Lala land, what did you show?

La la land shows the singer's unadorned singing and dancing in a limited space. Its splendor comes from amazing long-shot technology and uninterrupted editing, and its significance comes from film language, music and dance.

The opening scene is the most complicated and excellent scene scheduling in a year: singing and spinning for five minutes on the traffic jam highway in Los Angeles, and almost all the dances are shot from head to toe, just like astaire's popular expression in his movies. When Gosling jumped up from the bench to tap dance, the camera tilted boldly to ensure that he was in a complete frame. This moment is suffocating, not only the dance steps, but also the camera movements have their own rhythm.

Fast-moving photography conveys a jumping heart, which is more real and joyful than the close-up flash of the face or legs. This scene is set in the sunset of "magic moment", which implies unfiltered authenticity. It is not a fake scene in post-modern movies, but must be captured with a single lens in a very short time window, which itself contains exquisite skills.

It is also like a miracle that Damian trusts such an outdated film method at such a young age (30 years old). 20 16 Few films can attract such endless praise as la la land, such as "This is a real musical film, surpassing any musical film in the last twenty years". After decades of habit, switching arms and thighs sharply and close-ups in music movies, this method is revolutionary; This also explains why many staunch supporters of la la land come from film critics and film historians, who embrace the exquisite formalism of movies.

The artistic design of la la land is almost impeccable: from an open-air studio's Neverland (like a whimsical self-portrait in Hollywood) to bold lighting, from gloomy to ecstatic colors, and stylized costumes. However, Damian's intuition is not always impeccable: the scene of Sebastian and Mia dancing at Griffith Observatory is a bit of magical realism in flight; It is also suspected of relying too much on visual stereotypes to create ecstasy by rotating the filter colors of mobile photography and photo wall (Instagram).

One criticism points to the song and dance passages in la la land: what is impressive is the visual processing, but what is not impressive is the key to this genre? The song itself; A good musical should make people hum the songs inside, and the powerful lyrics hit people's hearts or haunt them. This film tries to keep a balance between the classic narrative rhetoric and the modern existence of Los Angeles? Therefore, an unconventional context is established, which combines independent films with charming old-fashioned routines.

In some musicals, songs are like the most theatrical part, but the musician played by Gosling provides the soundtrack, which is consistent with his daily life. He flirted, laughed and reveled with Mia like that. Gosling and Si Tong's voice lines are not perfect. Si Tong's voice is a little sad, which is not the style of Hollywood musical actors in the golden age. Perhaps this is what makes the fans of classic musicals dislike. Don't say Judy? Jia Lan, astaire, Rogers, Jean? Kelly and other big stars, even second-rate star Jane? Powell Donald. O 'Connor and Betty? Glaber said. Charles' singing and dancing skills are incomparable to those of Si Tong and Gosling.

Thomas? Schatz once analyzed the stars of classic Hollywood musicals in different periods: No one can be astaire, and he caused more awe and surprise than empathy. On the contrary, Jean? Kelly's songs and dances have more empathy for ordinary people. Astaire found harmony in the form of personal vitality and stylization. Kelly tried to find a new way to release her energy better.

Astaire seems to be confident in any situation, and his special talent inspires him to stay away from ordinary reality; Where's gene? Kelly wants to adjust the social reality to her own singing and dancing, and her relationship with others is often fierce and chaotic. Their differences in singing and dancing personality are the result of the times and history, but the cumulative effect of the star system makes it difficult to forget their star status.

However, Si Tong and Gosling, who are not so skilled in singing and dancing, are the naturalism sought by director Damian? As long as you can sing and dance, you don't need technical perfection. Damian and the choreographer want their stars to look like real people, not trained dancers. But what about Holly? In an article published in The New York Times, Brubach argued that Damian's method is meaningless: most classical musicals have almost no coherent plot, but Singin' in the Rain and A Dream of Red Mansions all show talents in music, singing and dancing.

The inherent stylization of musical films makes it easy for the audience to put on the shoes of skilled performers, thus identifying with their emotions. There are signs of elitism or anti-elitism in Damian's method: a pair of lovely actors, who are not great dancers/singers, symbolize the egalitarian progress in an egalitarian era.

In la la land, Gosling and Si Tong are sincere and try their best. No matter in the regular dialogue or in front of the artificial scenery, Si Tong is very real, and won the Oscar for Best Actress for this film. Not being a first-class singer and dancer has become their indispensable attraction to some extent. If they were astaire and Rogers, we might not be so kind to them.

Astaire and Rogers raised ballroom dancing (waltz and foxtrot) to the artistic level of ballet, while Gosling and Si Tong danced ballroom dancing (waltz), but did not raise it to a higher level. The most touching passage in the film is the audition of Si Tong and the duet of Star City, and the shortcomings become part of the magic. There is a wish in the song: blink your eyes at the chaotic real life and continue to be pure and sincere. They are just like us.

It is worth noting that Paris acts as a symbol in the film. When Mia was invited by the studio and allowed to write the script independently, she told them that it was her aunt who experienced the beauty of romance and art in Paris and inspired her dream of acting, and she would follow in her aunt's footsteps. In this way, an actress who struggled in Los Angeles finally realized her dream in Paris. Los Angeles is a place where daydreams are shattered. In the end, they live their own lives. In the dream ballet where Mia and Sebastian fantasize about living together, the background is a beautiful Paris street scene.

Romantic city, art city? It is the dream capital of this modern Hollywood musical and the antithesis of social Darwinism in America. Zizek, a left-wing philosopher, will never let go of this message: "Their love (which will make them successful) enters the story precisely to obscure hundreds of people who will fail in the background, so it seems that their love (rather than pure luck) makes them special and doomed to success. Ruthless competition is the name of this game. "

What is puzzling is: Will ruthless competition hinder love? Why are they not together? Zizek first made the usual Titanic conclusion: "The successful career that separates the two protagonists is like the iceberg that hit the Titanic in Cameron's movie: they exist to save the dream of love (the dream staged in the final fantasy).

In fact, if we are together, we will become a miserable and disappointed couple. The final version of the movie is a reversal of this scene: Mia and Sebastian go to a nightclub to dream, and they imagine making the opposite choice and romantically recalling the opportunity they missed to live together? This is certainly not because they decided to put their career above love. They all succeeded in their respective careers and realized their dreams because of love, so their love is not an obstacle to success, on the contrary, it' mediates' success. "

So, does this film subvert the formula of Hollywood production partners? "They all realized their dreams, but not as a couple?" Or is this a postmodern narcissism? "Do you prefer personal achievement to love?" Zizek put forward the mystery of Final Fantasy: "The whole dream focuses on her fate of going to Paris to make a film.