I am in Taiwan for a little while but that does not mean that I should not take some time away from my schedule to watch a good movie or two. This latest one is the second movie directed by Damien Chazelle, the guy who made Whiplash.

I really liked Whiplash because it is built on two pillars of filmmaking - a good existential theme and excellent, patient tension-building scenes.

I had thought that it was really weird that Chazelle would come out with another movie so soon after his first. Whiplash was in 2014 and few directors - especially new ones - have movies out so soon. But after watching La La Land, I realized that the two share a lot of the same things: Music and compromise.

Miles Teller’s character in Whiplash struggles with the strains of becoming the absolute best at what he does, pushing himself to greater and greater achievements at the cost of the rest of his life. The characters in La La Land face the same dilemma - what does it mean to be successful?

Chazelle is a writer and director not much older than me and my generation, so his themes resonate strongly with me. In the movie, one of the main characters becomes embarrassed by their situation of constantly being poor and signs a long term contract to make music for a well-established jazz band. He does not like their music but he takes it because it is a “steady gig”. That is a sentiment that we are all familiar with. Those of us who started out wanting to be film makers or painters or artists, how many of us end up taking the off-ramp, going for the “steady” job so that the bills can get paid and family concerns can be satiated?

My film teacher back in college once said that (film-wise) musicals are the closest thing to pornography because as soon as the film starts the audience is mentally skipping over until when they can get to see the “good stuff”. So, the music. For someone who was used to the endless musical scenes from Les Miserables and Singing in the Rain, there were surprisingly few scenes in La La Land, but the songs that do come up are great. I love John Legend’s big song (though not his acting). I also like that Chazelle comes up with aesthetically creative ways to present the feeling of fantastic getaway within the scenes. You really get the throwback sense here.

If you saw Whiplash, you know that Chazelle is not a writer to end things with a happy cheer. His endings seem to be exhilarating, emotionally exhausting, bittersweet but not depressing. I would say La La Land is the same. You will feel intensely for it - but not cheated.

Go see this movie, but do not go with a first date. Go with someone you are ready to argue with about the characters’ choices.