And so it begins…. Organizers of the Venice Film Festival are the first of their fall film festival colleagues to raise the curtain on what they’ll be premiering, and it has to be said, they’ve landed an impressive title to get the ball rolling.
The Venice Film Festival has announced that “La La Land,” starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, will open the festival and play in competition. From “Whiplash” director Damien Chazelle, the movie musical follows a young couple — actress Mia and jazz pianist Sebastian — who try to keep their relationship together in a city of ruthless ambition. Here’s the official synopsis:
“La La Land” is a modern take on the classic Hollywood romance, which is heightened by spectacular song-and-dance numbers, as two dreamers struggle to make ends meet while they pursue their passions in a city known for destroying hopes and breaking hearts. Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, serves lattes to movie stars in between auditions, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a dedicated jazz musician, scrapes by playing cocktail piano gigs in dingy bars, but as success mounts they are faced with decisions that begin to fray the fragile fabric of their love affair, and the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to rip them apart.
“If ‘Whiplash’ was the revelation of a new filmmaker, ‘La La Land’ is his definitive, albeit precocious, consecration among the great directors of Hollywood’s new firmament,” Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera gushed in a statement. Hyperbole aside, those words make us pretty eager to see this one, if we weren’t already.
The 73rd Venice Film Festival runs from Aug. 31st through Sept. 10th. And after its fall festival run, “La La Land” goes for Oscar glory, opening on December 16th.