Ryan & Emma Make Magic

The stars of La La Land shine brightly in this jewel of a film that’s made awards history.

- Jane Vorster

HE SPENT years begging Hollywood bigwigs to give him the millions he needed to make his movie. But wherever he went the answer was always the same: who in their right mind would want to invest money in a jazz musical?

Damien Chazelle refused to give up. Through sheer persistence his movie, La La Land, was eventually made. And now he’s having the last laugh: the film that everyone once scoffed at recently made history by winning a record shattering seven awards at the Golden Globes.

Best motion picture (musical or comedy), best actor (musical or comedy), best actress (musical or comedy), best director, best screenplay, best original score and best original song – La La Land took them all.

After seeing his movie triumph over the likes of Florence Foster Jenkins (starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant) and Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), the American filmmaker was at a loss for words.

“I’m in a daze now officially,” Damien (31) said when he went up on stage at the 74th Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles to collect his award for best director.

With its electrifying haul of trophies his musical comedy – which he not only directed but also wrote the screenplay for – surpassed the record of six awards held by the cult classics One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Midnight Express (1978) and it’s now being tipped for Oscar glory.

The movie has critics swooning. Showbiz magazine Variety is hailing it as “the most audacious big-screen musical in a long time”, while The Hollywood Reporter describes its song-and-dance routines as “dazzling”.