Damien Chazelle is one of the most revered directors of our time. The way he infuses jazz into his films is fascinating, and a clear sign of his personality taking over a project. Some might think it may have gotten the better of his two Best Picture nominees, Whiplash and La La Land, but the voice behind the camera was still vibrant. As for his latest film, First Man, that’s when Chazelle really proved to be someone who could step out of his comfort zone and deliver a riveting character study launching beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The Academy didn’t award him recognition, but those who saw the film know exactly what he pulled off, and how he managed to do it. Needless to say, Chazelle is one of the faces of the future for Hollywood, three of his four films are some of the best of this era, and don’t even get me started on how he concludes his films. Not only are they cathartic in their own unique ways, but they can send chills down your spine, tears down your face, or maybe even both. Before I keep you waiting with my various praises for one of my favorite directors, let’s get it started as I take a look at Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man, and how he perfectly conveys how far love can take us and the repercussions of the power of that feeling.
We’ve all known some form of love throughout our life. Whether it’s with someone or something. We’re all looking for a way to be our best and most complete self, and I feel that as an active participant of film, it gives me a higher sense of completion. It fulfills a desire to make me better understand myself (and in this case specifically), the love I share between the people in my life, the passions I strive towards, and there is no better film to start with when discussing this, and that’s Whiplash.
WHIPLASH
Whiplash is one hell of a motion picture. Not only is it a visceral experience, but it’s a cathartic experience that culminates in one of the greatest endings of all-time. Although I would love to spend time dedicated to exclaiming my love for how deeply rewarding the finale is, this is really about the journey to that point and what we can take away from it.
Right from the beginning, Chazelle establishes Andrew’s passion for being a drummer. He’s seen isolated and practicing on his own to be the very best. He checks out movies with his Dad, he meets a girl he’s interested in, but other than that, no one. It’s just him, his drum set, and his desire to be the next great Jazz musician. Over the course of the film Andrew builds new relationships, and we slowly discover more about Andrew’s personality and aggressive path to prove his worth to Fletcher. Fletcher is the perfect antagonist for a story like this. Fletcher resembles success in it’s angriest form. It’s everything Andrew wants to achieve in terms of renowned success and prestige in the Jazz community, but Andrew’s ambitions are his downfall. Surely Fletcher could have eased the brakes on Andrew to not wind him up, but Fletcher sees unparalleled talent and passion for Jazz music, but his methods test every corner of Andrew’s psyche, and this is where Andrew begins to mentally break apart. Damien Chazelle uses Whiplash to showcase love in its most aggressive and dangerous form. Where his follow-up films are more ethereal or somber in that portrayal, Whiplash sees the dangers of passion come to life through blood, sweat, and tears. Andrew is searching for that success, but he severs ties between him and Nicole, he gets cocky at family dinners, he is so full of himself that it puts him in danger physically and mentally. His sacrifices led to an unsatisfied level of success because Fletcher kept putting obstacles in his path, and it came at the cost of almost everything. Even his life.
It isn’t until the film’s latest stages where everything settles back into place. Andrew abandons drumming, Fletcher is fired, and everything seems right until Andrew discovers Fletcher at a local Jazz bar. Fletcher invites Andrew to be the primary for an upcoming event, and we are gifted with this amazing line, “There are no two words in the English language more harmful than good job”, and Andrew believes in himself again because someone else does. A figure who constantly angered and hurt him, but the extension of that hand to rekindle that fire inside gave him motivation and purpose again, and the thought of believing in himself once more makes him realize that being a drummer is important to him.
So, Andrew picks up the sticks and Fletcher’s confidence in Andrew to be a part of this band on a big stage where, “These cats never forget anything,” and Andrew realizes the significance of this moment. It’s make it or break it time, and although he’s originally broken by Fletcher’s intentions to embarrass him, his return to the stage shows the power of an undying passion for being the best. No matter how many times he was knocked down he always found a way back to the kit because he knows how much drumming means to him. He knows that if he doesn’t get back out there and prove Fletcher wrong, he’ll never recover. Like all great movies, the finale perfectly encapsulates the film’s biggest themes, character arcs, and summarizes the entire journey up to that point and has it unleashed in all of it’s thematically rich, heart-pounding, loving, and sacrificial glory.
LA LA LAND
Ahhhhh, La La Land, the 89th Academy Awards Best Picture winner for 30 seconds.
Chazelle’s follow up to the beloved Whiplash was always going to be a tough task, and word of another story with Jazz elements concerned us that Chazelle might only be a one-trick, Jazz loving pony, and he eventually goes on to prove that with First man, but he still manages to deliver one of the most heartbreaking, emotional, and magical films in recent memory.
For a genre of film in this era with its most recognizable films being the first two High School Musicals, La La Land looked to bring song and dance back to the big screen in a triumphant way. The film took audiences by storm with it’s gorgeous sets, jaw-dropping cinematography, and natural warmth radiating off it’s images and through the vocals of the cast. The anchor of these music led stories has always been about the core relationship driving the narrative, and La La Land is no different. Here we meet Mia and Sebastian. Two L.A. Residents that want to make it big in their respective fields. Sebastian wants to save a dying genre of music, and Mia wants to be a beloved actress in the business. Fate brushes the two together at a local diner, but they eventually meet at a party and their relationship begins to blossom.
The tap dance sequence set to the backdrop of the sun setting on Los Angeles is one of the most magical moments in recent film history. To think this was only just the beginning for these two, and then things start escalating for better or worse. After living together and enjoying a beautiful Summer by each other’s side, their situation becomes more apparent. With Sebastian being on the road creating music, and Mia being isolated to the confines of their dainty apartment, this creates problems between Mia and Seb. We see Mia struggling to piece together her life while Sebastian seems to have figured it out and settled on a lesser version of his ultimate goal. This could have been when a lesser filmmaker or screenwriter would have introduced some lazy love interest for Mia to catch Sebastian cheating on her with, but Chazelles allows us to take in this crumbling relationship through an eye-opening montage.
I’ve seen many criticisms towards La La Land’s main characters and how they act out of selfishness. If Mia and Sebastian were selfish, their final decision to separate would have been out of consideration only for themselves and not each other. Unlike Andrew in Whiplash, Mia and Sebastian recognize that to love someone, it may have to come at a cost. They sacrifice their love for each other because they know they can’t be together if they want to fulfill their dreams. It’s sad, but it is done out of interest for each other. In a way there is a level of selfishness to it because they’re thinking about their individual paths, but I believe Chazelle makes it clear that it was a mutual decision out of consideration for one another. Love isn’t an easy concept that can work as well as we wish, movies make it seem that way, but that’s why I feel La La Land resonated with so many people. There is a level of passion not only for the craft, but the passion Chazelle has for the understanding of people.
Obviously we want to see Mia and Sebastian live a happy life together because they love each other, and we get a glimpse of the life that could have been, but this movie works because it’s final moments encapsulate everything that has led up to that point. Allowing us time to take in the good and the bad, to see a life that could have been, and ending on a note so bittersweet it’s hard to fight back tears, but that’s why it connects. I prefer Whiplash, but La La Land might be Chazelle’s best at showcasing the beauty and heights that love can reach, while also paying close attention to the harsh reality that lies beneath.
FIRST MAN
I can’t believe that Damien Chazelle did the unthinkable and made the literal moon a terrifying object.
Okay, the moon in First Man isn’t as terrifying as Jason, Michael, or a Xenomorph, but it has a looming presence for Neil Armstong. First Man starts just below the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere, and Chazelle places us within the confines of a piloted ship. In most movies, rocket ships, space travel, or space in general has been romanticized by leaning into the promises of leaving the Earth behind to explore the unexplored. Chazelle pulls a fast one and showcases how terrifying being an astronaut is. To sit within a tight space held together by metal plating, the tiniest nuts and bolts, is anxiety inducing when you consider that is what is preventing you from flying freely into the vacuums of space. The camera moves within the cockpit a lot, and that is an artistic choice that elicits strong feelings of disorientation, but it elevates the experience to an overarching point that Chazelle goes on to make. Shortly after, Neil and his wife Janet lose their daughter Karen to pneumonia after being diagnosed with a malignant tumor on the middle part of her brain stem. This is a heartbreaking moment as Neil, Janet, and their son look over the casket being lowered into the ground right after we get a scene of Neil and Karen being playful together as if nothing were wrong. The camerawork is tight, it speaks to the bond that they had together, and to cut to a lingering shot of anguish as that physical bond is no longer existent is devastating. It tells us that we’re not in for a romanticized experience, but a heartbreaking one.
Any Social Studies class would have taught us about the legend of Neil Armstrong and the basic information of being the first American to walk on the moon. What the American educational system won’t teach you at a young age, is that Neil was emotionally distant from most people, even his children and wife. Now, movies are not always 100% factual, and are indeed dramatized to spark a reaction from an audience member, but there is still a truth to many of the things a film-maker is trying to convey. Specifically, the life of an astronaut is a tough one. Not only a physically imposing task, but a mental deterioration. For a country hellbent on being the macho country it thinks it was (and still does), endless funding went into putting a man on the moon so they could beat Russia in the famed, “Space Race”. After a while, this goal eventually became the equivalent to human trials. With constant errors resulting in devastating financial and human losses, but America moved forward with only one goal in mind. Landing on the moon before the competition does. This is when the camerawork really starts telling the story of First Man. In a Hollywood where your favorite character is dumping barrels of exposition at will, Chazelle allows the camera to gracefully explore its character and themes with minimal dialogue, and a fantastic use of lighting. Throughout the film, Neil is seemingly under the spotlight that the moon is shining upon him. We know early on that it is his ultimate goal to reach the moon, but his journey to that destination is the reason that the finale’s unveiling of catharsis is deeply affecting and wholly satisfying on an emotional level. The moon is lit as this everlasting presence that seems so out of reach, but ultimately attainable because it lights the character’s faces, or shines their eyes. There are even a few shots in daylight where the moon still has a presence, and Chazelle chooses to give it a close-up from Earth’s point of view every so often to make us wonder how something so out of reach, could be a realistic achievement.
Neil is given a path that explores how loss has affected him. How he has sheltered his emotions into the deepest corners of his mind to not get in the way of his work, but it sits idly. Used as a means to drive himself to achieve this mission not only for himself, but for those that should have done it with him. Karen is shown periodically throughout the film during funerals or other heart-pounding sequences to remind us how much of a devastating loss this was for Neil. The camera keeps us tucked into the recesses of his mind, that when these moments hit, they strike with a gut-punch or a tear-jerker. This pays off later when Neil reaches the moon and releases the last gift his daughter gave him so he can let go of a clinging trauma that has deeply troubled him for many years. It’s cathartic, it’s sad, and it’s the epitome of love. When Neil was the furthest away from everyone, almost an alien to the human race, that’s when he was the absolute closest.
I’ve written ad nauseum in this essay (and spoken in the previous one) about sacrifice, success, love, and how all three of those things exist hand in hand. This young filmmaker’s filmography is the embodiment of love. A love for the craft, and a love for people. What is love? How do we define such a small word, when it means something so big? Maybe love doesn’t have one meaning, but multiple. Maybe love is what one is willing to sacrifice to provide for another. Maybe love is sacrificing for one’s self. Maybe love takes many forms, some of which we don’t understand, but try to understand through our complicated, sometimes hapless, emotionally driven lives as we try and unravel this emotion that connects us to others to help us understand ourselves. Our true selves. Love is this term that exists as a definition to funnel various other definitions into it as a means to simply explain how we feel about someone or something.
Love is sacrifice.
Love is really about filling in our blanks, but we are all incomplete, searching for someone or something to make us feel whole, entire, fulfilled, complete. Whether it’s the dream of being the next great drummer. The dream of opening a Jazz club or being the next great actress. The dream of making an impossible journey, a possible one. Each film I touched on displays the various outputs of love that can be exchanged. Love can be visceral, love can be magical, love can be romantic just like the movies, love can be heartbreaking, love can be fulfilling, love can simplify the complicated and broad. Love can make our dreams become a reality, but there is always going to be a part of ourselves that comes at a cost.
A shout out to my Patrons in tiers two and three!
Rakesh Raja
Manny Magallon
Jacob Baker
Roger M. Arbisi
Louisa Payden
James Rivera
Markus Harlan
Caleb Robinson
Orly Macias