I felt terrible leaving this movie. Not because it was bad, but because something as incredibly well crafted, passionate, and absolutely spellbinding can't be seen right away by my friends and followers.
Something this special doesn't deserve to just be screened at a film festival for those willing to spend hundreds of dollars on passes, it deserves to be seen by everyone as soon as humanly possible.
Never in my life have I seen such a film ooze such a genuine passion for its own existence, not for the sake of getting money or tears from the viewers, but bringing joy to their lives in a world where nothing but hate, fear, and lies overwhelm us.
And what better way to do that, then with the power of good old fashioned music......
I'll be perfectly honest, given my distaste for Damien Chazelle's previous film "Whiplash", I expected to have the same reaction to his latest. So imagine the utter shock on my face as soon as the final title card appeared, I was joining along with my audience, clapping like a mad man.
"La La Land" is less a celebration of the art of music/musicals/Hollywood, but rather a celebration of filmmaking in general. From the costumes, to the sets, to the way the camera swoops all over the place remaining completely on track as each actor starts to move into their place, to just pretty much everything.
It's a film that not only loves the artistry of creation in motion pictures, but the people who love watching/creating them. Whether it be simply holding up a fancy light in the right spot or being the guy behind the camera, it's still being a part of something truly incredible. Because that's what this film is.
From the surprisingly humorous and brilliantly crafted screenplay, to the wildly clear, quick, and fluid editing, the BEAUTIFUL set design looking like a painting come to life, the colors of the costumes clashing together with perfect choreography, the incredibly hypnotic camera work that rushes from scene to scene with no sense of ever stopping, watching this was a true feast for the eyes and ears.
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (I seriously regret saying what I did about him in my "Drive" review a few months ago) are absolutely perfect, balancing sharp wit with genuine care and love for both of their passions; one being acting; the other the art of music.
Which speaking of, sadly, is my only real issue from the film, and it's a big one too.
The music in general is fantastic, easily one of the best soundtracks of the year so far. Yet I can't deny, I felt disappointed by it. See, usually when it comes to musicals, there's certain keys to look out for to give away when a song is supposed to come on or start up again.
Here, the film almost forgets its a musical by the second act by dropping a good amount of the song numbers completely, and even the ones leaving up it come off as practically unfinished. However, this could be somewhat intentional.
What made me think of that was the fact that there was a sense of music always going on in some way shape or form throughout the run time, even if it wasn't being sung by any of the lead characters. But at the same time, it's rather disappointing that when watching it and you can see most points where they could be at least one or two more songs to fill in the gap and make the overall experience feel less barren than it ends up being......
And yet, I don't really think that matters in the grand scheme of things. Complaining about something this well made, this genuine, this passionate, and this joyous shouldn't even be thought off until afterwards and you feel as if they're even worth mentioning to begin with.
"La La Land" is something I didn't except to like at all, let alone love, but the music, the direction, the characters, the production design, and pretty much everything else in-between, made me fall just as in love with it as much as everyone else.