I'm letting life hit me until it gets tired. Then I'll hit back; The Evolution of The Musical

I have written about the various genres of film and their different effects and uses. I have particularly focused on anime and animation and the wonderful vehicles that these genres can be for exploration. They represent a world that is similar enough to our own that we can relate what we see back to the real world but, at the same time, far enough away that we can face some difficult truths without them being too invasive.

This leads me to the quote from La La Land director Damien Chazelle: “the musical as a genre is a great vehicle for expressing that balance between dreams and reality”. Naturally, this piqued my interest, seeing as I had explored similar topics previously, but I had never thought what the musical could bring to cinema, for example, its ability to tell a story besides the obvious use of music, and so we find ourselves arriving nicely at this week’s topic.

The musical and cinema have been mingling together quite nicely for some time now and we have watched some of our favourite musicals adapted for the screen and vice-versa. Much like most films, musicals (for the most part, at least) follow a similar pattern. We see, for example, an ongoing off-again, on-again romance, a conflict, a tragedy with, more often than not, a glossy, happy Hollywood ending.

This is where the crossover between musical and film, augmented by Chazelle's mix of reality and dreams, really adds to La La Land’s love story. The dream world in which our protagonists Mia and Sebastian, live out their romance and futures is that of the happy Hollywood ending that we are used to seeing. This is in contrast to the still romantic but melancholic reality in which they acknowledge their love, but will never be together.

Chazelle’s breaking of the illusion of the dream world to reveal that the viewer is in fact, watching a film, and so a false version of reality, which is what the Hollywood ending is essentially founded on, makes this melancholy so much more effective. The film shows us what could have been or maybe it would have never been, but it makes us happy to think it could have in some other, better world.

As musicals derive from the stage, the acting tends to be very expressive, even over the top. With no additional aids to tell the story on stage, a certain amount of overacting may be required. Musicals do have the literal aid of music; major and minor keys can bring with them sadness or happiness. Chazelle certainly uses this over-exaggerated acting, heightened colour and use of major keys to convey this dream world in which this love story plays out.

Contrastingly, in the real world of the film, subtlety is very much the name of the game. Music does not play a huge role despite it being a musical. The colours are still vibrant but moody and the emotion and drama of the scene comes from a series of looks between Mia and Sebastian. A lifetime is lived in that very look; a reminder of what could have been in some fantasy world as opposed to what is.

We are used to the Hollywood ending and so, in a way, we crave it the same way Mia and Sebastian crave it and, just as they accept that it is a chapter that has closed and is allowed to play out only in another world, we, the viewers, also accept it. Chazelle gives the viewer both what they want and what they need, we get our Hollywood ending, but as a cost; it isn’t real.

I had never really considered before the possibilities of the musical. I have to admit I considered it a cut-and-dried genre with set storylines. For much of the film, La La Land follows a very typical pattern, but Chazelle’s choice to have the film’s climax be a moment of intimate subtlety in a genre known for being totally out there (I mean, come on; strangers literally bursting into song and all knowing the same choreography) is incredibly impactful and a truly beautiful moment.