(Text / Yang Shiyang)
"But, this is too nostalgic." "Because it is too nostalgic." Mia, who is in love, shared the script she wrote with her boyfriend Sebastian. She is not very confident and needs encouragement, but she is also afraid that insincere encouragement will inspire herself to be more impractical, but Sebastian really likes the charming nostalgia that exudes in the script. These two conversations about nostalgia are almost exactly how the post-85 director Damian Chazelle expressed his feelings through the mouth of the male and female protagonists.
Yes, "City of Philharmonic" is a "too nostalgic" movie, which seems incompatible with the plastic radiance overflowing on the big screen of this era. Damian Chazelle is like a steadfast anti-trend, with an old soul born with him, stubbornly smearing a contemporary story with old-fashioned colors. From the beginning of the song and dance on the congested viaduct, this has been revealed. In fact, it's not just colors and flavors. Everything in "City of Philharmonic" is "nostalgic"-love, dreams, loss and regret, which of these themes have a retro luster? In other words, this movie has an interesting "split". It has a distinctive and exaggerated external form-large-scale singing and dancing and the surreal splicing of emotions, and at the same time, everything in its story They are all so classical.
Objectively speaking, whether it is the high commander who plays Sebastian or the stone sister who plays Mia, their dancing is not elegant, not fancy and flattering, but there is a kind of clumsy that fits the theme and is appropriate. . This story writes the most classic look of love: the two know the humble, support each other, and firmly believe that the future will shine. Sebastian, who was reduced to a restaurant playing Christmas songs, dreams of restoring the great tradition of jazz, and Mia, who works as a waiter in a cafe, firmly believes in the unique power of drama, but the reality is calmly tough and cruel, and they meet each other by chance. Opportunities were also lost briefly, and then lost each other at a fork in the road, and met again after many years, but they could only smile at each other. You see, is there any more classical urban love story? Therefore, it is not surprising that the young people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have a grievance for this film. A couple of young people who went to the big city to realize their dreams struggled to seize each other amidst various obstacles. How many mirror images of the lovers?
Love in poverty, success after a breakup, the path and wrong path of dreams, everything in life is unknowable and unattainable. "City of Philharmonic" presents all the sweetness and sadness of love in the universal sense. From a certain angle, it looks like the song and dance version of "Begin Again", and it looks like the sequel after the hero and heroine in the trilogy of "Love Is..." Flint finally reached the fork of the road, and the two were equally at a loss, pushing the boat along the river and drifting separately. They were sitting on the benches on the top of the mountain, and Mia asked, "Where are we?" Sebastian Gu left and right. He said a place name, and Mia said, "I mean where we went. "Yes, this is almost the ultimate proposition for every couple of lovers. You always have to have an argument, either go further or retreat separately. For a long time, they have been in a state of careful maintenance of balance, but deliberately avoiding choices. That state cannot be eternal, but it is the subtle unknowable that makes everyone fascinated. Perhaps this kind of feeling is passionate love, shaking, stimulating, everything is possible, and everything will be extinguished in an instant.
The interesting thing about "City of Philharmonic" is that it not only presents a certain kind of enthusiasm, but also presents the paradox of love. Sebastian’s old friends came to him when he was down and asked him to join his band. He has a good salary, big company resources, national tours and covers of major magazines, but the music is a bit awkward. Partly satisfy himself and partly serve others. According to Sebastian’s past character, he may refuse with disdain, but at that time, he has resisted for too long, even if he is no longer fit, even if he no longer has "fundamentalism" Jazz dream, but he will also be infected and melted away by the silent reality of moisturizing things. He took over the job and became addicted to applause and business rewards. He feels that his choice will please his girlfriend Mia. At least these material foundations will make the relationship between the two more stable, but in Mia's heart, the other party's behavior may be mediocre, and the fashionable electronic music is silently corroding. This man used to have a strong and great dream. Now, Sebastian, who is sitting in front of him and discussing the tour and earnings, is becoming a salesman with a piano, and is beginning to recognize mediocrity and even enjoy mediocrity. Sometimes, love is so unspeakable. Some people are destined to walk through the thorns by hand in hand, and some people can only enjoy the smooth journey together. When you feel that you are trying to change yourself in order to please each other, sometimes you are going to the opposite side.
"City of Philharmonic" presents love and dreams, but it does not sing the praises of love and dreams hoarsely. It writes about their brilliance and their helplessness. Those unexpected joys are also destined to be separated. So, you see love is about to come true, dreams are about to succeed, but the director overturns a pot of chicken soup. Mia had a sweet life with another man and became a dazzling star. Sebastian had his own jazz club. Facing a crowded audience, he no longer needed to cater to the public with those fashionable notes. You said, is all this the result of people's hard work, or is it an elusive determinant of fate? They just can't achieve all of this together, and completion is a dream in the end.
Director Damian Chazelle, who was born in 1985, has an almost paranoid love for music themes. Whether it’s the previous much-watched "Burst Drummer" or this time, "City of Philharmonic", the protagonists are all As persistent and crazy as himself. And he will not only write crazy, he will inadvertently give you a soft blow. Mia once said casually that her hometown was in front of a library. Long after his door broke up, a director’s casting call came to Sebastian’s cell phone, and he relied on that sentence. Impression, found Mia's home. Love means that there are some things you mention by chance, but I will always remember them.
The original name of this movie is "La La land". This term is difficult to accurately translate. It is a nickname for Los Angeles and also means intoxication and daydreaming in slang. The reunion of Mia and Sebastian many years later, their farewell with a smile and the retrospection and fantasy of their feelings in that piece of music, all these look like bubbles and dreams today. La la la, we sang and then forgot.
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