A distinctly modern romance, “La La Land” is both a love letter to the Los Angeles of unabated dreams, and to glamour and emotion of cinema classics. Directed by Damien Chazelle, the romantic musical comedy-drama film reunites Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

“La La Land” follows two struggling artists, Sebastian (Gosling) and Mia (Stone), who are both trying to navigate their way out of the gridlock in their lives. Sebastian is trying to get people to care about traditional jazz in the 21st century. Mia, meanwhile, is aiming to nail just one uninterrupted audition. But neither expects that their fateful encounter will push them to take higher leaps they could never do alone.

Gosling had his own long-held affection for movie musicals. “I was really intrigued by the fact that Damien wanted to make a film in the style of that Fred and Ginger and Gene Kelly eras, because those are the musicals that move me,” Gosling said. “The fact that he wanted this film to have that kind of aesthetic and spirit of playfulness was fantastic because it was also a secret wish of mine to make a film like that.”

Early on in the process, Stone met with Chazelle, who took her through his ideas for some of the musical numbers.

“It was intoxicating,” Stone said. “The idea of telling this really modern story of two struggling artists—but in a 1950s-style musical version of today’s Los Angeles—became something really exciting to me very quickly.” —CONTRIBUTED

 “La La Land” opens on Jan. 11.