FILM SCORE: Why Damien Chazelle's La La Land is a Love Letter to the Old Hollywood Musical

    Over the past five years, there have only been a handful a movies I have anticipated so much that I absolutely had to see them in theaters before a digital or DVD release; La La Land was one of very few movies that fell under this exception.

    I remember so vividly sitting in the back corner of the movie theater after the opening sequence of Another Day of Sun with my jaw on the floor. I wanted to clap, because I felt like I was watching live theater (despite the impressive camera moves throughout the entire sequence you don't often see in live theater). This movie was giving me an adrenaline rush I had never felt at the movies before.

    By the end of the movie, I was sobbing (just like about everyone else in the theater) and walked out of the theater feeling a mix of all kinds of emotions: exhilaration, heartbreak, strength, longing... the list goes on. At this point in my life, I didn't know how to pin these feelings on anything particular in the movie, but I knew it had impacted me enough to become an instant favorite.

    

    A few weeks ago I was cleaning the house and decided to throw this movie on in the background (for the first time in a while, mind you). I felt myself getting suckered in at a few favorite parts I had remembered. However, I also felt myself a few times stop cleaning, not looking at the screen but letting myself become entranced by the score.

    After this watch, I have not stopped listening to this album (in fact, I'm listening to it as I write this). And this isn't a normal "I'll listen to this album for a month straight and then get sick of it and move onto another album and revisit it again every once in a while when I'm in the mood" kind of album. This has the lusciousness and the "get up and dance" energy that musicals like Singin' in the Rain (1952), West Side Story (1961), and An American in Paris (1951) hold. And yet, it has the simplicity of theme in more modern musicals like Anastasia (1997) or even Moulin Rouge! (2001). 

    The score contains three categories of songs that I'll refer to in this particular post: the grand, the sentimental, and the aesthetic. The grand contains songs like Someone in the Crowd, A Lovely Night, or Planetarium (my personal favorite). These are songs that often contain the stunning visuals and the memorable dance sequences. The sentimental contains songs like Mia and Sebastian's Theme (and simple variations thereof throughout the film), Audition, and City of Stars. These are the heartbreakers, the ones that really get you in the feels. The aesthetic contains songs used or referenced in the script that help establish the plot lines or topic of conversation at that point in the movie (Herman's Habit, I Ran, and Start a Fire). Now depending on when each of these three categories of songs is used in different parts of the movie dictates the kind of corresponding imagery that is used to push the story along (all while maintaining the distinct style the film is built around).... Let me explain.

    Damien Chazelle and Justin Hurwitz (the composer) crafted in a tug of war style together (much like a lot of older musicals). For example, at the planetarium, there is not dialogue, so the anticipation of the musical score is what dictates where the imagery will go. When Mia and Sebastian's theme plays (with a fullness of orchestration, counter melodies, and harmonies composed behind it), Mia and Sebastian are seen in a vastness of stars surrounding their intimate dance. We, as the audience, only expected a grand image because of the lead up and eventual blossom the score offers. However, in more live musical style moments (like Mia's final audition or Sebastian's wandering around of LA during City of Stars), the dialogue seamlessly goes in and out of songs (which any musical theater expert will tell you is how musicals should feel). They are intimate releases of feelings that need a backing of melody and music to fully express. That's why these melodies are usually not as intricate, as they are focusing on the lyrics the singer is saying; the story is leading the music in this situation.

    For the songs in "the grand" category, the score leads; for songs in "the sentimental" category, the dialogue (or direction) leads. So what about the aesthetic? This is the category that isn't always addressed or noticed in movies or musicals anymore. These are the allusions that artists like to bury into their own work (or characters in the story that reference fake work that exists in their universe). Chazelle makes multiple references in his script to jazz singers (and uses jazz songs as topics of conversation). Like some of my other favorite directors, he even places allusions to different movies (Rebel Without a Cause is the main one here). Chazelle doesn't reinvent the wheel: he uses art to direct a movie about art. Literally brilliant.

    So you may be thinking "okay that's all well and good, but why is this score above all else?" Well firstly, the fact that Chazelle makes all these categories easily accessible and understandable to any ordinary audience member is impressive in itself. But, you're right; what does this have anything to do with the old Hollywood musicals I mentioned earlier in the blog or even in the title? 

    Well, this format of scoring is not found in a lot of modern work (and it shouldn't always be. The film and live theater industry is so diverse in style that this isn't always fit for every piece of new work that comes to light these days). However, this format can easily be used in any older movie musical. 

For example, 

Singin' in the Rain: 

- the grand: "All I Do, Singin' in the Rain, Broadway Melody**" 

- the sentimental: "You are My Lucky Star, You Were Meant for Me, Make 'Em Laugh"

- the aesthetic: "Would You?, Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready For Love)" 

**visually referenced so many times in this movie, but that's another post for another time.. and ya know as it should; this is considered the greatest musical of all time

We can see this in West Side Story as well:

West Side Story:

- the grand: "Prologue, Quintet, America, Mambo (Dance at the Gym)" 

- the sentimental: "Maria, I Have a Love, Tonight, Somewhere, Something's Coming" 

- the aesthetic: there are not specific songs for this category, however the style of the songs that are written for the Jets vs the Sharks are inspired by their ethnicity and culture and pay homage in certain musical movements in each of the respective songs. 

Because of this set up, it's easy to see the inspiration and layout that La La Land exhibits so well.

    And not only does La La Land follow this format/ mix of songs to a T, but it also has the musical stylization that a lot of these older movie musicals possess (the trills in the last few bars of big, orchestral songs or inevitable glissandos going from one movement into another). The La La Land score also contains different variations of the main theme (in this case Mia and Sebastian's Theme) that plague the entire score (a technique that is also found in older movie musicals). These little details help the audience fully become immersed into the story and the stylization the movie was written in. 

However, this movie musical isn't 100% old Hollywood. A lot of other songs in these categories are written in modern musical styles (I see A Lovely Night as something similar to Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge!, Audition as a type of The Winner Takes it All from Mamma Mia! (2008), or even City of Stars  as a genderbent Journey to the Past from Anastasia). This combination of older and modern musicals is what makes La La Land so great and so accommodating for so many audience members.

The biggest lesson you can learn as an average audience member from this post? Never overlook the score. It's more vital than you think, especially in highly stylized films like this one.