La La Land is enjoying tremendous popularity. ST analyzes this film and explains why people are crazy about it. ……Ed
Have you ever seen the movie La La Land? This film is now enrapturing people all around the world. Over 3 million people have already seen the movie in Korea. La La Land was victorious in seven categories at the 74th Golden Globe Awards. Both male and female leads received the best actor/actress awards. At the Oscars, La La Land earned most nominations. Other than these honors there are many reasons that explain why so many people are fascinated with this film.
No doubt that its OST has made a great contribution to the fame of La La Land. A well-made musical sells well. The main characters are found in many singing and dancing sequences. Emma Stone and Ryan Thomas Gosling’s gentle voices and lovely movements help audiences to focus more on their love story. Among the songs that touch the audience’s romantic feelings are “City of Stars”, “A Lovely Night”, “Mia & Sebastian’s Theme”, and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream).” They are all loved by people across cultures and languages.
We are happily forced to clap our hands in honor of each actor. Their standout acting made this movie all the more beautiful. One can hardly tell the dramatic character from the actor. Reports note several interesting facts. Initially, pianist Randy Kerber recorded piano pieces for Gosling to learn during the pre-production. Gosling practiced the piano for two hours almost every day. By the time the full-scale shoot got started, Gosling was able to play the piano by himself in all those scenes that required it without a band. Stone, for her part, thoroughly prepared to perfect the rendition of her songs, tap dance, and waltz-dancing to play role of Mia. Moreover, one of the most impressive scenes—La La Land’s opening sequence shot on a highway in LA—was made possible after three months of preliminary practice sessions and endless rehearsals. The scene is filled with the extraordinary passion of the dancers, who gave a consistent performance throughout the shooting amid hot weather conditions that reached close to 38 degrees Celsius.
These are all contributing factors to the success of La La Land. The director Damien Chazelle is also behind Whiplash (2014). He made the films of music combining all those amazing elements, truly remarkable achievements. La La Land will satisfy both the ear and heart of any movie-lovers.
Park Chae-eun (ST Reporter) Parkce918@ssu.ac.kr
