La La Land
La La Land
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La La Land

La La Land is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a struggling jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles. The supporting cast includes John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, and J. K. Simmons.

Having been fond of musicals during his time as a drummer, Chazelle first conceptualized the film alongside Justin Hurwitz while attending Harvard University together. After moving to Los Angeles in 2010, Chazelle penned the script but did not find a studio willing to finance the production without changes to his design. After the success of his film Whiplash (2014), the project was picked up by Summit Entertainment. Miles Teller and Emma Watson were originally in talks to star, but after both dropped out, Gosling and Stone were cast. Filming took place in Los Angeles between August and September 2015, with the film's score composed by Hurwitz, who also wrote the film's songs with lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and the dance choreography by Mandy Moore.

La La Land premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2016, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 9, by Lionsgate. The film emerged as a major commercial success, grossing $472 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million, and received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for Chazelle's direction and screenplay, the performances of Gosling and Stone, the score, musical numbers, cinematography, visual style, costumes and production design. It went on to receive numerous accolades, including winning a record seven awards at the 74th Golden Globe Awards and received eleven nominations at the 70th British Academy Film Awards, winning five, including Best Film. The film also received a record-tying fourteen nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, winning in six categories including Best Director and Best Actress (Stone). Its loss in the Best Picture category (to Moonlight) made it the most-nominated film at the Oscars to lose Best Picture. At age 32, Chazelle became the youngest winner of Best Director. It has since been regarded as one of the best films of the 2010s and the 21st century, and as one of the best musical and romantic films of all time. As of February 2023, a stage musical adaptation is in the works.

While stuck in Los Angeles traffic ("Another Day of Sun"), Sebastian "Seb" Wilder has a moment of road rage directed at aspiring actress Mia Dolan. After a hard day at work, Mia's next audition goes awry because the casting director takes a phone call during an emotional scene. That night, her roommates take her to a lavish party in the Hollywood Hills, promising her that it could jump-start her career ("Someone in the Crowd"). After her car is towed, she walks home in disappointment.

During a gig at a restaurant, Seb slips into jazz improvisation ("Mia & Sebastian's Theme") despite the owner's warning to only play traditional Christmas pieces. Mia hears him playing as she passes by. Moved, she enters the restaurant and observes Seb being fired for his disobedience. Mia attempts to compliment him as he storms out, but he brushes by her. Months later, she runs into Seb at a party where he plays in a 1980s pop cover band. Mia requests that Seb play "I Ran" for her. After the gig, they walk to their cars and – despite an obvious chemistry – lament wasting the night on each other ("A Lovely Night").

Seb arrives at Mia's workplace, and she shows him around the Warner Bros. backlot, where she works as a barista, while expressing her passion for acting. He takes her to a jazz club, describing his passion for jazz and his desire to open his own club. Seb invites Mia to a screening of Rebel Without a Cause and she accepts, forgetting a date with her boyfriend. Bored with the latter date, she rushes to the theater and finds Seb as the film begins. When the screening is interrupted by a projector malfunction, Seb and Mia spend the rest of the evening together with a romantic visit to the Griffith Observatory.

After more failed auditions, Mia decides, with Seb's encouragement, to write a one-woman play. Seb begins to perform regularly at a jazz club, and the two of them eventually move in together ("City of Stars"). A former bandmate of Seb invites him to be the keyboardist in a new jazz fusion band, which will give him a steady income. Although dismayed by the band's pop style, Seb signs on after hearing Mia trying to convince her mother that he is working on his career. The band finds success, but Mia knows their music is not the type of music Seb wants to perform ("Start a Fire").

During the band's first tour, Seb and Mia argue: she accuses him of abandoning his dreams, while he claims that she liked him more when he was unsuccessful because it made her feel better about herself. Two weeks later, Seb misses Mia's play because of a photoshoot he had forgotten about. The play fails, very few people attend, and Mia overhears dismissive comments about her performance. Unable to forgive him for missing her play and their previous argument, Mia returns to her hometown of Boulder City, Nevada.

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