Soundtrack as Story
How La La Land Uses Music to Encode Emotion, Narrative, and Nostalgia
About the Film
La La Land is a modern musical that uses sound not just as background, but as a powerful storytelling tool. From its opening freeway scene to the final bittersweet piano refrain, the film blends jazz, silence, and recurring musical themes to express emotion, guide narrative shifts, and deepen character development. Through its soundtrack, La La Land invites us to feel the dreams, heartbreak, and nostalgia that words alone can’t capture.
We didn’t want it to sound like a pastiche or a copy. We wanted to create melodies and arrangements that felt emotional and honest in the context of the story.
— Justin Hurwitz, in an interview with Variety, 2017
Music Telling the Story
Each of these scenes showcases how sound and image work in harmony to express emotion, theme, and character.
