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Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s ‘La La Land’ gets rave reviews in Venice

By Heather Ciras Globe Staff,August 31, 2016, 1:01 p.m.
Emma Stone (left) and Ryan Gosling in a scene from "La La Land.”
Emma Stone (left) and Ryan Gosling in a scene from "La La Land.”(Dale Robinette/Summit Entertainment via AP)

“La La Land,” a musical romance starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, debuted to sustained applause at the Venice Film Festival Wednesday.

The film is the third feature-length movie written and directed by Damien Chazelle , the Rhode Island native and Harvard grad who filmed his first movie, “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench,” in Boston at the age of 24. (Globe critic Ty Burr called the musical “a gritty, no-budget love letter to Beantown.”)

Chazelle’s second film was “Whiplash,” which won three Oscars. (J.K. Simmons won best supporting actor at both the Oscars and Golden Globes for his role as a psychotic music instructor who makes life miserable for a star pupil, played by Miles Teller.)

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Sounds like “La La Land” is a good follow to Chazelle’s last hit. Critics who saw the movie in Venice on Wednesday came away impressed. The Guardian called it “wonderfully sweet and sad,” a “sun-drenched musical masterpiece,” and Variety says “La La Land” is a “voluptuous high note of retro glamour and style.” The only bad news is that the movie won’t be released here until December.

Heather Ciras can be reached at heather.ciras@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @heatherciras.