Storytelling in movies and why do we need them (with a focus on La La Land and Memento)

Written by Juliane Guo
Edited by Joella Lin
Cover image by Angelina Polygenis

Movies. From the intricate fantasy worlds like Lord of the Rings, to mind-twisters like Inception and memorable romances like 500 Days of Summer, movies can transport people anywhere at any time. They have the power to put the audience through the lives of others, or relive their own memories.

And literally no one hates movies too. I recently did research that involved surveying fellow high school students on the level they enjoy movies, and all 50 responses landed somewhere between “Moderate” and “Extremely.” The vast majority of society likely also watch at least one movie at some point in their lives. Movie-watching could thus even be seen as an universal, shared human experience. Movies are encapsulations of stories and emotions, and we have all felt this feeling of watching human experience before.

So, what about storytelling? Directors convey stories through various means, including cinematography, color theory, narrative structure, and so much more. Let’s dive into a few iconic examples in the usage of these techniques. (Note: Below content contains some minor spoilers for La La Land and Memento.)

La La Land (2016)

La La Land tells the story of two dreamers in Southern California. It is absolutely iconic, from its tributes to Old Hollywood (vibrant colors and numerous scenes that call back to films from the last century) to its memorable soundtrack and everything in between. The movie opens with a scene depicting drivers in a Los Angeles highway traffic jam, the camera panning across cars playing various genres of music on radios, stopping at the song “Another Day of Sun.” Then all the drivers dance to the song, which is about leaving behind everything familiar, coming to Hollywood to pursue one’s dreams, and how nothing could stop the dreamers despite the potential hardships. After the song ends, the camera shifts to Mia (Emma Stone) and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), the main characters who are among the drivers. It is later revealed that Mia wants to become an actress (she rehearses a scene in her car), and Sebastian wants to open his own jazz club (he tunes in on a Jazz radio). Though seemingly disconnected from the main characters’ personal stories, this song (or scene) sets the vibe and sums up the entirety of the movie– that Mia and Sebastian are among the many, many relentless dreamers who are living out their own stories.

A screenshot of the opening scene (*La La Land*).

La La Land also has an intricate, extremely well-planned use of color theory. According to the analysis from this YouTube video (give it a watch if you’re interested!) blue symbolizes reality, while red represents dreams. When Mia sings about what could be in-stock for her in the future, she is casted under red light and wears a blue dress. In another scene, when Sebastian is at a photo shoot for the pop-jazz band he is in but dislikes, he plays a familiar jazz tune on the piano keys, which are in fact red. At the very end, when Mia and Sebastian achieve their dreams but acknowledge they are now separated from each other forever, the scene was lit in a mixture of blue and red light, combining into a hue of purple (Archer Green).

The scene where Mia sings “Someone In The Crowd” (*La La Land*).

The final gaze shared by the two main characters (*La La Land*).

La La Land is beautiful not only because of the soundtrack, acting or vibrancy of the colors, but also because it shows what it is like to have and to pursue a dream, to fall in love and then drift apart. Maybe not everyone wants to be an actor or open a jazz club, but love, heartbreak, and dreams are impactful and universal, and certainly felt by us as the audience.

Memento (2001)

Now, here’s some twisty mind-bending storytelling in Christopher Nolan’s second movie that made his name, Memento. In the movie, the main character, Leonard Shelby (Guy Pierce) suffers from a condition that prevents him from making new memories since an attack on him and his wife, which unfortunately caused her passing. To avenge his wife, Leonard searches for a second attacker whom the police did not find, aided by Teddy and Natalie, two people who provided him with clues for who the attacker might have been. But it wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed, and the entire movie is told both backwards (colored scenes) and forwards (black-and-white scenes), put together as interspersed clips that represent Leonards’ fragmented memories.

An example of a colorful scene from the movie (*Memento*).

An example of a black-and-white scene from the movie, depicting one of Leonard’s notes (*Memento*).

The backwards narrative structure makes it all so intriguing to watch as the truth of the story gets pieced together bit by bit, or minute by minute. When the movie cuts to a new scene, or an earlier piece of Leonard’s memory, and we see situations happen without context (such as Leonard waking up at a different place or confusing being chased with chasing someone), it just adds to all the suspense being built throughout the movie, all the way to the end.

To help himself keep track of key information and recall the past events that occurred to him, Leonard keeps sticky notes and gives himself tattoos, believing that his system is flawless and makes his life work. However, as the movie progresses, it becomes gradually clear on how easily his system could be manipulated, and how fallible he is himself. (No more spoilers - go watch the movie if you’re interested!)

The two examples here are just a mere fragment or speck on the wonders of storytelling in movies, and there are plenty more themes being touched on in both works beyond the ones mentioned here. Oftentimes, stories in movies could be quite impossible to happen in real life, literally out of the world, an idealized version of reality, or painfully realistic. But most importantly, they make people feel.

Like how the song “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” (sang by Emma Stone) from La La Land puts it, “Who knows where it will lead us? / And that's why they need us,” we need movies to tell stories. Whether it is about feeling things one had never felt before or feeling them the thousandth time, all the magic begins on the silver screen.

References

“when the director happens to be an expert in colour theory.” YouTube, uploaded by Archer Green, 15 January 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRBXsMsyng.

Stone, Emma. “Audition (The Fools Who Dream).” La La Land. Interscope, 2016.

Chazelle, Damien, director. La La Land. Lionsgate Films, 2016.

Nolan, Christopher, director. Memento. Newmarket Films, 2000.