Watch This Movie to Rekindle Your Belief In True Love
So many great movies exemplify the meaning of “true love.” Whether looking at Titanic, Casablanca, Romeo + Juliet, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the mainstream film industry has literally no shortage of exceptional romantic movies illustrating the power of meaningful, healthy relationships.
As many great movies as there are in the romantic genre, our hearts routinely gravitate towards one of the best romantic comedies of the past decade: 2016’s La La Land. More than a sweeping musical (although it certainly is at that), La La Land also expertly shows the profound changes that can come about from a strong romantic connection between two people. As gut-wrenching as it is unwaveringly charming, it’s without question among the greatest romance movies of all time, more than rekindling viewers’ belief in true love and all that it implies.
Here’s to the Ones Who Dream
Set in the dreamy hills of Los Angeles, La La Land follows aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone) and down-on-his-luck jazz piano player Seb (Ryan Gosling). Meeting by chance one day on the traffic-clogged freeway of L.A., the two regularly bump into each other over several months, sparking an unlikely romantic relationship with one another. As they each pursue their fledgling artistic careers, they also find themselves gradually pulled in opposing directions, forcing them to choose between their long-held creative ambitions and their growing relationship with one another.
At its heart, viewers can interpret La La Land as a story about dreams. From its opening musical number onward, the entire film dedicates itself to the inherent magic of Los Angeles – not necessarily as a city, but as an idea. Here, people arrive in pursuit of their most valued fantasies, from the cafe barista who longs to be the next Katharine Hepburn to the restaurant pianist trying to open his own jazz bar.
But at the same time, La La Land is also a story about true love, sacrifice, and the cost of personal success. In its estimation, La La Land shows that, in most cases, it takes time, energy, patience, and focus to make your dreams a reality, often at the expense of our personal relationships. Yet even then, La La Land doesn’t portray its romantic subject matter in a superficial or callous way. Rather, the film emphasizes again and again just how important love undoubtedly is, giving us the courage and fortitude to chase after everything we want in life, be it a successful acting career or the start of our very own club.
Someone in the Crowd
If La La Land teaches us anything, it’s the importance of never giving up on your dreams. Alternatively, it also illustrates just how relationships can change us, even if we don’t necessarily end up with the partner we once imagined sharing our lives with.
As most first-time viewers of the film can likely recognize, La La Land tends to be a bit surprising when first enjoyed in its entirety. After all, not many romantic comedies conclude with the leads going their separate ways, leaving their past relationship behind as they look ahead to the future.
But that’s exactly what makes La La Land such an effective exploration of true love. As the film shows us, relationships don’t always have to result in marriage or permanent attachments to influence our lives for the better. In most cases, they can impact us in ways we might never have dreamed possible, whether leaving us with a newfound appreciation for a subject we never held much interest in, or allowing us to take stock of what’s most important in our lives.
There’s a bittersweet reality behind La La Land, with almost every audience member wholeheartedly wishing for Mia and Seb to rekindle their former relationship. But whether they end up together or not isn’t really the point of La La Land. Just as Seb and Mia tenderly admit to each other “I’m always going to love you” in their final exchange, so too can audiences take solace in each of their own past relationships.
Yes, they might not end up living happily ever after together, but they do end up living happily ever after. With their last soulful smile at one another in the closing moments of the film, they’re able to perfectly communicate their feelings for each other, acknowledging their previous romantic connection as well as their happiness at seeing one another achieve their dreams. And if that’s not true love, I simply don’t know what is.
