Damien Chazelle, ‘La La Land’

For a filmmaker whose movie just had one of the strongest limited openings of the year, garnered seven Golden Globe nominations and is increasingly building Oscar momentum, Damien Chazelle still seems quite down to earth. He is taking the accolades with modest graciousness. His film “La La Land” earned him two Golden Globe nominations for director and screenwriting, along with nominations for its stars, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Speaking by phone from Los Angeles, Mr. Chazelle discussed how the awards circuit is different this year and why he doesn’t think of his musical as escapism. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

Your film “Whiplash” won three Oscars in 2015. Can you compare being on the awards circuit with that movie to now with “La La Land”?

In both cases, I’ve been a little taken aback and surprised by the response to these films. It has seemed even more intense with this movie than with “Whiplash.” It was such a new experience then and I had no real knowledge of the awards scene. It felt really busy. But now I look back and it seems like that was a lot less busy and intense than it is now. I guess I’m still learning as I go, but in both cases it’s been so rewarding and fun.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve been hearing people say about “La La Land”?

The idea of people getting to take some comfort, some amount of hope or joy from it, some reminder of the beautiful things in the world, is good. I hoped that those things would come across, but sometimes you get into the thick of it with a movie and you just kind of want to make sure you’re telling your story effectively. I started working on this movie about six years ago, so everything both in my life and in the world at large is different. I am surprised by the way in which, now, people really seem to be responding to those things about it.

You certainly have found success. Could you talk about making films like “Whiplash” and “La La Land” where characters are chasing that kind of success?