Damien Chazelle's Oscar-winning film La La Land broke one of the longest-standing records in Oscars history. La La Land is undoubtedly one of the best movies of both Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's careers. The film infamously lost Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards to Moonlight after it was mistakenly announced that La La Land had taken home the coveted prize. It did end up winning six Oscars, including Stone's first Best Actress award as well as Best Director, Best Cinematographer, and Best Original Score. The film also earned a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, making it one of Chazelle's best movies.
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La La Land helped to legitimize both Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling's acting careers and established them as two of the most sought-after talents in Hollywood. The same can be said of Chazelle, whose groundbreaking 2013 film Whiplash starring Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons cemented him as one of the greatest young directors in the film industry. While Chazelle did not win any Oscars for Whiplash, which won three awards including Best Sound Mixing, Best Film Editing, and Best Supporting Actor for J.K. Simmons, Chazelle did win Best Director for La La Land, becoming the youngest winner in Oscars history.
La La Land is currently streaming on Netflix.
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Norman Taurog Was The Youngest Best Director Oscar Winner For 86 Years
Taurog won Best Director when he was 32 years and 260 days old
Before Chazelle made Oscars history at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017, director Norman Taurog held the honor fo being the youngest Best Director winner for 86 years. Taurog won for 1931's Skippy when he was 32 years and 260 days old. Taurog's Oscar win for Skippy was his only Academy Award although he was nominated for Best Director once again for 1938's Boys Town. Taurog won the Best Directors Oscar for Skippy at the fourth-ever Academy Awards, which took place on November 10, 1931. Skippy was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Jackie Cooper.
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Although he lost the Oscar to Lionel Barrymore for A Free Soul, Cooper remains the youngest Best Actor nominee of all time. He was just 9 years and 20 days old at the time. Although Cooper would continue his career as an actor and director throughout the 20th century, it was the only time he was ever nominated for an Academy Award. Norman Taurog would go on to direct other classics during Hollywood's Golden Age such as The Adventures of Tom Swayer (1938) and Room for One More (1952) and has more than 180 directing credits. He directed several Elvis Presley movies, such as G.I. Blues (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Speedway (1968).
Damien Chazelle Beat Norman Taurog's Oscars Record With La La Land
Chazelle was 32 years and 38 days old when he won Best Director
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Damien Chazelle broke Norman Taurog's 86-year-old Oscars record in 2017 by winning Best Director when he was 32 years and 38 days old. To this day, Chazelle remains the youngest Best Director winner in Oscars history because of his exceptional work on La La Land, which was widely celebrated at the 89th Academy Awards. Chazelle's directorial efforts after La La Land have not led him to any other Oscar wins. His 2018 space biopic First Man won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and earned three additional nominations in technical categories. His most recent film, 2022's Babylon, was nominated for three Oscars.
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Daniel Day-Lewis could become the first person to win 4 Best Actor Oscars, extending his own record of 3 which is unlikely to be broken for some time.
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All four of Chazelle's most recent feature films have either won or have been nominated for at least three Academy Awards, which is an incredible feat for the now-39-year-old director. Chazelle is currently working on an untitled feature film at Paramount Pictures which is expected to be released sometime in 2025, potentially right in time for next year's Oscars season. While Chazelle clearly can't outdo his own record as the youngest Best Director winner, he still has an opportunity to enter the rare category of 2-time Best Director winners alongside Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee, Eliza Kazan, and Clint Eastwood.
Why Norman Taurog's Youngest Director Winner Record Lasted For So Long
Very few directors under 32 have ever been nominated
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Norman Taurog's record became increasingly difficult to break throughout the decades of the Academy Awards until Chazelle finally snapped it in 2017. John Singleton remains the youngest Best Director nominee in Oscars history at 24 years old for his groundbreaking 1991 film Boyz n the Hood. He was also the first black man in Oscars history to be nominated for the award.
Francis Ford Coppola came close to Taurog's record after he was nominated (and lost) for The Godfather at the age of 33. Delbert Mann won in 1955 at 35. William Friedkin won at 36 for The French Connection. Kevin Costner won for Dances with Wolves when he was 35. Sam Mendes won for American Beauty at 34. Greta Gerwig was nominated for Lady Bird when she was 34. Quentin Tarantino was just 31 years old when he was nominated for Pulp Fiction in 1994 but lost to Robert Zemeckis' Forrest Gump. Jason Reitman was 32 when he was nominated for Up in the Air. Chazelle's La La Land record will be difficult to beat.
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9/10
8.4/10
La La Land
PG-13
Drama
Musical
Comedy
Written and directed by Damien Chazzelle, the romantic musical La La Land tells the story of Seb Wilder (Ryan Gosling) and Mia Dolan (Emma Stone), a jazz musician and an aspiring actress pursuing their respective dreams in Los Angeles. The pair meet and fall in love, sharing their passions and hopes with one another as they become closer. J.K. Simmons, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Finn Wittrock appear in supporting roles.
- Director
- Damien Chazelle
- Release Date
- December 9, 2016
- Studio(s)
- Lionsgate
- Distributor(s)
- Lionsgate
- Writers
- Damien Chazelle
- Cast
- Hemky Madera , meagen fay , J. K. Simmons , Sonoya Mizuno , Rosemarie DeWitt , John Legend , Ryan Gosling , Finn Wittrock , Ashley Caple , Josh Pence , Emma Stone , Jason Fuchs
- Runtime
- 128 Minutes
- Budget
- 30 million