Figures,” both of which make stronger social and cultural statements concerning the black experience in America, feminism, and LGBTQ life.
Senior Michelle Dubovitsky explained, “Honestly the movie is really good, although not new in concept, it’s really well made and refreshing take on the genre. The soundtrack just by itself should resonate with cinema if the story doesn’t. I don’t think it should win best picture because Moonlight is also extremely well made and it has a stronger social impact.”
Dubovitsky concluded, “I think regardless who wins “La La Land” will be remembered.” Her words encapsulate the magnitude of the film’s mark on Hollywood. Regardless of what happens Sunday night, “La La Land” has introduced a new generation of viewers and directors to a previously foreign film genre. And as the soundtrack’s “Someone in the Crowd” remarks, “You make the right impression, then everybody knows your name.”
