Dreams and magic in La La Land

It is doubtful if anybody caught in the vehicle traffic gridlock that plagues Manila day after day would ever feel like breaking into song and dance. Cursing the situation is more likely or simmering in silence or if you want to be a saint about it and also keep your blood pressure down, saying the rosary which helps a lot.

Traffic leading to downtown Los Angeles from the freeway can be like Manila’s at times. It is an unfortunate and unavoidable situation. But director and screenwriter Damien Chazelle, who is only 31 years old, sees it as something else. A doorway to enchantment. That is why he had drivers getting out of their cars and singing and dancing in the spectacular musical number, Another Day Of Sun, that opens the movie La La Land.

La La Land means two things. It is commonly used as a nickname for the city of Los Angeles in California in the U.S. of A. I do not know where the term originated but the abbreviation LA got a second LA and landed on firmer footing with the addition of Land. On the other hand though describing somebody as from La La Land means that he or she is a dreamer and out of touch with reality or worse not being all there in the head. Chazelle makes use of both meanings in his movie.

La La Land is set in LA, where Hollywood resides. It is presented here as a magical, rapturously beautiful place. In it is the story of Mia, an aspiring actress played by Emma Stone and of Sebastian, a jazz pianist played by Ryan Gosling. They glimpse each other during that singing and dancing traffic jam and later on embark on a life-changing journey filled with music, romance and with what fuels the LA lifeblood, an overload of dreams.

In Seb’s case, the dream is about finding a place for himself and jazz music in present times while he has to earn his living playing Top 40 hits. For Mia, it is passing an audition or at least to be able to finish one without getting interrupted, when she can get away from her barista job at Warner Bros studio. How these will eventually jive together is what La La Land is all about. The end results though are not what matters to the audience in this case. It is the trip that counts, the emotional song and dance through which Seb and Emma fall in love while crisscrossing the pains of their unfulfilled careers.

Chazelle made quite a splash two years ago as the director of Whiplash which was about a student coping with his bully of a music teacher. He is back for La La Land and this time around, he has gone all the way with the music, with a full-blown feature that harks back to the Golden Age of the Hollywood musical. And shot in Cinemascope, too, with dazzling sets in gorgeous colors but with a love story that happens in a place like LA every day.

Chazelle knows his musicals. The great ones that he reached for are what easily come to mind. Singing In The Rain or West Side Story. But no. Standing up against such perfection would be too much. I will go instead a notch or two lower. Given the youthful exuberance of the prevailing mood and the sweet refreshing naivete that characterize the excellent performances of the leads, I would say that I am reminded instead of the bittersweet French musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg with a young Catherine Deneuve and the fun, underrated Cliff Richard starrer The Young Ones. Both had new original music and both later produced enduring hit songs with I Will Wait For You and When The Girl In Your Arms (Is The Girl In Your Heart). Watch out charts, City Of Stars by Gosling is on track.

Musicals are risky projects nowadays, more so an original one not based on a popular stage success and without a jukebox soundtrack of popular tunes. Chazelle though has already proven himself an adept mesmerizer in Whiplash and now brings total confidence to everything about La La Land. Without that, I do not think he can elicit those smiles that greet his audacious freeway number or the nimble-footed exit of moviegoers all longing to burst into song and dance after watching the film. Like him, they are also in love with La La Land.