La La Land (2016)
A film by Damien Chazelle
Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a struggling Jazz musician, fall in love, and continue to strive to pursue their passion in a city full of dreamers while braving rejections and heart breaks.
As it opened its first sequence, we were immediately served with an ambitious production number. The choreography was marvelous. The camera panned fast, keeping its focus on every dancers. It was incredibly fun; you knew, you would be given more scenes of equal flawlessness. And boy, were we right to expect. Performances shared by the lead actors were too dreamy. The tap dance sequence under the moonlit sky. The scene at the observatory behind various magical backdrops. The quiet moment at Sebastian's house where they sang their beautiful rendition of City of Stars. It kept me to my seat, with bright eyes glued to the screen. The cinematography was grand. Whether it be with silhouettes or with backgrounds of starry nights and sunny skies. The lighting further complemented the beauty of every frame. The palettes gave such nostalgia. Its original soundtrack was perfection. It was already haunting, but Stone and Gosling provided the final touches that made it even more memorable. We knew since Crazy, Stupid, Love that their team up had an irrefutable chemistry with lots of potential. When they danced and sang together, I realized the endless beauty they could offer this cruel world. Talented actors who have both given life to their characters in the most satisfying ways. All these contributed in making every scene a vivid magical tour in Mia and Sebastian's world.
La La Land connected with its viewers with the perfect balance of ambiguity and clarity. It made the audience feel, the way the movie was supposed to make them feel, and more. It delivered what it promised: a delightful musical film about hopes and dreams. Simple, but definitely powerful. The focal point of the film was pursuing your dreams and passion. There was also a right amount of romance in the mix that made it even compelling. It had a more simplistic approach, but it did not lack substance. Yes, the plot did not have a kind of conclusion that would create, arouse discussion over issues with political relevance. La La Land was upfront about what kind of movie it was from the very beginning. Nonetheless, with its mainstream success, as well as the recent Oscar fiasco, the film gained unnecessary negative feedback that were completely irrelevant to the aesthetics of the film. Using its genre as a tool to undermine its strengths was subjective and unfair. For starters, the core message of the movies (people were pitting it against from) was utterly different. Sure, it couldn't be helped. But the refreshing ideas offered by each movie on different aspects of life and subject matters all made impact. They were all glorious in their own unique ways of sharing stories, raising awareness, and creating possibilities. Thus, sometimes, the themes of comparison were only fueled by hatred of the mainstream (guilty of this every now and then).
I believe that people making movies meticulously choose every cell to make their brainchild the picture they have in mind. Of course, the results vary. However, in La La Land every piece just naturally fit together too well—giving the viewers a rare experience of a lifetime. I've been dreaming of La La Land before the world did, but no one cares. The thing is, immense popularity of a subject doesn't always diminish its merit.
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