Colors in La La Land that brought us to tears

La La Land (2016) is a work of art that I could go about droning on for days about the music, the actors, the storyline, and so much more. However, at least for today, there’s just one aspect that I really want to touch on, something that brings the entire movie in to life—its symbolic use of colors, something that has turned a spectacular movie into an absolute masterpiece.

It’s really amazing how something as simple as a flash of light on Mia’s face betrays her emotions or Sebastian’s new car shows how he’s still holding on. Well? Let’s get unpacking! (major spoilers ahead)

Contrast between red (Sebastian) vs blue (Mia)

Throughout the movie, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) are represented with two distinct opposites of color: red and blue.

Sebastian first appears with his distinctive red car, which also repeatedly appears throughout the movie.

We also see him wearing a bright red jacket during his performance at the party where Sebastian and Mia talk for the first time.

In contrast, from the moment we first meet Mia during her audition and see her blue dress for the party, she wears a bright, primary shade of blue.

Not only do these colors serve to represent the characters by establishing their distinctive personalities, they are symbolically used to foreshadow major changes and conflicts and represent the characters’ emotions.

For example, when Mia hears Sebastian playing the piano from a distance, she is illuminated by a glow of neon red, symbolizing their meeting and foreshadowing the eventual turn of events where a relationship would eventually grow.

However, the contrast between red and blue play a much more important role later on by emphasizing the conflict between the characters after the development of their relationship.

While Mia wore purple and was surrounded by the color during the beginning of their relationship (which we will get to soon), a scene appears where she wears red and blue when she is still dancing and having fun with Sebastian.

Although they still appear to have a great time, it subtly foreshadows how this would be unable to continue. Contrasting colors in the background, clothing, and lighting is also repetitively used as a motif throughout the movie, but I want to jump to a few specific scenes at the ending where the use red and blue really point something significant out.

Fast forward to five years after their breakup, it’s notable to see how Sebastian is surrounded with blue—the color of Mia. At home, parts of the kitchen are accentuated with blue and his distinctive red car has also been switched out with a blue one. Even his new jazz club is filled that specific blue, along with the neon logo that Mia had designed for him in the past.

Even though his actions make it seem like he has moved on, we can see through the use of blue that he is still holding on to the memory of Mia, unable to move on from the person he loved so dearly.

And…the ending scene…(that all made us cry)…

Right before Mia turns to exit the club with her husband (…), her face is illuminated with red, and she turns around to face Sebastian for the last time (…). When she sees Sebastian, he is also surrounded with blue.

Although they have gone their separate ways, we can see that their past relationship still remains with them. Even though they have moved on, they still carry parts of each other with them, and the colors subtly connect them one last time. For me, this was one of the most beautiful scenes in La La Land.

Unity between red and blue…and purple!

Sigh…let’s move on to the happier moments in the movie.

With a mixture of Mia and Sebastian’s distinctive colors (red and blue) being a purple, this color is used to represent happy moments within the movie and their relationship.

We can see Mia being surrounded by purple and wearing the color in the beginning of relationship, signifying that instead of conflict, they have met to form a whole, fulfilling relationship.

In the ending scene where we see an imaginary alternate turn of events where Mia and Sebastian didn’t part but stayed together, we also see Mia wearing a purple dress to symbolize their happiness together (if only she could have kept on wearing purple). We also see Mia and Sebastian wearing red and blue, yet this time, Sebastian wears blue (Mia’s color) and Mia wears red (Sebastian’s color), symbolizing how they have truly found unity (in the imaginary alternate world…).

The unity between red, blue, and purple is also evident through the sunset in the iconic dance scene that we have come to love.

Symbolic use of green

Green was also used as a motif throughout the movie, which is a bit confusing, because it’s entirely different from the red and blue that we’ve observed mostly. We mainly see it three times in the movie: when Mia joins Sebastian on the date after deciding to choose him over everything else, when they sing together during a happy moment at home, and during the climactic fight where Mia chooses to leave Sebastian and give up on her dream of becoming an actress.

In these scenes, green signifies that change is about to happen.

When Mia goes on a date with Sebastian, she runs out of a dinner with her current boyfriend and chooses Sebastian and her happiness over the him, marking the start of their new relationship. The scene where Mia and Sebastian sing together marks one of the last happy moments that they share before conflict arises and they are forced to spend much time apart. The fight during the dinner precedes the climax where Mia moves out and they eventually break up due to the inevitability of changes.

We can see that by using green, a deviation from the usual color scheme of red, blue, and purple, something unexpected and sudden is going to happen.

Conclusion

People love La La Land for many different reasons—the plot, characterization, and music—but personally, the movie’s use of color that conveys the storyline, beyond just the narrative itself, is what truly sets it apart from the rest.