How is Los Angeles integral to the themes or narrative of 'La La Land'?
(Chazelle, 2016) The critically acclaimed ‘La La Land’ (2016), has won 6 Academy awards and depicts a contemporary musical featuring Ryan Gosling as a struggling jazzist, and Emma Stone as an aspiring actress who find each other in their struggle to stardom. Damien Chazelle “sweep us up into a dream of love that’s enhanced in an urgent present by the mythic power of Hollywood’s past” (Morgenstern, 2016, p.1). They have succeeded in doing this by setting the film in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, and famously a city that people chase their dreams to. La La Land pays homage to Hollywood’s history through references, intertextuality and landmarks. Setting the film in LA has many layers of meaning; with its nickname ‘City of Stars’ being the films recurring song, its extensive Hollywood musical history and the title ‘La La Land’ being able to be interpretated as a playful reference to the city. This city, Los Angeles, becomes a character itself within the film. The ...