美国国家公共电台 NPR Encore: 'La La Land' Invokes Nostalgia For 1930s Hollywood

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

At last night's Golden Globes, Damien Chazelle and his movie "La La Land" made it big. The film won a total of seven awards, including Best Actor and Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Chazelle won for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DAMIEN CHAZELLE: I wanted to thank a few people just in particular - my producers Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt for not blanching¹ at, I think, what must have seemed like an utterly² insane proposition that I made to you guys for six years, for fighting to get this made, to get this in front of screens.

CORNISH: It's perhaps fitting that Chazelle had to fight to get this movie made. After all, "La La Land" is ultimately about struggle, packaged in a neon-bright musical.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANOTHER DAY OF SUN")

UNIDENTIFIED CHOIR³: (Singing) When they let you down, you'll get up off the ground as morning rolls around and it's another day of sun.

CORNISH: Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling play the two lovers at the heart of the film, each balancing their showbiz dreams with reality. Gosling's Sebastian, a traditional Jazz pianist, has to join a band with more pop sensibilities to make ends meet. And Emma Stone's Mia is an aspiring⁴ actress who still hasn't found her big break after six years and countless⁵ auditions⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LA LA LAND")

EMMA STONE: (As Mia) Because maybe I'm not good enough.

RYAN GOSLING: (As Sebastian) Yes, you are.

STONE: (As Mia) No. No, maybe I'm not.

GOSLING: (As Sebastian) Yes, you are.

STONE: (As Mia) Maybe I'm not.

GOSLING: (As Sebastian) You are.

STONE: (As Mia) Maybe I'm not.

GOSLING: (As Sebastian) You are.

STONE: (As Mia) Maybe I'm one of those people that has always wanted to do it but it's like a pipe dream for me, you know? And then you - you said it. You change your dreams and then you grow up.

CORNISH: I spoke⁷ with Damien Chazelle back in December. I asked him whether he'd ever had that moment himself and thought he should change his dreams and grow up.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CHAZELLE: It's a line that, you know, floated through my mind a lot when I was, you know, first moving to LA. It's funny how those first, I'd say, five years or so in Los Angeles where, you know, I remember being very excited the first time I got any kind of amount of money at all to do, like, a writing-for-hire rewrite job on, like, a script. You know, just the idea of having any kind of entryway into making movies was very exciting to me.

But it sort of felt the entire time like that's as far as I was going to get. And what I was really doing was spending most of my time writing scripts of movies that I dreamed of one day making. You know, I wanted in this movie hopefully to say something about that state of mind, you know, of being in a city like LA, the sort of dream factory city, living in your head a lot, living in your dreams a lot and having to reconcile those dreams with the sometimes not-so-pleasant realities of, you know, the life you're actually living.

CORNISH: It's interesting to hear you say that 'cause there's a key moment in the film where the couple has an argument. And she essentially⁸ asked her boyfriend, do you like the music you're playing? Are you really, you know, are you doing what you really wanted to do? And it sounds like you had that moment.

CHAZELLE: Oh, yeah. And I've wanted to make movies since I can remember. I've never wanted to do anything else. So my whole life has kind of been defined, for me, by this desire and this dream. And so, you know, as a kid, I had kind of ideas of what sort of movies I would make. And, you know, as a kid, kind of anything seems possible, you know, since it's all kind of far off.

So you just sort of enjoy the dream. And then it becomes somewhat a little more difficult to handle when you have to start compromising, when you have to start doing things that adults do, when you have to start paying the bills, when you have to start dealing⁹ with people's responses to your art. When you're an adult, it's hard to kind of sustain that.

Yeah, that was something I think especially with Ryan's character in the movie that was personal to me, for sure.

CORNISH: Before he moved to Los Angeles, Damien Chazelle played in competitive Jazz bands in high school. As a screenwriter, he never let go of his love of Jazz.

(SOUNDBITE OF JUSTIN HURWITZ SONG, "HERMAN'S HABIT")

CORNISH: "La La Land" has the verve of a Jazz Age musical, but it also questions any one person trying to be the gatekeeper of the tradition. Jazz is dying, Ryan Gosling's Sebastian declares at one point. And it's up to him to save it. Not so fast, says John Legend. He plays a successful bandleader in the film who asked, how are you going to save Jazz if no one's listening?

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LA LA LAND")

JOHN LEGEND: (As Keith) 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? You're so obsessed¹⁰ with Kenny Clarke and Thelonious Monk¹¹. These guys were revolutionaries. How are you going to be a revolutionary if you're such a traditionalist? You're holding onto the past, but Jazz is about the future.

CORNISH: Damien Chazelle, which person have you been in that conversation?

CHAZELLE: (Laughter) More often than not, I feel like I'm Ryan. You know, I'm Sebastian sitting there somewhat uncomfortably, taking it all in, listening to John. And yet understanding that in a certain very fundamental way, John is right. I sort of jokingly think of that scene as, like, it's like, you know, the two angels on my shoulder (laughter) kind of arguing about what it means to, you know, not just be a Jazz musician.

That's what they're talking about specifically there, but the, you know, just being an artist. At what point does preservation¹² of what you love about, you know, older art forms become encasing something in amber¹³? And at what point does trying to modernize¹⁴ something start to corrupt¹⁵ it?

CORNISH: It's fascinating 'cause this does feel like a Jazz musical. (Laughter) Like, it definitely has that sensibility even though it is so modern LA in its look.

CHAZELLE: I mean, again, the thing with Jazz is that Jazz is and in some ways always will remain a modern music. That's why, you know, there's a moment in the movie where Ryan's character, I think, makes an argument earlier that Jazz is dying, which I don't entirely¹⁶ agree with, actually. I don't think Jazz is dying in any way.

But I think Ryan is talking about a specific kind of Jazz, a specific, again, somewhat in his mind encased in amber type of Jazz that was played in the Jazz clubs or on the big band stages in the '30s, '40s, '50s, maybe into the '60s.

(SOUNDBITE OF JUSTIN HURWITZ SONG, "CITY OF STARS")

CHAZELLE: And that's a sort of preference or viewpoint of a lot of, you know, of a whole sector¹⁷ of people. And then John Legend's character comes from a completely other side of the equation.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "START A FIRE")

LEGEND: (Singing) Oh, I just know I feel so good tonight.

CHAZELLE: I guess I, you know, I hoped with this movie, both with the Jazz within it but also just with the entire approach to the movie, that it would have a little bit of old and new in it. That it would sort of at the end of the day almost make the case for what John's character is saying, not - maybe not literally¹⁸ but just that idea that sometimes it's OK to adapt to modernity a little bit. I think in some way...

CORNISH: (Laughter).

CHAZELLE: ...That's what the characters learn a bit, that it's - you have to preserve what you believe in. You can't compromise too much. But sometimes it's not compromise. Sometimes it's actually, you know, finding a way to push something forward, whether it's a musical or a - or an idea of Jazz you might have.

CORNISH: Well, Damien Chazelle, thank you so much for talking with us about this film. It was really fun.

CHAZELLE: Thank you.

CORNISH: Damien Chazelle, I spoke with him about "La La Land" back in December. And at last night's Golden Globes, the movie won seven awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay.

1 blanching   

adj.漂白的n.热烫v.使变白( blanch的现在分词 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮

参考例句：

• Finally, blanching enhances the color of most vegetables and fruits. 最后热烫增强了大部分水果和蔬菜的颜色。 来自互联网
• Presently, Peroxidase is employed as indicator for blanching treatments of vegetables. 目前蔬菜的热烫终点以过氧化物酶作为指示剂来确定。 来自互联网

2 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

3 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

4 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

5 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

6 auditions   

n.（对拟做演员、歌手、乐师等人的）试听，试音( audition的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Find modeling auditions, casting calls& acting auditions, all in one place. 找一个立体感试听，铸造呼叫和表演试听一体的地方。 来自互联网
• We are now about to start auditions to find a touring guitarist. 我们现在准备找一个新的吉他手。 来自互联网

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

11 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

12 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

13 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

14 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

15 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

16 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

17 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

18 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。