An undiscovered actress working in a film studio Café meets an unsuccessful Jazz pianist. Both are searching for their dreams; one hopes to be a leading actress and the other strives to open a cool Jazz bar in the city.
I went with high hopes and big expectations for La La Land. It has been the film everyone has been talking about for the past few months. The high level of praise it had been receiving made it a possibility that it would not reach this extreme level of admiration and that it would be a let down; it wasn’t. Not only were the characters entirely charming, the music elegant and sophisticated, but also the visuals could be said to be a form of art. This musical brings you back to an old school Hollywood film full of truly magical moments and romance.
The opening starts as the film means to go on with bright colourful images as we see the city come to life through song and dance, it’s not a cheesy musical, as the lyrics are realistic and optimistic but the background plot grounds the film within reality. There are many French new-wave elements to the film, but it also has a classic Hollywood style that again makes sure this musical is not simply just a musical. The way the film has been constructed is very creative and artistic making it far more indie than most musicals. Placing it in a similar league to ‘Moulin Rouge!’ and ‘Singin’ In The Rain’. The film itself has new modern sense of character but with vintage and retro style.
The main pull of the film is the charming relationship between Ryan Gosling’s character Seb and Emma Stone’s character Mia. The chemistry and flow between the two make the romance very raw and real, it is hopelessly romantic. The more dream-like sequences have an even more magical affect. The performance of both actors makes it easy to fall in love with them and romanticizes the relationship. The glances between characters and the exceptionally beautiful sequence in the observatory shows this film is full of charisma and charm.
As with Whiplash, Damien Chazelle has ensured the music throughout the film fits perfectly and is a spectacle of its own, the key song ‘City of Stars’ is incredibly haunting and remains an earworm, stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Although perhaps the most notable song is Mia’s audition song (The Fools Who Dream), this being the moment when the film goes from being beautiful to elegantly heart breaking and emotional. It is definitely my favourite moment of the film, and truly captures the hopes and dreams of the characters. Even with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling perhaps not being the most outstanding singers or dancers, they definitely play the rolls well and create a lot of the film’s charm.
La la land is bold, bright and beautiful. It’s got great charm, with a stunning look, and the dream-like sequences really do have a magical air to them. A romance, a musical, it wont be loved by all but it sure will make those who do love it, fall in love over and over again with it and feel all emotions while watching this spectacularly visual film. Even if not loved, the look of the film must be applauded, and I am sure Damien Chazelle will be winning a few awards this season.
Image: Lionsgate
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