La La Land Page #21

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144 ...we find ourselves back at that same RESTAURANT... Back when

Mia laid eyes on Sebastian for the first time...

Within this fantasy-flashback, Sebastian finishes his piece.

We stick on Mia, watching him as his Boss talks to him. All is

as before, as we remember it... And sure enough, Mia

approaches Sebastian as he walks near her, and --

MIA:

I just wanted to say -- I saw your

playing, and I --

-- but instead of brushing past her --

-- Sebastian decks her with a kiss for the ages.

A BURST OF ORCHESTRAL MUSIC. The DINERS in the restaurant spin

around to face Mia and Sebastian -- and SNAP their fingers in

time. Even the Boss starts to DANCE. Mia and Sebastian grin --

and then strut out together, hand in hand... [EPILOGUE]

145 INT. NEW APARTMENT - DAY

Mia and Sebastian push open a new door -- to their new place.

It's a shabby one-bedroom -- but it's theirs...

146 INT. LIGHTHOUSE CAFE - NIGHT

Next, Keith approaches Sebastian at the Lighthouse -- but

Sebastian immediately shakes his head "no".

147 INT. THEATER - NIGHT

Sebastian watches Mia perform -- it's the night of her play.

He stands up to applaud -- and behind him, the entire

theater, utterly packed, rises as well. A huge standing

ovation. Mia's ROOMMATES are there, giddy with joy, as are

LAURA and HARRY...

Revision 83.

148 INT. STUDIO SOUNDSTAGE - DAY / NIGHT

Mia and Sebastian walk together outside -- but now that we're

outside we realize this isn't the real L.A. at all..

This, in fact, is an L.A. that doesn't exist. A painted-

backdrop L.A., just like the one we saw Mia pass by when

parking on the lot...

The old orange groves and the gabled rooftops and the moss-

covered bungalows and the ivy-decked lamps, the jacaranda

trees and the giant hills and Griffith and the Santa Monica

Pier -- all painted, all props, all figments of a studio-

backdrop imagination. We've entered a fully fantastical

realm, the realm of the old Hollywood ballets of the 40's and

50's...

A148 Everyone DANCES -- the pedestrians and the street performers

and the cops and the guards... AMY BRANDT races up to Mia --

seems to beckon her to audition... We see the audition

silhouetted against a wall... We don't hear Mia sing, but the

music takes on the melody of her song, carrying us to...

B148 PARIS... Sebastian travels there with Mia... We chart the

journey through an OLD GLOBE -- the same one we saw Mia use

for her play -- a miniature plane and dissolves, the old-

Hollywood-movie way...

Finally, we find ourselves looking at a PAINTED BACKDROP of

Paris -- the same one Mia used for her play. The Sacré-Coeur

and the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower etched in bright

colors, the ornate lampposts and the cobblestones stretching

before us... And then a sign -- "CAVEAU DE LA HUCHETTE"...

C148 We see a jam session at the Caveau -- a crypt-like jazz club.

Sebastian plays, on cloud nine...

C148pt We see a MOVIE SHOOT, Mia surrounded by lights and cranes,

decked in movie-movie glow.

We're BACK to the Caveau. The lights go out -- except for the

TRUMPETER, playing out a lovelorn solo, rim-lit. We MOVE in

close on his horn -- DIVE into the bell --

D148 -- and emerge into NIGHTTIME PARIS. All painted. Mia and

Sebastian wander through this wonderland, pedestrians frozen

around them... Finally, they stop and look at one another...

And -- as the city lights behind them start to glitter like

all the stars of the galaxy...

...they DANCE.

Revision 84.

This is the last time we'll ever see them dance, and they

seem to recognize that, so graceful and poised are their

movements... Remember -- this is a romance more perfect than

a real romance could ever be...

We DISSOLVE again -- to a projector beam...

16mm footage plays on a screen, full of scratches and pockets

of light... Mia and Sebastian sit down to watch together --

and we see the following moments in brief, vivid GLIMPSES, as

we move in closer on the imagery:

149 The first home... (16mm)

150 Mia's pregnancy... (16mm)

151 The newborn child... (16mm)

152 The child's first birthday... (16mm)

153 The child's first day of pre-school, all dressed up... (16mm)

Everything here glows with the warmth of old home movies...

These are memories, fluttering by, grabbed at random -- and

yet all concocted, dreamed up out of nothing... The SCORE

continuing to sway and taking us right up to...

154 Sebastian and Mia, husband and wife, father and mother,

hiring a babysitter because they've decided to go out for a

night at the movies... (We're back to 35mm now.) The look

here is unaffected, just everyday. The MUSIC quiets slightly,

everything goes more natural, as this happily married couple

hit the road...

155 ...then find themselves blocked by a traffic jam...then take

a side route, winding up in another part of L.A...

156 ...then walk down the street, then hear music -- a jazz combo

playing somewhere...

157 ...and step into a place that looks just like Sebastian's

club... They sit down to listen...

And then -- and this is how our imagined montage-musical

number ends -- the combo's PIANIST, who of course is not

Sebastian, launches into Mia and Sebastian's melody...

...and Mia and Sebastian look at each other, recognizing it.

The music goes full-circle, back to where it started, as Mia

and Sebastian look into each other's eyes, lean in and,

softly, but with all the love in the world...

...KISS.

Revision 85.

158 WE CUT BACK TO THE PIANO: Sebastian has just finished his

piece. We're back to reality. The audience in the club

applauds.

Beat. Mia looks at Sebastian. Looks away. A moment passes.

DAVID:

Do you want to stay for another?

She's silent for a second. Then she looks at David.

MIA:

No... We should go.

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