La La Land, a tribute to the 60s French musicals

Research Paper, Vocabulary of the Media Critics

Rose Riesen
New-York Institute of Technology
06/14/17
Introduction

While musicals are becoming increasingly disrupted in the world, with the exception of

India and its famous Bollywood shows, and still in some Broadway theaters, La La Land

has been the musical and artistic revelation of the year. With 203 wins and 243

nominations, including 6 Oscars (Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for

Emma Stone, Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Cinematography, Best

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures Original Score and Original Score, Best

Achievement in Production Design), and 7 Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture - Musical

or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best

Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best

Screenplay, Best Original Song and Best Original Score). The movie was acclaimed by

critics from all around the world, as the re-born of musicals.

Indeed, it is been a while since a musical was a masterpiece. The time of successful 50s

and 60s musicals such as Grease, West Side Story, Dirty Dancing, Singing in the Rain,

Mary Poppins and others is far. Only a few musicals were released in the past decades,

but without creating a timeless enthusiasm or increasing the international cinema. The

musical genre hadnt been renewed from a very long time, and the audience started to be

bored of it, because of a serious lack of creativity and originality.

This is the third feature film written and directed by the young genius Damien Chazelle, to

whom we owe in particular the intense Whiplash (3 Oscars and a nomination in the

category Best Movie). This 32-year-old director, a new prodigy from Hollywood, was born

to a French father, Bertrand Chazelle, a mathematician and computer scientist who is one

of the pioneers of algorithmic geometry, and an American mother, Celia Martin, a writer. He

took the bet to recreate the musical genre successfully. Starring Emma Stone and Ryan

Gosling was a secure cast, for sure.

However, this musical that unites two of the most famous Hollywood stars of our time, as

aspiring stars who are in love with one another, hides many tributes to the French culture.

it is obvious that the movie is inspired by old musical movies, more especially by French

old musical movies from the sixties and very more especially by Jacques Demys

musicals: Les Demoiselles de Rochefort and Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, both staring

the French actress Catherine Deneuve.

Through this research paper, I will develop and analyze how Damien Chazelle was

inspired by French musicals from the sixties to create La La Land, an explosion in the

Cinema of the 21st Century, and which aspects we can find in each movies, how are they

related.
A tribute to Jacques Demys musicals

In interviews, Damien Chazelle readily evokes his passion for the filmography of Jacques

Demy, which he discovered as a teenager, with Les Parapluies de Cherbourg. "I was

transported, demolished, carried away, raised, all the states in which a movie can put you

in." That's when I realized that art could change a life , He told to W magazine in

December. He subsequently had the opportunity to further study his work at Harvard.

In a beautiful choreography across the Atlantic Ocean, La La Land is a tribute to Jacques

Demy, who himself commended to the Hollywood musicals by the presence on the screen

of George Chakiris, the famous Bernardo of West Side Story, and of course the legend

Gene Kelly, almost in his own role, alongside Catherine Deneuve and Franoise Dorlac.

The film enjoyed a great success, less than Demy's greatest movie: Peau d'ne, but a

movie that will mark generations and generations of moviegoers. A film that will please with

happiness and its happy end. But lets not forget the melancholy which flushes behind the

smiles, the stories of love missed by the hazards of life. Lets not forget either that Les

Demoiselles de Rochefort had to end very badly at the beginning. Jacques Demy had first

envisaged that Jacques Perrin would die crushed by the trucks of fairgrounds.

Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is a drama. it's sad. It is a fatalistic vision of youthful love,

passion destroyed by the society of time. The finale of La La Land, is apparently very

similar but revisited. Damien Chazelle refuses the total drama, he chooses the bitter sweet

end, the acceptance of things.

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort is apparently much more joyful, danced ... but a few

moments of upset love are present, small touches of melancholy, especially at the end of

the film, which is very open. In fact, on the form, La La Land borrows more from the
Demoiselles, but on the bottom, it owes especially to Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, which

would have restored, without necessarily being as innovative.

For the music of his film La La Land, the director Damien Chazelle was inspired by the

greatest composers. And Michel Legrand, who wrote every songs of Les Demoiselles de

Rochefort is one of them. Invited on Europe 1 Music Club, the French composer returned

to his recent encounter with the American director, a meeting he describes as "moving".

"A film that resembles you". "I wanted to make a film that resembles you," he told me. 'A

film that could have been made by you, in the colors of Jacques Demy and in the volumes

and harmonics of Legrand, " says the French composer on Europe 1.

Make "a tribute film". The young American director, 60 years his junior, also told Michel

Legrand that after seeing twenty-three times Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, he had felt the

need to make "this homage film". Confidences that deeply moved the 85-year-old

composer, impressed by this young director he says talented."

The opening scene

But if we can judge a film at its opening scene, then we are in front of a masterpiece: a

masterful shot, in the heart of the Los Angeles corks, in which the drivers turn into dancers

in front of a twirling camera. A scene which certainly echoes with Les Demoiselles de

Rochefort opening scene, an amazing scene where Michel Legrands music accompanied

the dancers, with joy and colors.

La La Land (2017)

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

La mise en scne

Although Les Parapluies de Cherbourg is a drama while Les Demoiselles de Rochefort is

a musical, the first common point shared by these two films from a visual point of view is

the bright colors. In the first, we have some alleys where apple green and fuchsia clash

each other and nights where the sky embraces the blue light of the streetlights. In the

second, technicolor is celebrated at the level of costumes, especially the ladies' short

robes, which are not necessarily united, as long as they are so striking to attract our

attention. The argument is also valid for La La Land which, besides its sunsets, too

beautiful to be true, offers us a real orgy of colors in almost every scene. Mia's outfits are

always united and all have a very classic style. Moreover, because of these neutral cuts

and the natural shades of clothing, if it were not for the (very restricted) use of technology,

it would be difficult to say with certainty when the film is located in time.

Mia's dress in La La Land is reminiscent of the one worn by Solange, Delphine or their

mother Yvonne in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. A color that represents joy, life and

energy, the messages of the film.

This festive atmosphere pulsates the first half of La La Land, especially through Emma

Stone, who turns out to be a dancer and singer as playful as it is moving in her strongest

scenes. Damien Chazelle pushes the style exercise to the end with a beautiful and fun tap

dance between her and Ryan Gosling, which seals the mutual attraction between their

characters, bathed in the Californian sunrise. We also think of the tap dance scene

performed by Gene Kelly in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, although Hollywood also took a

lot of this art in the middle of the twentieth century.

For his part, Sebastian is as attached to the golden age of jazz as his creator, Damien

Chazelle, mourning the closure of an iconic jazz club in Los Angeles. For all that, La La

Land avoids drowning in nostalgia.

Paris, haven of culture and dreams

In La La Land, Emma Stone fights for her work as an actress to be recognized. We learn

that this passion comes from her aunt, herself an actress, who resided in Paris a part of

her life. When the young woman decides to stop the castings for insignificant, too

humiliating roles, she tries to write her own one-woman-show, where she recounts her

dreams. Among them; flying to Paris.

It is a film project in the French capital that makes take off her career. At the end of the

film, with painted or cardboard decorations, Damien Chazelle gives life to Paris with his

American eyes. The city is reduced to its center, around the Seine, clings to its most

beautiful monuments. There, the festival never stops.

Paris is shown as the world cultural center, where cinema and jazz still have their nobility,

flourishing in small confidential and prized clubs. Without being realistic, this vision of Paris

has the merit of making people dream, and to recall that the United States may be the

world's foremost cultural power, France has not finished making them fantasize.

Paris scene - La La Land (2017)

Music & Dance

In most of musicals movies, songs can simply replace language, but in Demys &

Legrands movies (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) and

Chazelle's & Hurwitzs movies (La La Land), one goes to the extreme since they take up a

major part of the scenario, as a leitmotiv.

The music and the the arts are also integrated into the story with Sebastian (Ryan Gosling)

in La La Land who dreams of making a career as a pianist and Mia (Emma Stone) on

stage. In Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Solange (Franoise Dorlac) and Delphine

(Catherine Deneuve) both plan to go to Paris to shine on stage: the first is a composer (on

the piano too) and the second is a dancer of ballet.

As for the choreography, the tone is given in the two films directly in the introduction.

It is undeniable that Chazelle shows here a great choreographic virtuosity, his camera

forming a dizzy trio with its two protagonists. The twirling sequences follow each other

during two hours.

In Demys movie (Les demoiselles de Rochefort), the artists arrive at the port and leave

their trucks. We see them stretching out as if they were emerging from a long sleep and

starting to invade the area for the weekend by performing dance steps that seem

spontaneous and choreographed. We see the same kind of opening in Chazelle with the

people who emerge from their inertia caused by a traffic jam and stretch themselves by

dancing together.

And both case, the viewer assists to a number of tap dances from the main characters.

Finally, it should be noted that in both films, jazz music dominates and some notes or

agreements literally make a real leap from 1967 to 2017. The compositions of Justin

Hurwitz delights jazz fans as the quality of interpretation of the two stars Hollywood.
The narrative

The couple is obviously the leitmotive of these three movies. In Les Parapluies de

Cherbourg, it is a drama, since we are facing an impossible love and a long break divided

into three acts: departure absence and return. At the contrary, in Les Demoiselles de

Rochefort, it is all about hope, positivism and love, through the several relationships

presented to the viewer. Each couple has their own song and all of them are looking for

ideal and perfect love. In La La Land, there a perfect mix and juxtaposition between the

two French musicals: the action is separated into paintings, to the rhythm of the seasons

(it begins during the winter and ends five years later at the same period). The viewer can

see Mia and Sebastiens love flourish and wilt, through time. These are all the trials that

they have to pass that will be right and if the final is rather sad, it is a parallel reality in

return.

Artists couples:

In La La Land as in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, we are dealing with a romance

between two artists. In Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, we had Solange the musician and

Andy the pianist or Maxence the painter and Delphine the dancer. In La La Land, we have

Mia the actress and Sebastian the pianist. In both films, we meet passionate characters

who live by their art.

Solange and Andy - Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

Mia and Sebastian - La La Land (2017)

Dreamers couple:

Mia and Sebastian are undoubtedly two great dreamers in La La Land. Sebastian wants to

open his jazz club in order to continue this musical genre of which he is a fan since

childhood while Mia wants to get her first role. The latter will also aspire to a passionate

love life. In Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, Solange and Delphine want to become

confirmed musicians and dancers in Paris while dreaming of meeting their masculine ideal.

Maxence, on the other hand, is looking for his feminine ideal, just like Andy. Maxence in

Les Demoiselles de Rochefort and Sebastian in La La Land both seem to be looking for

love and sing it through poignant piano solos.

Uncertain love:

In Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and La La Land, Genevieve and Guy, Mia and Sebastian

will find it difficult to live their love with distance. Their relationship, although so well started

and so passionate, will then be the theater of a painful choice between career and love life.
 Colors

The celebration of life, art and love is the main point in both movies, La La Land and Les

Demoiselles de Rochefort.

Colors appears to be a symbol and a sign of the representation of joy and happiness in

both movies. Yellow seems to be the main color in the two musicals: Mias yellow dress is,

for sure, a connection to Solanges yellow dress in Les Demoiselles de Rochefort. Yellow,

being the color of the sun and of joy.

The colors are bright and vivid, the dresses of Mia's friends evoke the outfits of the

Demoiselles de Rochefort fairgrounds artists, the colorful city of Rochefort echoes to Los

Angeles and its bright colors.

The use of white is also very important and meaningful: as a symbol of purity and true

love, Mia and Sebastien in La La Land, and Solange and Andy in Les Demoiselles de

Rochefort are wearing white clothes when declaring their love to each other.

Solange - Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967) Mia - La La Land (2017)

 Mia & Sebastian - La La Land (2017)

Solange & Andy - Les Demoiselles de Rochefort (1967)

Conclusion:

It is inspired by the French musicals of the 1960s that Damien Chazelle has actually

managed to modernize the musicals movies, yet trivialized over the last 15 years and

having known very little international success until then.

In 2017, he marks the revival of musicals, mixing music and cinema perfectly, with a duet

of actors dazzling in their roles of Mia and Sebastien.

We find the genius of Jacques Demy in every little detail of the films, through the music,

very clearly echoing the compositions of Michel Legrand, through the bright colors

highlighted with the clothes of the characters but also the colors of Los Angeles And

landscapes. The relationships between the characters are also very similar, seeking the

fulfillment of love through passion and art. Art being an irrefutable remedy for every drama

of life.

These inspirations of the French comedies, in particular of the Demoiselles de Rochefort

and Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, are fully assumed and claimed by Damien Chazelle, La

La Land which can practically be regarded as a homage film, to those comedies that have

made the world dream and dance in the 1960s and up to today.

The risk is however to fall in a scenario too unconventional, thus not in phase with todays

cinema. But the effect is the contrary, La La Land becomes modern thanks to its

inspirations.

It is therefore possible and conceivable that La La Land should be the beginning of a long

series of successful new musicals, with the beauty of the art put forward for amazing

results. All that grace and in tribute to the French musical comedies of the years 1960 of

Jacques Demy, the Demoiselles de Rochefort and Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.

Annoted Bibliography

Lexy Perez (2017). 'La La Land Producer, Director Defend Ending as an Alternative

to the Hollywood Fairy Tale. The Hollywood Reporter

The article is an analysis of the end of the movie La La Land, how to mix sadness and

hope and how to understand it.

Hunter Harris (2016). La La Lands Ending Reveals the Movies True Romance.

Vulture website.

The article is a global analysis of the movie La La Land, highlighting how to accept and

understand the surprising end of the movie.

Jean-Franois Chartrand-Delorme (2017). La La Land, hommage Jacques Demy et

Michel Legrand. valuateur en sries website.

The article is highlighting the global common aspects between La La Land, Les

Demoiselles de Rochefort and Les Parapluies de Cherbourg.

Michel Legrands Interview (2017). "La La Land" : "Les couleurs de Jacques Demy,

les harmoniques de Michel Legrand. Europe 1 Radio.

A radio interview of Michel Legrand, the French compositor of Les Demoiselles de

Rochefort, about the tribute of La La Land to his own work.

Clarisse Loughrey (2017). La La Land interview: Damien Chazelle on the death and

rebirth of the screen musical. The Independent website.

An interview of Damien Chazelle, on how he used modernity and musicals from the sixties

to create La La Land.
Jon Favreau interview of Damien Chazelle (2016). Manufacturing Intellect Youtube

Channel.

A 30 minutes interview of Damien Chazelle on his movie and his own analysis and

perception of it.

Christopher J. Farley (2017) Interview - Damien Chazelle On the Secrets of La La

Land. Wall Street Journal.

An Interview from the WSJ Cafe about the inside story of working with Emma Stone and

Ryan Gosling.

Monica Castillo (2017). Three Classic Musical Scenes Evoked by La La Land. New

York Times.

The article is comparing and analyzing the similitudes between old musicals and La La

Land.

Yannick Vely (2017). Les Influences musicales de La La Land. Paris Match.

An article and a video about the music and movie references in La La Land.

Hacne Chouchaoui (2017). Les Demoiselles de Rochefort - Et Jacques Demy

rveilla Rochefort Tl 7 jours.

An article highlighting the power of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort and its strength.