When Dreams Don't Align: Ambition & Sacrifice in "La La Land" (2016)

La La Land is nothing without music, and the use of diegetic sound brings us into the story world. We pass by different car windows and hear different radio stations until we land on the actress who starts "Another Day of Sun." Just as we hear the different car radios, we see different singers contribute their verse, as Whitman would say. We are introduced to the idea of the multiplicity of dreams from this ensemble number. We get a glimpse at one of the visual motifs -- yellow -- from carefully placed dancers and singers in "Another Day of Sun" including the singer who initiates the number. This after the shot of sun before the camera pans from car to car -- the warm L.A. sun is a fundamental symbol, it's even in the name of the number. The lettering on the title scene is in a golden yellow as well. So we might begin to associate the color yellow with ambition.

The first time we see Mia Dolan (Emma Stone) outside her car is when she shows up for work at the film studio's coffee shop and she is left speechless and dazzled by the cappuccino-ordering actress. The next time we see Mia she is around a group of people, leaving her audition and this, juxtaposed with the opening number, shows just how abundant the dreams of others can be. Mia is just one in a sea of red heads trying to make a break in show business. As one of the song titles suggests, she's just someone in the crowd.

At 13:01 there is a montage of nightclub and restaurant neon signs to transition us from Mia's apartment to the party that is a thoughtful reference to one of the most energetic MGM musicals of the late 1940's, On the Town. This can be compared to the 40's musical's use of a similar transition at 1 hour and 11 minutes. This visual reference is one way we see the influence of classic cinema on Mia's modernity.

Mia walks the streets bitterly having found her car was towed when suddenly the music from inside a lounge catches her attention. All at once, from the sound of the piano comes the blaring of a horn and we are transported back to just after the finish of "Another Day of Sun" and into the car that was behind Mia, honking at her when she was running through her lines, pre-audition.

"Why do you say 'romantic' like it's a dirty word?"

Sebastian Wilder's (Ryan Gosling) sister Laura surprises him with a visit at his apartment. She wants him to move forward with his life and feels that he's at a standstill waiting for a specific jazz club to become available for him. "Unpaid bills are not romantic," she says as she scribbles the phone number of the girl she's trying desperately to set her brother up with. Arguing over the romance of Sebastian's situation -- having been "shanghaied" out of the club he sought to open -- Laura says his situation isn't that romantic. "Why do you say 'romantic' like it's a dirty word?" Sebastian asks. He tries convincing her that life isn't beating him down but she isn't buying it with all his unpacked boxes. "I'm a phoenix rising from the ashes," Sebastian proclaims even though his sister is out of earshot. From the car to his apartment, our introduction to Sebastian is of him obsessively listening to the same riff. This is a fast-tracked way for the film to establish his passion for jazz music.

Spring

One of the most powerful aspects of La La Land (2016) is its use of time. The first indication of time we get is of a title card that reads "spring." The first time Mia meets Sebastian he's just been fired for deviating from the set list and he brushes past her as if she were no one. Just as Sebastian feels unseen for his musical gifts, we have the parallel where Mia also feels dwarfed by the talents of other actresses. That he slights her instead of properly meeting her increases the tension and sets us up for their real first meeting, which happens in the spring.

Once again, Mia is wearing yellow at the pool party. Drawn to their rendition of "Take On Me" she abandons getting a drink at the bar and goes to where the band is playing; it doesn't take her long to place the keyboardist as the piano player who snubbed her. And for someone who wholly dismissed her, Sebastian does a double take when Mia makes a request, suggesting he's able to place her too. In one of the film's comedic scenes Emma Stone dances and makes ridiculous faces at Gosling, teasing him openly. Later at the party Sebastian finds Mia. "Alright, I remember you. And I'll admit I was a little curt that night." He confesses to having been an asshole, but says she took things too far by requesting "I Ran" from a serious musician. She teases him relentlessly even asking if she can borrow what he's wearing to an audition, which gives Sebastian the opportunity to ask her for her credits as an actress. He surmises that she's just a barista when the lead singer of the band approaches him about the next set. Without luck he tries convincing Mia that he doesn't take orders. Before he disappears to play again he says, "Guess I'll see you in the movies." While Sebastian gets her name in this exchange, he doesn't tell her his, so when Mia sees him again at the end of the party she calls him George Michael. In another comedic exchange she asks him to get her keys from the valet stand. We cut to Mia and Sebastian walking, looking for their cars. "It's pretty strange that we keep running into each other," Mia remarks.

S: It is strange. Maybe it means something.

M: I doubt it.

S: Yeah, I don't think so.

This is the prelude to the first duet, "A Lovely Night," one of the most memorable musical numbers -- after all it is where we get the film's theatrical poster. The romance of their singing and dancing is interrupted by the modern inconvenience of a cell phone. Mia gets a call from Greg and the magical moment she was sharing with Sebastian abruptly ends.

In the next scene, in the midst of chaos over a muffin, Sebastian shows up at Mia's coffee shop on the Warner Brothers lot. She asks him how he made it onto the lot and he says he high-tailed it past security. Sebastian's visit is well-timed, as Mia is about to go on break. She shows him the window from Casablanca that's just across the street from the coffee shop and she gives Sebastian a glimpse into her calling. "I love being around this stuff," Mia says, and we know from the packed up boxes in his apartment that Sebastian will understand. The places are part of the paraphernalia that makes up a passion. Sebastian asks Mia about her Bogart and we get confirmation that Greg, who interrupted their duet, is Mia's love interest. They connect over their creative obsessions when Sebastian tells Mia about the jazz club that's become a samba/tapas place. Wanting to learn more about her love of acting and film, Sebastian discovers Mia's interests goes back to her relationship with her aunt. Mia recounts re-enacting scenes from classics and putting on her own plays with her actress aunt. Sebastian sees the Warner Brothers lot through Mia's eyes. "My work is done here," he says when he has convinced Mia with the example of Louis Armstrong that she should write the parts she wants to play. "I should probably tell you something now, to get it out of the way," says a reticent Mia, "I hate jazz." Sebastian stops walking.

S: What do you mean you hate jazz?

M: It just means that when I listen to it, I don't like it.

S: Yeah but it's such a blanket statement, you don't like jazz. What are you doing right now?

M: Nothing.

Just like with "Another Day of Sun" we hear the music before we see the close ups of musicians playing their instruments. At The Lighthouse Cafe, a jazz club, Sebastian and Mia bicker over how exciting jazz music is or isn't. Sebastian gives Mia context and a little history lesson before pleading with her to understand that jazz is more than Kenny G. When she says that people from her hometown used to put the local jazz station on to talk over at parties Sebastian argues that jazz is meant to be seen. "I mean look at these fellas. Look at the sax player right now, he just hijacked the song." Sebastian exclaims, "He's on his own trip! Every one of these guys is composing, rearranging, they're writing and they're playing the melody. And now look, the trumpet player, he's got his own idea. And so it's conflict and it's compromise and it's just -- it's new every time. It's brand new every night. Very, very exciting." But this love of Sebastian's is dying and he mourns that the world is apathetic in the face of jazz's death. Mia asks him what he's going to do and this is when he shares his ambition: his dream is to open his own jazz club. Because this film is thoughtfully balanced the next thing that happens is Mia gets a callback. Suddenly self-conscious, Mia seems apologetic about having said some negative things about the show she's gotten the callback for, but nonetheless she's excited. And Sebastian is excited for her. Offhandedly, Mia says the show is like Rebel Without a Cause. Sebastian exclaims playfully, "I got the bullets!" This comes from the tense standoff at the planetarium but it's over her head. Sebastian realizes Mia hasn't seen it and suggests that they go to an upcoming viewing at the Rialto.

"City of Stars"

A full shot allows us to see dreamers Mia and Sebastian as they go their separate ways after the jazz club. Sebastian ends up on a pier with an older couple as he sings, "Is this the start of something wonderful or new? Or one more dream that I cannot make true?" This scene confirms that Sebastian is falling for Mia, and that in addition to his musical ambitions he also yearns for a romantic love. Its a kind of response to "Someone In the Crowd." This scene shows how much of an idealist Sebastian can be.

Mia's Callback & Dinner

Competing with the allure of a cell phone in one of their hands, Mia struggles to capture the imaginations of the casting directors. Almost as soon as her audition begins it is over, and they aren't interested in giving her an additional shot to perform the lines differently. Mia is agitated that she wasn't given a fair shake but on her drive home she passes the Rialto and a smile fights its way to her lips. Back at her apartment, Mia gets ready for her "research" date with Sebastian when once again she is interrupted by Greg's arrival. She has forgotten a dinner with his brother, and it's clear from her short-lived attempt to speak up that the date with Sebastian has now taken the backseat. At dinner, Greg, his brother and his brother's partner discuss the declining quality in contemporary movie theaters. Greg's brother takes a work phone call and in a slightly elite, pretentious moment he speaks Portuguese. Meanwhile Sebastian waits outside the theater for Mia. Back at dinner Mia listens in a detached manner to Greg's brother and partner share about their travels to Indonesia. From the din of the restaurant, Mia suddenly hears the theme Sebastian played on the piano the night he dismissed her and in a perfectly acted change of expression by Stone, it becomes clear that Mia must go.

Saying simply, "I'm sorry" to Greg as she gets up from the table, she runs from the restaurant and toward the theater.

The Rialto: Dreams Before Reality Hits

What makes the scene at the Rialto so special is that it happens when Mia still believes Hollywood will discover her and when Sebastian still believes he can succeed without compromise. The exact part of Rebel Without a Cause that's shown in La La Land is the planetarium lecture scene at Griffith Observatory. The planetarium lecturer gives a dramatic speech about the eventual destruction of the universe. Mia and Sebastian hold hands and are on the verge of a kiss when the film print literally burns and melts into the projector, a common issue for old school film projection. Some theaters famously had projector fires, a far cry from the days of digital projection, where burning and melting is basically nonexistent. The magic of a projectionist was that they knew how to operate the equipment without causing fires, and they sometimes carried spare prints in case of melting film. This very gesture in the film shows the idea that beautiful things from the past are slowly disappearing. The theater is essentially the cinematic equivalent of the jazz club Sebastian dreams of opening.

Sebastian is obsessed with preserving old arm forms (traditional jazz) while Mia loves classic movies and movie stars. The Rialto itself is a dying piece of cinema history. Though there are two Rialto's in Los Angeles, Mia and Sebastian are seen at the South Pasadena location which opened in 1925. After decades of operation, the Rialto closed in 2007 due to declining ticket sales. The building fell into a state of disrepair. In the late 1970's local citizens protested the theater's demolition and as part of this effort the Rialto theater secured its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Since 2014, just two years before La La Land there was an interest in reviving the old theater. (During filming, the Rialto actually reopened temporarily for the production.) So director Chazelle incorporated this rich history into Mia and Sebastian's love story intentionally. Just as much as the image of James Dean conjures up a time gone by, so does the Rialto itself. The theater also mirrors the characters themselves: the theater is beautiful but is struggling to survive while Mia and Sebastian are talented but struggling artists. The theater represents an older era and Mia and Sebastian are obsessed with classic art. The Rialto is almost forgotten while Mia and Sebastian are trying to be noticed for their talents. This, paired with the burning of the film shows just how ephemeral art can be.

Griffith Observatory

It's ironic that, though they made their date because Mia didn't catch Sebastian's reference, they still won't get to see the part of the film Sebastian referenced. Yet Chazelle replaces it with something better: an actual trip to where part of Rebel Without a Cause was filmed, the Griffith Observatory. The magic of this next scene is that rather than watch someone else's romance on screen, Mia and Sebastian create their own movie-like moment in real life. Before we dig into the iconic dancing-among-the-stars scene, it is worth noting some deeper parallels between Rebel Without a Cause and La La Land, because again, Chazelle has been very intentional.

In Rebel, character Jim Stark (James Dean) is constantly frustrated with adults and social expectations. He wants authenticity and honesty but feels trapped in a shallow, hypocritical world. Sebastian Wilder feels the same frustration with modern culture. He believes real jazz is dying and hates how commercialized music has become. If Jim is youthfully rebellious against society, Sebastian has an artistic rebellion against modern culture. Both characters are romantics fighting against a culture they think has lost its soul. Both films ask the same question: Can you stay true to your ideals in the real world? Jim tries to live honestly but is trapped by social pressures and tragedy. Sebastian partially compromises his ideals before eventually returning to them. Both stories explore the cost of staying true to yourself. In Rebel, the planetarium scene reminds the characters that human conflicts are tiny compared to the universe. In La La Land, the observatory scene becomes a magical moment where Sebastian and Mia float among the stars, symbolizing dreamlike possibility. In both stories the location of Griffith Observatory represents cosmic perspective and emotional awakening.

So Sebastian takes Mia to Griffith Observatory after the projector malfunctions at the Rialto. Much in the style of Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire films, which La La Land pays homage to, Mia and Sebastian begin to dance. Some history here: The Hays Code was in effect until 1968 and because it heavily censored any sexual content, dance became a subtle alternative to show coupling, sexual chemistry, and romance. So, in referencing Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire musicals like On the Town (1949), Singin' in the Rain (1952), An American in Paris (1951), Royal Wedding (1951), The Band Wagon (1953), La La Land also references the Hays Code, or what was also known as the Motion Picture Production Code. Sebastian and Mia's dancing in the hall of the Griffith Observatory becomes a metaphor for intimacy. Mia turns on the projector in the observatory and shortly thereafter gravity suddenly disappears. Sebastian lifts Mia up and the two of them begin their ascent into the cosmos. They dance among the stars and solidify their romantic relationship in true Hays Code fashion. At a certain point as they dance in the heavens a bright light appears and then grows, becoming blinding, much like the burning of the film at the Rialto. We then see the fantastical sequence come to an end as Mia and Sebastian come back to earth. They land side by side fitting perfectly into seats holding hands and the darkness of the projector lightens and just as their romance lasts from the universe to earth and from night to day, Mia and Sebastian kiss. Thus, their first kiss comes from a world of fantasy and magic, where the impossible becomes possible.

Summer

In the next scene, Mia is scribbling diligently at her notepad writing a one-woman show when the blast of Sebastian's car horn interrupts her work. He scoops her up stylishly. Cue a montage of date scenes to show the passage of time and the deepening of their bond. Just as Mia and Sebastian flew at Griffith Observatory, in a scene shot at Angels Flight the duo dance again. (Built in 1901 and rebuilt and reopened in 2010 this funicular is not unlike the Rialto.) Sebastian plays piano at a jazz club while Mia dances giddily and with fervor. Just as the couple sit down to enjoy their drinks, Keith (John Legend) approaches Sebastian. It is evident in Gosling's body language that he is hesitating to receive Keith warmly. We learn that the two went to school together and that Keith has a band that's looking for a piano player. We don't yet know why, but Sebastian turns him down, even after Keith says the job pays. There's an abrupt cut to the interior of Sebastian's bedroom where Mia is turning off a lamp and finishing a run through of her one-woman show just for him. And right up against her dream of mounting this show and getting discovered, Mia shows Sebastian a logo she drew for his future jazz club.

S: Why does it say Seb's?

M: Because I think you should call it Seb's.

S: What?

M: Because no one's gonna come to "Chicken on a Stick."

S: Is that a music note as an apostrophe?

M: Yes.

S: That's pretty cool.

M: Yeah.

S: It's gotta be "Chicken on a Stick." Because Charlie Parker got his nickname--

M: I know, because he loved chicken.

S: That's why they called him "Bird." So I'm gonna have chicken, beer, jazz -- "Chicken on a Stick!"

As the couple get into bed, Mia asks who the guy was at The Lighthouse Cafe. "Why was it so weird between you two?" she asks. Sebastian tries to brush this conversation away. He says, "So here's what we know: it's definitely 'Chicken on a Stick' and your play's gonna be a triumph."

Cut to the next morning in Sebastian's apartment, and like its pattern has been with diegetic sound, we hear Mia's phone call before we see her. She's on the phone with her mother who seems keen on knowing just how and when Sebastian's plan for the jazz club will come to fruition. Mia explains that things have been tricky but that Sebastian's been saving up. While we overhear this conversation between Mia and her mother, we stay with Sebastian in his bedroom as he gets ready for the day. He notices a spot on his ceiling and this, paired with Mia's mother, makes him do what he said he wouldn't.

Herein lies Sebastian's sacrifice for his ambition to own his own jazz club some day. The jam session among the musicians seems to be going well...until Keith involves a synthesizer, and Sebastian struggles momentarily to stay with the groove. Privately, after their session has ended, Keith says to Sebastian, "But you say you wanna save jazz. How you gonna save jazz if no one's listening? Jazz is dying because of people like you. You're playing to 90 year olds at The Lighthouse -- where are the kids? Where are the young people?" He makes a compelling argument for the future of jazz being the kind of music they were making, even if it was, as Keith described it, "different." Sebastian, in contrast, says very little in this sequence.

In the next scene, Mia comes home to Sebastian's apartment where he is playing piano. We get "City of Stars" from the pier again, but this time the performance seems more mournful, as Sebastian grapples with the sacrifices he will make in order to play in Keith's high-paying band. This time is different also because Mia joins in with her own ad-libbed lyrics, which leads into her and Sebastian ad-libbing lyrics together while he plays at the piano.

In a montage Sebastian signs a contract for playing with Keith while Mia quits her job at the coffee shop. She works on her script and Sebastian gets measured for clothing. Mia secures a theater for her show and Sebastian waits anxiously backstage. As she continues refining her show, Mia works diligently meanwhile Sebastian is being interviewed on the radio after joining the band. Mia drives past the Rialto which is now closed. Mia spreads her script all over the floor of Sebastian's apartment, making sense of another rewrite, and goes to bed alone. Later, Sebastian comes home and crawls into bed. We see how Sebastian's involvement in the band has changed how much time he has to spend with Mia, and distance begins to sink in. We then return to the ending of their song they wrote together, "City of Stars."

Sebastian's Sacrifice

The next scene is the start of Sebastian and Keith's band, The Messengers, playing a show. Mia is in a sea of people watching -- this in stark contrast to how few people were around her when she danced at The Lighthouse. At first, things seem to be going well for Sebastian. He seems to be playing the way he would at any other time and he gets to open the number against Keith's vocals without any other instrumentation. But soon the big lights come up on the show and all the other instruments join in and the piano seems to have been drowned out. Sebastian plays two keyboards suddenly. The crowd loves it. So Mia goes along with it. Then, the already crowded stage picks up backup dancers and Sebastian is blocked from audience view. Mia is overtaken by the surrounding crowd and is pushed further away from her love. He finishes playing and notices he cannot locate Mia in the crowd anymore.

Very effectively, through the use of the crowd, Chazelle shows how Sebastian's sacrifice -- which Mia now clearly sees -- deepens the distance that was creeping in between Mia and Sebastian.

Fall

We cut abruptly to the title card that reads "fall." Mia is working on an email to send out for her play before calling and leaving a message for Sebastian. "I'm not sure where you are right now, I think Boston? Maybe Dallas. I don't know," and she tries laughing off the distance. She goes home to Sebastian's apartment only to find music playing and then a romantic dinner set: Sebastian has come home for the night but will have to leave again in the morning to rejoin The Messengers on their tour. Over dinner, he asks about the progress of her play. Mia says she is scared to perform her show in front of people, something she says he wouldn't understand after seeing him perform. "They should be so lucky to see it," Sebastian declares, "I can't wait." Reciprocating in the conversation, Mia asks how soon Sebastian has to leave; he has to leave for Boise at 6:45 in the morning. They toast to Boise and then Sebastian says that Mia should come. She tries asking what he'll be doing after the tour but he presses her: why can't she come to Boise? Mia says she has to rehearse her play that she's written and will soon be mounting; Sebastian asks if she can rehearse anywhere.

M: Anywhere you are?

S: I mean...I guess.

M: Well all my stuff is here, and it's in two weeks so I don't really think that would be...

S: Okay.

M: The best idea right now, but I wish I could.

Sebastian says they will just have to try seeing each other whenever they can, and complains that they never see each other. Again Mia asks about the end of the tour. Sebastian says they exist in a cycle of recording albums and touring to make money to record their next album. "So it's like the long haul," Mia says, surprised. Sebastian asks her what she thought his joining The Messengers would entail. She asks about how long he'll be touring then, if he's with the band for a long time and he says it could be a couple of years.

M: Do you like the music you're playing?

S: I don't know what it matters.

M: Well, it matters because if you're gonna give up your dream, I think it matters that you like what you're playing -- on the road, for years.

S: Do you like the music I'm playing?

M: Yeah. I do. I just didn't think that you did.

S: Yeah, well, you know...

M: You said Keith is the worst, and now you're gonna be on tour with him for years. So I just didn't...

S: What are you doing right now?

M: Know if you were happy.

S: Why are you doing this?

M: I don't...what do you mean why...

S: I thought you wanted me to do this. It just sounds like now you don't want me to do it.

M: What do you mean I wanted you to do this?

S: This is what you wanted for me.

M: To be in this band?

S: To be in a band, to have a steady job, you know? To be...you know...

M: Of course I wanted you to have a steady job so that you could take care of your self and your life and you could start your club.

This brilliantly written fight scene shows the increasing tension the couple face as they each respectively chase after their dreams. We see two people trying to make something work. If Mia wants to mount the production of her show, she has to take every aspect of its preparation seriously, something it seems Sebastian doesn't consider when he asks her to join him on the road. Mia wants Sebastian to have it all: she wants him to love the music he's playing and enjoy being in the band that's a steady gig so he can save up to open his club. Though Mia senses that Sebastian isn't fully satisfied she doesn't understand his perspective fully. During their fight he acknowledges that his being in The Messengers is "the dream" -- he says musicians like him fight their entire careers to land in such a successful project. It just isn't his dream, and Mia sees that much very clearly. This fight is the untethering: Mia releases the version of Sebastian's life where he is able to have everything he could ever want, and Sebastian realizes Mia must be free to practice her art in the way that makes sense for her, rather than on the road with him. For someone who has already made so many sacrifices in the pursuit of his own art, Sebastian struggles to understand Mia's perspective. For her, her art lives far from sacrifice. Mia leaves as Sebastian pulls something smoking out of the oven, fire alarm blasting through the confined space of the apartment.

We cut to the theater where Mia's play, "So Long Boulder City" will be held and we see the show opens tonight. Meanwhile, Sebastian closes up shop for the day with the band -- but then Keith reminds him that they have a photoshoot planned that night. And in a moment he surely replays in his head, Sebastian doesn't speak up about needing to go to Mia's play. Sebastian waits outside the recording studio just as Mia begins her one-woman show. Next, Sebastian and The Messengers are told how to pose by a photographer, and when the photographer tells him to actually play something he plays the theme from the night he first met Mia. In a look of despair, Sebastian recognizes his situation: he has chosen his music -- albeit music he doesn't presumably even like -- over Mia's play. Mia turns the lamp out on the set of her show and when the lights come up she struggles to fight back the tears. Not only have not many people shown, but she sees Sebastian isn't there. She overhears two men talking about how awful her play was backstage. Then, in a panic, Sebastian's car pulls up outside the theater. He rushes to find Mia, who coincidentally comes out of the theater, and apologize but she isn't having it. He asks how it went and promises to make it up to her. "It's over," Mia declares. She says it's all over and that she's tired of embarrassing herself, laughs through tears at the fact that she won't be able to pay the theater back, and states that she is going home to Boulder City. Mia gets in her car and drives away leaving a devastated Sebastian behind.

Time passes. Mia has moved back in with her parents and Sebastian plays the piano at his sister's wedding. In the next scene Sebastian lies in bed when he phone annoyingly rings, loud an unrelenting until he answers. The person calling is looking for Mia Dolan. Sebastian says they have the wrong number. They say they've tried Mia and they can't reach her -- and reveal that they are contacting her on behalf of a casting director. We cut to a quiet family dinner at the Dolan house, which gets interrupted by the blaring of Sebastian's car horn. Mia walks across the street and asks him why he's there. He tells her about the casting director having seen her play and having liked it so much that she wanted Mia to come audition for a movie tomorrow. But Mia protests: I can't go. It will kill me if I don't get it. She fights with Sebastian over whether or not she's actually good enough to become an actress, or whether it's a pipe dream for her. Referencing something he said in the fight before her play, she says it's time for her to grow up and realize she was just chasing an impossible dream. Here we see the weight of Mia's ambition come crashing down around her. Sebastian tells her she's being a baby when she says she's giving up acting because it hurts too much. He says he will come to pick her up tomorrow to take her to her audition.

Sebastian arrives at Mia's parent's house the next morning and almost leaves without her, but she finally shows up with coffees in hand and they take off for her audition in L.A. When Mia is called in for the audition she gets the surprise of a lifetime: the film will shoot in Paris, and they don't have a script. They want to build the character around the actress and are prepared for a 3 month rehearsal and a 4 month shoot. For the audition, the casting directors ask Mia to tell them a story, and she starts with the fact that her aunt used to live in Paris. "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" begins to play as Mia sings about her aunt and how she inspired her own artistic career. This is the emotional climax of Mia's character arc, showcasing her vulnerability and commitment to her own dream. Inspired by Broadway theater traditions, this song can be seen as Mia's 11 o'clock number. A big, emotional solo that often gives the lead performer a chance to shine, 11 o'clock numbers mark major turning points for characters, allow a character to express their deepest feelings or realization, and serve as a dramatic highlight of the show. "Audition" happens late in the film, reveals Mia's core motivation and vulnerability, and it leads directly to the resolution of her storyline.

After the audition, Mia and Sebastian sit outside, and he asks how soon it will be before she hears back about the audition. While she still seems hopeless about her prospects, Mia says she should know in the next couple of days. Mia suddenly asks, "Where are we?" and the conversation shifts back to the unresolved status of their relationship. "I don't know," Sebastian admits. "What do we do?" Mia asks next. "I don't think we can do anything," Sebastian says, because once Mia gets the part -- which he fully believes will happen -- she's going to have to give it everything she's got. "It's your dream," he reminds her as he begins to realize that though they are alike in their dreaming, they may not end up together. When Mia asks what he will do, Sebastian says he has to follow his own plan. "I guess we're just gonna have to wait and see," states Sebastian. "I'm always gonna love you," Mia maintains. "I'm always gonna love you too," Sebastian confesses. Fittingly, we see the couple has returned to Griffith Park, just outside the observatory where they first fell in love.

Winter, Five Years Later

In a move that is circular, Mia becomes the actress who goes to the Warner Brothers lot coffee shop that they try giving free coffees to, but she insists on paying. Elsewhere, Sebastian signs off on a piano that has been returned from the shop. Mia comes home to a man and a baby. Sebastian cooks for himself in a new apartment and we see from a Christmas card that his sister and her husband have had a child. Sebastian drives to his destination and gets out at a corner where a poster of Mia is hung. He walks by. Back at Mia's house, she and her husband are getting ready to leave the baby with a sitter. Packed in an L.A. traffic jam, Mia's husband asks her what they should do if they miss the show they're on their way to see, and Mia says they can just see it in New York. Spotting a nearby exit, she spontaneously asks her husband if he just wants to get off her and get dinner. He complies. In the next scene they walk back to their car from dinner when they hear lively jazz coming from just down the street. Hand in hand, they go to investigate. Mia stops short when, at the bottom of the stairs, she sees her design from years ago -- they are at Seb's. Mia and her husband grab a table and drinks. At the end of the song that was playing when they walked in, Sebastian gets up on the stage and introduces each of the musicians to a cheering audience. Then he sees her. "Welcome to Seb's," he says into the microphone.

Sebastian sits at the piano next and begins to play the theme from the very first time Mia met him. The lighting changes and a spotlight shines solely on him at the keys and the camera moves to show just Mia, with excellent use of front lighting, in the crowd. As the lighting is played with we move back in time. Suddenly, we've been transported back to the restaurant where Sebastian was fired all those Christmases ago for not sticking to the set list. Mia stands in awe of him in the blue dress she wore that night. Replaying the past, Mia moves towards Sebastian as he leaves the piano and instead of him snubbing her when she says, "I just heard you play," he grabs her for a passionate kiss. They dance their way out of the establishment and into the door of an apartment. The camera stops at a poster of hands playing at a piano and we transition to the piano player at The Lighthouse Cafe, and Mia and Sebastian cozy up at their table. When Keith approaches Sebastian quickly waves him away. In the next scene Mia finishes her one-woman show and when the lights come up this time the theater is full and Sebastian is in the front row clapping wildly with the rest of the audience. Mia and Sebastian run onto a film set and continue their dance. Then the casting director for the Paris project appears at the left of the set and Mia goes with her, Sebastian no longer holding her hand but still following behind. In silhouette, Mia auditions as Sebastian waits on the other side of the door, just as he did all those years ago. At the end of the audition Mia runs out and hugs Sebastian. Even when the silhouette effect ends, she is still hugging him. A globe appears in the foreground and a plane travels to a miniature version of the Eiffel Tower, suggesting a change in location for the next scene. In Paris, Sebastian plays piano at a jazz club and elsewhere Mia gets her makeup done on set. Mia and Sebastian explore what is meant to be Paris but is a staged set. They resume their dancing, this time in another use of lighting that makes you think of the stars.

In the next scene while "City of Stars" plays on a piano, Mia and Sebastian sit in front of a screen, on which a projector is playing. The projected movie shows Mia painting a room in a house, and Mia pregnant, kissing Sebastian in a kitchen. The baby is born. The baby grows. Mia and Sebastian stay in love as time passes. Replaying the babysitter scene, this time Sebastian and Mia leave their house rather than Mia and her stranger husband. Sebastian rather than the other man drives the car off at the nearest exit when they get stuck in traffic. This time, Mia and Sebastian go into the downstairs jazz club. A melancholy tune plays while Mia rubs Sebastian's chest in the audience. They kiss. Cut to a close up of hands at a piano, the melancholy tune continues but as the camera tilts up we see we have returned to a reality where Sebastian is the piano player. Abruptly he stops playing and in the audience are Mia and her unknown husband. He asks her if she'd like to stick around for another song but Mia says they should leave. Just at the foot of the steps Mia freezes and slowly turns back to look at Sebastian at the piano. He makes eye contact with her. In a look that conveys grief and yearning, Sebastian eventually attempts a small smile and Mia returns it. Even though they couldn't be together they each achieved their dreams: he has the jazz club he always wanted and she is a famous actress.

There is so much beauty in the last roughly twenty minutes of the movie as we explore what could have been, what we wanted, and what actually happened in the lives of Mia and Sebastian. In another life, Sebastian stuck to his first instinct and kept Keith away. This freed him up to be there for Mia as she made her ascent from her one-woman show to the Paris film that would be her breakthrough. In another life, they didn't have to make the same sacrifices: Sebastian could have played jazz in Paris while Mia acted. In another life, they had their happy ending. Yet in reality, their dreams were so integral to who they each were that they couldn't stop in their pursuit of realizing them. So that they could each pursue their ambitions the couple had to make the ultimate sacrifice: sacrificing their relationship. The film shows that romantic love is no match for the unbridled passion of dreams.

Fun Facts

• Damien Chazelle earned the Academy Award for Best Director at the 89th Academy Awards, and became the youngest person ever to win Best Director at age 32.

• La La Land almost won Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars, but gave over to Moonlight, the most shocking moment in Oscars history. What happened? The accounting firm which handles the Oscar envelopes had two identical sets of envelopes backstage. One of the partners of the accounting firm accidentally handed Warren Beatty the duplicate Best Actress envelope instead of the Best Picture envelope. When Faye Dunaway initially read La La Land, it was because that was the film listed under Emma Stone's name.

• The film was nominated for 14 Oscars, tying it with record setters All About Eve and Titanic. It ultimately won 6.

• Damien Chazelle wrote the screenplay around 2010. Studios initially rejected the project because original movie musicals were considered risky. But then Chazelle broke through the industry with Whiplash in 2014.

• Emma Stone performed "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" in a single uninterrupted take to capture the emotional authenticity of the moment.

• Though Gosling had prior musical experience from his band Dead Man's Bones, he did not have significant experience playing the piano prior to this role. He learned piano by practicing for about two hours for three months.

• The film's opening number, "Another Day of Sun" was actually shot on an L.A. freeway ramp. The production closed the ramp for two days and 100 dancers and extras were used to film this ensemble number.