La La Land


La La Land


Released: January 2017

Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Director: Damien Chazelle

A musical that even the musical haters will love.
_____________________________________________________________________________

I have a confession to make. I do not enjoy musicals, in fact I positively dislike them. They make no sense to me. Why do people constantly burst into impromptu song? How come everyone knows they tune? It doesn’t work in the real-life world, trust me, I’ve tried. You just get stared at. Everything about them terrifies me.

So I was dubious when I opted to settle into La La Land. ‘This is a risk’ I thought.

A risk well worth taking though.


La La Land is an absolute delight, one which is utterly impossible not to fall in love with at once.

Our story is straightforward enough [a staple for the musical though [no, we loves this film, be nice!]]. Through a series of chance encounters, Seb (Gosling), a down-on-his-luck jazz musician meets Mia (Stone), an equally luckless actress.

These meetings lead to the two quickly falling for one another, before each pushes the other to pursue their true loves of music and acting, instead of just settling for their mundane lives.

The simplicity of the plot is by no means a bad thing though. If anything, it makes the film a more enjoyable experience, creating a genuinely believable story, which allows the songs to entertain, and the characters to enthral.


Until last year I could have easily counted the Ryan Gosling films I’ve truly enjoyed on one hand. But it appears he’s travelling from strength to strength. Emma Stone rapidly seems to be climbing the Hollywood ladder, rising from geeky female co-star, to a genuine female protagonist. Both provide the assured but vulnerable characters that form the cornerstones for the glorious piece.


La La Land is, at its heart, a modern take on the traditional musical. But, instead of disrupting the flow of the film, or being a simple aside, the musical interludes help drives the narrative, offering a quirky skipping stone past some of the duller chapters we frequently encounter in a more traditional rom-com. Their simple inclusion means when they do appear, they are a natural occurrence, rather than feeling awkwardly crowbarred in to meet some arbitrary “songs per minute” target.


It would be poor form for me to not mention the fabulous use of colour and lighting throughout, and the myriad of perfect wardrobe choices [if you didn’t already love 50‘s style dresses and brogues before, you will now]. The almost dingy interiors contrast dramatically with the bright LA exteriors. There is a clever contrast between the darker, dingy scenes, where so often Seb and Mia find their moments of true joy and inspiration, and the bright outdoors of LA, where their lives are often sterilised and controlled by external pressures.

This is particularly evident in the scenes set in jazz clubs throughout where, with the music, wardrobe, and gritting lighting, you could be forgiven for following the characters on one of their nostalgic trips to the golden age of jazz and cinema, with La La Land reflecting this style wonderfully.


La La Land is perfectly executed and well worth all the acclaim and awards attached to it. You aren’t just taken along on the journey of Seb and Mia, but feel like a part of it too, and will leave the cinema with at least one of its songs stuck in your head. In many ways, La La Land is a perfect adaptation of the classic musical love story, bringing it into the 21st century with ease. All in all, it truly is a modern classic. With 2017 still being young, I’m hesitant to suggest that this is the best film of the year (especially with the host of films on their way), but if you only see one musical this year, make sure that this is it.
_____________________________________________________________________________

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5 Stars
_____________________________________________________________________________

I loved

La La Land is a wonderful journey from start to finish, and is effortlessly easy to love

Pet Peeve

For some reason, Emma Stone occasionally reminded me of Philomena Cunk and you just can’t unsee that!

It’s almost a necessity to buy a pair of black and white brogues after you’ve seen it

Philomena Cunk
Philomena Cunk





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boss Baby

Image
The Boss Baby Released: March 2017 Starring: Alec Baldwin, Miles Bakshi, Steve Buscemi Director: Tom McGrath Not everyone is born equal. Some are born into loving families, others into suits and management roles. So what happens when the two meet? _____________________________________________________________________________ Tim Templeton (Bakshi & Buscemi) is just a normal seven year old boy, playing with his toys, his imagination, and his two favourite things in the world, his doting parents. But all of that suddenly changes with the arrival of Theodore, his new, suited and booted, baby brother (Baldwin). From the moment he arrives though, Tim is aware that all is not right with Theodore’s presence. For one, the baby wears a suit, for another, he arrived in a taxi, rather than by more traditional means. Yet, nobody else seems to notice or care; instead his parents are now dedicating all of their time to the new baby, not Tim. So he has to take matters into his own h
Read more

Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge

Image
Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge Released: May 2017 Starring: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario Director: Joachim Rønning, Espen Sandberg The apparent final outing for Captain Jack, sees a return for many of our favourite characters from the first instalment, but can they still pull out a swashbuckling adventure like Curse of the Black Pearl? _____________________________________________________________________________ So, after a break of six years, Capt’n Jack (Depp) is back for a fifth (and supposedly final) adventure on the seven seas and he’s back with plenty of familiar faces, with a couple of new ones too. His hiatus from the big screen can certainly be felt too; our beloved Jack has clearly spent more time drinking rum than sailing the oceans. He is a little more confused and bumbling than the Jack we have seen before; is it possible that he has lost his edge? His customary grand entrance [we can all rem
Read more

Wonder Woman

Image
Wonder Woman Released: June 2017 Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Elena Anaya Director: Patty Jenkins One year after she was about the only good thing in Batman vs Superman, can Wonder Woman prove that she can go it alone? _____________________________________________________________________________ When it’s come down to the crunch I’ve always preferred Batman to Superman and The Joker to Lex Luthor. And all of them to Wonder Woman. She never really grabbed me and it always felt like she was only crowbarred into the DC universe to add a little more gender balance. When there was a choice between a vigilante with a bucket load of gadgets, an alien with lasers in his face, or a lady in hot pants with a lasso, here was only ever going to be one loser. Yet, when she debuted in Batman vs Superman (2016) I was surprised. I mean, there was a whole heap about that film which surprised me to be honest. I was expecting a wonderful, actio
Read more