And the Oscar will go to….

Source: https://www.eve.com.mt/2017/02/19/la-la-land-the-prelude-of-times-gone-by/

27/07/2017

Jean-Claude Dimech, Director

Wow what a night! The 89^th Edition of the Oscars will surely be remembered for the years to come, with an unprecedented gaffe which announced the wrong winner. La La Land although considered the forerunner of this night much to my disdain, loses Best Picture Award to Moonlight, a movie about identity, sexuality, family, and masculinity all themes which transcend the world of dance and which in turn influence the very perception of it.

Still La La Land managed to hoard a good six nominations: Best Actress Award goes to the beautiful Emma Stone, Best Director Award for Damien Chazelle, Best Song Award for City of Stars piece, Best Score award, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

This movie has been the hype of the New Year and for good reasons with 14 Oscar nominations to be precise; it has received the Golden Globe Award for Best Picture in both the Comedy and Music category. It was amongst the top runner-up of BAFTA Awards (British Academy film Award Winners), it garnered the Critics’ Choice and New York Film Critics Circle Awards and Directors’ Guild awards to mention a few.In other words it won the awards that matter and that is saying a lot.

But let us all remind ourselves about why this movie will likely become your must- watch at Christmas time for the years to come.

Notwithstanding the backlash it has received such as being a cliché remake of a movie within a movie and accused of “ideological snobbery” for portraying jazz cultural debate as a sell-out compromise to earn a living from the main all-white young pianist played by Ryan Gosling, the fact remains that this movie is a nostalgic reference to classic movies to which Director Damien Chazelle was inspired from but with a twist, these references where weaved into the very plot of the movie, in a way that people watching this film find a familiar setting, kind of a memory trip back in time and hence they feel drawn to it as it plays on evoking feelings that people have about such classic movies..

This phenomena is referred as the Semiotic Theory, in short it’s about what things/signs mean to an individual and society at large and by jingo this movie has it all in the way the camera shots were taken, costuming etc they served to directly mirror scenes from iconic MGM classics.

La La Land has provided an escapism platform at a time when race, migration and class ideology have dominated everyday life, and much of this unsettling feeling was echoed during the period preceding the Oscars itself, I believe that Moonlight was in part a reflection and a response to the anti-migrant feeling which has been bolstered in the U.S. What the world needs right now are dreams and hopes and as Mia sang during her audition scene…Here’s to the ones who dream, foolish as they may seem!

May the twinkle toes fever rub on your feet and inspire you to start your own La La Land dream! Happy Dancing!

Jean Claude's Je Danse is dance club run by Jean –Claude Dimech, for further information contact on info.jcjedanse@gmail.com or call 79872605 to experience the magic of dance.