La La Land (2016)

About this film

La La Land is the most visually specific love letter Los Angeles has received on film. Damien Chazelle’s 2016 musical follows Mia and Sebastian through a Los Angeles built entirely from real places — the observatory, the jazz clubs, the bridges, the hillside benches. None of it is studio backlot dressed to look like somewhere else. Every frame is a real, findable, visitable corner of the city, and that is what makes it one of the great film location experiences in California.

Griffith Observatory

The centrepiece. Mia and Sebastian dance across the sky in the planetarium and walk out onto the terrace with the city spread below them. Griffith Observatory sits at 1,134 feet on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park and the view is exactly as the film presents it — the Los Angeles basin from downtown to the ocean, framed by the Hollywood Sign to the north. The observatory itself is a 1935 Art Deco landmark, free to enter, and one of the most visited public buildings in Los Angeles.

The bench on the path below the observatory where Mia and Sebastian sit overlooking the city at twilight is real and identifiable. The planetarium show in the film is fictionalised but the Samuel Oschin Planetarium inside the building runs real shows daily.

Visiting: Griffith Observatory is free to enter and open Tuesday to Sunday. Parking on the hill fills early on weekends — the DASH Observatory shuttle bus from the Vermont/Sunset Metro station is the most reliable alternative. Sunset is the best time for the view that matches the film.

Hermosa Beach and the Lighthouse Cafe

The Lighthouse Cafe on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach is where Sebastian plays jazz to an indifferent crowd and later brings Mia to hear a band. The venue is real and still operating — it has been a jazz and live music venue since the 1940s and its exterior appears in the film exactly as it stands today. Hermosa Beach itself is a classic Southern California beach town on the South Bay, twenty miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The pier and the Strand are worth walking regardless of the film connection.

Visiting: The Lighthouse Cafe is at 30 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach. Check their live music schedule before visiting — the venue still hosts jazz nights. Hermosa Beach Pier is a short walk from the cafe and the Strand connects south to Redondo Beach and north to Manhattan Beach.

Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena

The bridge where Mia and Sebastian walk at dusk as the streetlights come on — one of the most romantic sequences in the film. The Colorado Street Bridge is a 1913 Beaux-Arts concrete arch bridge spanning the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, a National Historic Landmark and one of the most elegant structures in Southern California. The film shoots it exactly as it is — the arched spans, the period lamp posts, the view down the arroyo. Pasadena’s Old Town, a few blocks east, has restaurants and shops worth combining with a visit.

Visiting: The bridge carries Colorado Boulevard over the Arroyo Seco between Old Town Pasadena and Eagle Rock. It has pedestrian walkways on both sides. Park in Old Town Pasadena and walk west to the bridge — dusk gives the closest match to the film’s lighting.

Angels Flight and Grand Central Market

Angels Flight is the tiny funicular railway on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles — the shortest railway in the world, operating since 1901 (relocated and reopened at its current Hill Street location). Mia and Sebastian ride it in the film. Grand Central Market, directly at the base of Angels Flight on South Broadway, is the sprawling food hall that has operated since 1917. The combination of the two — the railway and the market — gives a sequence that is pure old Los Angeles, the city before the freeways.

Visiting: Angels Flight operates daily, rides cost one dollar each way. Grand Central Market is open seven days a week with dozens of food vendors. The two are adjacent on Hill Street between 3rd and 4th Streets — arrive hungry.

Warner Bros Studio, Burbank

The studio lot where Mia works as a barista and walks between soundstages is Warner Bros Studios in Burbank. The window of the coffee shop on the lot where Mia serves customers in the film overlooks a studio street that is part of the working backlot. Warner Bros offers a public studio tour that visits working soundstages, the backlot streets and the prop warehouse. It is one of the best studio tours in Los Angeles and gives genuine access to the working environment rather than a theme park version of it.

Visiting: The Warner Bros Studio Tour runs daily from the main gate on Riverside Drive, Burbank. Book online in advance — tours sell out, especially at weekends. Allow two to three hours. The tour does not specifically highlight La La Land locations but the backlot streets and the studio environment are immediately recognisable.

Practical information

All five locations are in the greater Los Angeles area but spread across it. Griffith Observatory, Angels Flight and Grand Central Market are all within central Los Angeles and can be combined in a single day. Hermosa Beach is a separate trip south. Pasadena and Burbank are north and can be paired. A car is the most practical way to connect them, though the Metro serves several — Vermont/Sunset for Griffith Park, Bunker Hill for Angels Flight, and the Green Line for Hermosa Beach.

The best time to visit Griffith Observatory for the La La Land experience is at sunset on a clear day — the golden hour light over the basin is exactly what Chazelle filmed. For the Lighthouse Cafe, check the live music schedule and go on a jazz night to get the full atmosphere.