La La Land

A sign of an evolved species is an ability to adapt to an environment. If this is the case, I must be highly unevolved. As a 31 year-old man, this week I’ve been struggling with the sub-zero conditions. Coming from Sri Lanka as I do (well, my Dad does), I’m more suited to hotter climes. Ever since I was a little boy, the harsh English winters were something I’d always struggled with. The cold as my kryptonite dates back to my football days: as a young lad I would stand on the touchline, come rain or snow, waiting to come on as substitute (over a 10 year career my managers referred to me as an ‘impact player’; when I discovered in Year 11 what a euphemism was, the truth of their lies was made manifest. Horrified, aged sixteen, I thought if adults are willing to lie to a child about their role in a Sunday league team, could they also be lying about Santa and The Tooth Fairy? Fortunately that Christmas my fears were allayed when Father Christmas delivered my Dizzee Rascal debut album, as requested. Sorry for doubting you, Santa). So shivering my timbers week after week is probably why I can’t cope with the cold today. Consequently, I usually spend the winter months in hibernation, only leaving the flat to earn money for central heating.

Out in the cold.

This week, however, I took it upon myself to brave the outside and venture to the multiplex. Donning more layers than a Joey Tribbiani prank, I was ready to stick two gloves up to winter. Despite sweating like a junkie gone cold, The Girl didn't reverse my decision to put the heating on full– she’s a good sort- which made the journey possible. Arriving at the cinema, The Girl promptly pushed me through the door (the architects behind Vue Cinema clearly didn't legislate for patrons wearing layers) and rushed us through the foyer before anyone - in her words - "could see us."

In case you didn't get the above reference.

Why did I make this expedition to Antarctica, I hear you ask? Well, like Scott, sometimes a risk is worth taking if you know a reward lies at the end of it. And my reward was La La Land.

I’ve wanted to see La La Land ever since I heard news of it. I was a fan of director’s Damian Chazelle’s previous work Whiplash and was excited by this one. Moreover, it seemed to fit into my favourite genre: the smart adult romcom. I love the classics: Casablanca, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally - and even though some of my writing strays towards the satirical, I’m in fact a dyed-in-the-wool romantic. I love being in love. I love acts of love. I love love. Not enough to jump on Oprah’s sofa and declare it - (If it’s not your furniture, then you have no right to trampoline on it) – but I’m happy to say it in front of you, my dedicated readership. The trailer seemed to point back to that golden age of cinema, a time of sophistication and elegance, where the writing danced and the pictures sang. Then, the movies were all about escapism. The characters impossibly coiffured, costumed, choreographed, but so what? Effort went into them. Imagination went into them. In contemporary cinema everyone wants realism – and some can be great – but surely a bit of magic, some fantasy is needed too. I had high hopes that La La Land would be just the tonic for January, the cruellest of months.

La La Land is set in LA, a la la land built on dreams. LA, the Fairytale Kingdom, attracting actors, actresses the world over, all hoping Hollywood’s slipper will fit. LA, the cruel mirage, promising oases in its howling desert. LA, a place that feeds, starves, promises, betrays. Those with temperaments least suited – vain, over-indulged, soft-skinned – will enter; only a few will survive. The two characters of our story are Mia, a budding actress, and Sebastian, a Jazz musician desperate to stay true to his art whilst paying the bills. In pursuing their dreams, the two are forced to compromise: Mia auditions for dumb roles whilst working as a barista on the studio lot; and Sebastian, enters into the spirit of Hollywood, putting himself forward for extras work, blending into the background by tinkling the ivories for restaurant diners. Both have bought into the dream; both are getting no return on their investment. Mia longs for her name to be in lights like the stars of yesteryear, people she idolised during those afternoon showings around her aunt’s. Sebastian, lamenting his favourite club’s closure, wants to bring Jazz back to LA. Both of these characters are looking back for their future. In a place looking for the stars of tomorrow, can they bring back yesterday?

Stone and Gosling as Mia and Sebastian

This musical story isn’t as light and frothy as the first five minutes would suggest. There, you have an exhilarating song and dance routine that the world and his wife is invited to. After this, the story centres on the two leads: how they meet and how their relationship grows. Typically, the songs are sung solo, the music pervaded in melancholia. There is talk of bringing La La Land to the stage, if this happens then it won’t have the shouty razzmatazz of most musicals, rather it will whistle with languorous confidence, saying “You don’t have to look at me, but I know you will.”

Originally, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone weren’t going to be leads in the film, that honour was going to be filled by Miles Teller and Emma Watson. Fortunately, the director sought sense with Sense telling him to go with older leads. With characters hovering at thirty, the desperation is more palpable: at twenty you can afford artistic poverty; at thirty its stink gets into your clothes, under your skin, families start calling for an intervention. Gosling does a great job, oscillating between lugubrious and passionate. Stone though is a sensation as Mia: her doe-eyed window to the soul performance is truly special. Every step, song and word is delivered with such finesse, making her a worthy Oscar front-runner.

In these winter months La La Land is worth stepping outside for, if only to be wrapped in its beautiful nostalgic blanket. So escape Trump's inauguration. Escape Brexit negotiations. Escape the winter blues. Escape from reality by diving into this dreamland.

La La Land is out now.