La La Land

My god, even with the few bones I had to pick about the last third, I loved this movie.

I watched La La Land yesterday with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend. We discussed the movie afterwards as we waited for the waitress to take our orders. Our reactions ranged quite vastly, from my father's plain dislike (he prefers action without feeeeeeelings), my brother's ambivalence (he's not a musical kind of guy and still isn't convinced), to my mother's tempered approval ("Why couldn't it be a happy ending, though?"). Then there's me.

Out of everyone in my family, this movie was truly tailor-made for me. I really need my friend Y to hurry up and watch this movie, because I have this burning need to talk about the ending. SPOILERS AHEAD.

...

THAT EPILOGUE YO.

I need to discuss it with Y, because it is SO REMINISCENT of the ending of Paradise Kiss, which I am positive I have heaped praises upon on this blog at some point. Of the top of my head, I can't remember who else I know who has read Paradise Kiss.

Paradise Kiss ends with George and Yukari parting ways bittersweetly, as George is heading off to fashion school in Paris, while Yukari is staying in Japan to pursue her modeling career. Fast-forward some years, and Yukari has had a fairly successful career as a model turned actress. She's engaged to Hiro, now a doctor---who I always felt was the better match for her. Yukari then mentions that for their honeymoon, they have tickets to a Broadway show whose costume designer is George. The last sentence is: "Apparently it's a comedy, but I'll probably cry."

Likewise, in La La Land, Mia and Sebastian part ways amicably because their dreams take them in different directions. Mia lands an acting gig that takes her away to Paris, while Sebastian stays in Los Angeles to pursue his dream of opening a jazz club. Five years later, she's had a successful acting career plus a husband and little daughter. By chance, during their date night, she and her husband stumble into a poppin' jazz club that turns out to be Sebastian's. Unlike Paradise Kiss, in La La Land we actually see the moment when the two lovers set eyes on each other again. Sebastian and Mia see each other just before Sebastian plays on the piano, which segues into a sweeping 7-minute fantastical segment of what their lives could have been like if their dreams hadn't pulled their love apart. The movie ends with the two of them sharing a bittersweet, knowing look before going off on their separate ways. (Side note: this part was very reminiscent of Roman Holiday to me as well.)

I've read people's reactions to both the Paradise Kiss and La La Land endings on various websites, and it's similar in that there are some very divisive reactions. There is quite a vocal group on the Internet that absolutely HATES that Yukari did not end up with George. Similarly, I read a comment yesterday about La La Land about how the ending completely pissed them off and ruined the entire movie for them, as they felt that the ending betrayed the entire film preceding it. I've also seen some interesting interpretations, with some people coming to the conclusion that La La Land showed how even after achieving their dreams, Mia and Sebastian could never truly be happy for having lost each other.

My takeaway from La La Land is undoubtedly colored by my own interpretation of Paradise Kiss's ending, but as a very excellent article on Birth Movies Death suggested, I think what you garner from the ending is likely hugely dependent on your emotional baggage.

Some people will meet that person in their lifetime---the person who comes into your life and throws you out of orbit. The person who is not to meant to be a soulmate or someone who stays in your life forever, but the person who inspires you at a critical point and changes your life for good. I don't think this will happen to everyone. But for those of you who have experienced this, I think the last ten minutes of La La Land will floor you, as it did for me.


P.S. I finished writing Finale (aka the last chapter) of EP two days ago. There's still a pesky middle chapter I abandoned that I'll need to return to, but the first draft is practically done? Still overwhelmed by how many edits I'll have to make in the revision process, but yay for me?