Going into Lala Land I was expecting a whimsical musical featuring a rekindled chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone not seen since Crazy Stupid Love.
Instead, the love story I found was heart-wrenching, harsh, and emotional. The ending is what I think separated this movie from classics like Singing in the Rain and An American in Paris and moved the film into the Twenty-First Century.
The movie seamlessly combined old and new. The singing, dancing, and rich cinematography took me back to my childhood, with me sitting on the couch singing along with Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor as they whirled about on the screen under a colorful backdrop. They shared a rare combination of grace and enthusiasm.
The vibrant colors of Lala Land gave off an old-time technicolor effect. The scenes I loved most took place under periwinkle lighting, which contrasted beautifully against the colorful clothing of the actors and actresses.
The movie follows the lives of two young people struggling to achieve their dreams. Mia (Stone) and Sebastian (Gosling) are both aspiring artists trying to make it in Los Angeles.
Sebastian is in love with jazz – the way a jazz song can never be played the same way, and the constant changes being experienced by the whole genre of music. Jazz captivates him. His dream is to open an old-fashioned jazz bar, filling people once again with the love he has for this dying genre.
Sebastian’s passion for jazz inspires Mia, who has dreamed of acting since she was young but is turned down during audition after audition. Mia and Sebastian inevitably fall in love, pushing each other to achieve their dreams, even when it means sacrificing a future together.
Both characters have to put their dreams on hold at times in order to keep themselves financially afloat, and it takes countless failures, many years, and sacrifices in order for the characters to finally achieve a version of their dreams. In the end the lives they lead are not the ones they initially envisioned, yet both characters end up being successful and happy.
I think the message conveyed about dreams is what resonated with me most. Too many of us get caught up in the idea of living out “the perfect dream.” This movie shows that our futures are like the idea of jazz in the movie, constantly changing with every tiny decision we make. When we get hooked on achieving “the perfect dream,” we can forget to keep persisting and adapting when something goes wrong.
Sebastian said, “This is the dream! It’s conflict and it’s compromise, and it’s very, very exciting!”
The ending of this movie was not the perfect Hollywood finish that you would expect to see in a classic musical. It is much more realistic, but it conveys a simple but easily forgotten and very American message.
“Life isn’t always going to work out the way you think it will, but that doesn’t mean you should give up when it seems the hardest. It will all work out in one way or another.”