La La Land At 10: A Love Letter To Nostalgia
Summit Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions, Gilbert Films, Impostor Pictures, Black Label Media, TIK Films, Lionsgate
Ten years of Malcolm in the Middle, Fuller House, and even Mamma Mia!, nostalgia bleeds through nearly every piece of modern media, but very few stand out in the way La La Land still can. Just as Stranger Things brought back memories of '80s adventure films and Creed brought back love for Rocky, La La Land not only brings memories of old Hollywood and Technicolor, but something deeper: nostalgia for what could’ve been.
A Love Letter
Through Damien Chazelle’s first three films, music surrounds everything. While Whiplash focuses on the pursuit of greatness, his debut film, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, is a precursor to La La Land. Its theme of finding and struggling to find a balance between love and art was what later built La La Land. The difference, though, between Guy and Madeline and La La Land is in its second aspect: a love letter to film.
As soon as it begins, La La Land immerses you in the same atmosphere that surrounds films from not only a lost era, but an era Mia Dolan and Damien Chazelle grew up on—old Hollywood.
Everything from the dance numbers to the CinemaScope can be traced to the same time when Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman stood on that balcony in Casablanca. Everything in this film feels like a calculated choice to pay homage. Even though the film is deeply rooted in old Hollywood, it taps deeper into a more universal feeling: the feeling of what could’ve been.
A Love Lost
Even through all the callbacks and homages to old Hollywood, an even deeper nostalgia is created in the what-if. Throughout the film, the constant struggle between Mia and Sebastian seems to be the battle between what you want and becoming a truly successful person. In the process of finding that balance, they slowly realize they’re not the same people who fought to build a jazz club and become an actress.
Sitting at the piano, reprising City of Stars, one universal feeling can be felt from the youngest to the oldest in the theater: loss. Seeing him realize for the last time that he lost Mia, but also achieved everything he wanted. No matter where a person is in life, constant questioning of the scenarios that became reality will always stay. What if I took that job? What if I gave her a chance? What if we worked out? Sebastian and Mia finally realized the successes they dreamed of, but unlike most stories did it with the sacrifice of love.
The adventure flicks and cheesy sitcom tropes that brought back audiences for shows like Stranger Things and Fuller House, at the end of the day, end with just the remembrance of old media. But with Sebastian and Mia, it leaves something to remember- the idea of what if it worked?
Lionsgate
Newfound Nostalgia
Watching La La Land for the first time, as Ryan Gosling plays "City of Stars" for the first time, even before understanding and becoming familiar with the song, the music felt nostalgic. Though I’ve never delved deeply into old Hollywood, Humphrey Bogart, and jazz, the one thing that felt familiar was the piano keys. Before any lyrics were sung, the feeling of hope and loss echoed throughout the song.
Now, watching the film with hindsight, La La Land, from the music to the CinemaScope to the piano keys, all harks back to one time: a lost time. From the far-away era of Ingrid Bergman to now, it is about what could’ve been. La La Land is only 10 years old, but the memories it evokes make it a film that feels not only universal, but like Casablanca—timeless.