La La Land

Original Rating: 5/5 2016's La La Land is one of those films that every time I see it, it makes me wonder why other films even exist if they can't match the level of cinema that this film is. Obviously, I'm being slightly dramatic, but La La Land truly is one of my favorite films and my favorite musical of all time and there's nothing on planet Earth that could ever change that. It's more than just a film, too—it's a painting, it's a feeling, it's a play, it's a dream—it's a sentiment that we all feel, may it be lots, little, or none. La La Land is a fantasy that transcends the concept of cinema in a way that not even God could predict. I've only seen this film a couple of times now, but already, I've come to realize so many details and themes, emotions and meanings, hidden in every spotlight, soul, and song in this film that it feels Impossible for any work of art to be so complete yet overflowing with creativity and love. If you haven't caught it yet, La La Land really is a perfect film. I can't start talking about this film without first talking about its use of colour, with respect to the cinematography and lighting. I remember watching this film for the first time when I was fourteen and though I definitely noticed how brightly coloured and vibrant this film looked, I didn't understand the significance of it. Why is Mia illuminated in this colour light? Why is there a spotlight on Seb all the time? Why are they flying? These questions never arose in my oblivious, fourteen-year-old brain, but now, after many months of watching films from the lens of more than just a viewer, and after many insightful English classes, I've begun to questions things like this when I consume any type of art. This film, unlike a lot of other films, answered every question I had, without saying a single word. What I'm trying to say is, this film is more than just pretty, it's deep as well. I used to think good cinematography was all just pretty shots and Dutch angles, but I've come to realize that cinematography is in the mind. It doesn't matter if a shot looks pretty if it doesn't serve a purpose; in fact, it makes the film feel dead, because it lacks emotion in every choice it makes. La La Land (2016), though, is much unlike that. One of my favorite examples of the lighting and it's deeper meaning throughout the film is the use of the colour blue and it's opposite, red. The first time we see the use of this is when Mia is walking outside of Seb's old restaurant job and she stops, hearing Seb's piano playing, right between two beams of neon red light, in her blue dress. The colours kind of clash, yes, but that's only because Mia and Seb are very different people, with Mia hating Jazz and Seb loving it. This frame, however, presents something else too; it doesn't just point out the stark difference between Mia and Seb from their respective colours, but with the neon red light outlining Mia's figure, falling on her hair, face, and even dress, it suggests that maybe the two persons are mixing, that the two colours and therefore people have a chance to blend with one another. It's a beautiful comparison and a genius use of colour and lighting to convey such layered thoughts and themes, but what makes it so much better is that this isn't just a one off thing—in fact, the blue and red contrast comes back once more in the film, and then finally, like a cherry on the top, is the very thing that ends the film. The second instance of this contrast between blue and red is when Seb is playing with the band at the concert for the first time and Mia watches from the crowd. It's a very electric scene that uses heavy levels of neon red lights shining down on Seb on stage, with heavy blue lights shining down on Mia in the crowd. Once again, this represents the distance between them in this moment, and how Seb appears to enjoy this music, but Mia does not. And the strobe lights? That's just the final touch on the scene that lets us know of the turbulence in the true feelings of the characters. The light isn't calm and stable like before where both know what they want and what they love, but rather quite restless and uncomfortable, signaling Mia and Seb's own uncomfortability with the concert. Finally, this blue-red contrast concept comes back a final time at the very end when Mia entered Seb's for the first time. At first, she's draped fully in blue light, but as she gets farther into the club, the people around her are illuminated in red. Soon, as she takes a seat and her and Seb's dream fantasy comes to an end in their mind, the red begins to creep up onto her face. Then, as she decides to leave and looks back s final time, both Seb and Mia are now fully bathed in a blend of red and blue, signaling that they've finally fully blended with one another. It's just insane how amazing this one detail is and even more amazing that there's so many details like this in the film that I noticed and couldn't talk about, or didn't even notice and won't until another viewing. This film is also the film that got the legendary Emma Stone her very first Oscar, and I can very clearly see why. This is definitely her best performance ever, which is a high bar considering she's so great in everything she does, but I truly feel like this is her piece de resistance. Not only did this film get her the Oscar, but it's the film that made me fall in love with her as an actress, and made her probably my favorite actress of all time. Just like my list of favorite films, and list of favorite directors, my list of favorite actors is never set in stone (no pun intended), but Emma Stone is definitely at the top of that list, and will always be at the top of that list. One of my favorite scenes of her in this film is the very first audition scene because it just feels so fucking real. In that scene, she's acting as Mia acting as a role she's auditioning for, but even so many times removed, it feels as though she isn't acting at all, but rather simply reacting. It feels as though her performance in this scene should be diluted, and yet it feels just as fresh and concentrated as the rest of her work. Other than her acting, I was also just so blown away and in love with her voice throughout this film. It's crazy she hasn't done more musicals because every time she sings, it feels ethereal, like angels are calling. Now, you might think I'm just glazing her because I love her so much, which I totally do, but also, she really does sound heavenly. I mean, just 'The Audition' alone is one of the highlights of the film, purely because of her voice and the meaningfulness of the lyrics. Then, there's Ryan Gosling, the other lead of this film, who just never fails to impress me. Gosling is also absolutely amazing in this film. Not only does he emote so fucking much with just his eyes sometimes, he's genuinely the funniest part of the film for so much of it. Sure, the script is very well written, but his top notch dialogue delivery and natural humor just enrich the film so much more. He really feels passionate about Jazz and everything Seb stands for, not only on screen, but off screen too. I mean, the fact that he learned how to play the piano just for this role is an insane amount of commitment, but to be this exceptional too—that's just pure dedication and talent coming alive on screen. But at the end of the day, no matter how good Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are independently, if they're not good together, the movie simply doesn't work. Fortunately, their chemistry is radioactive (in a good way). There's not a single second of the film where it seems as though these are just two actors trying to act as a couple because they're so intune with one another. It feels like their genuinely in love and a real couple throughout the whole film; it feels like we're watching Mia and Seb the whole time, not Emma and Ryan. And that's the bow on the present, that not only are these two actors brilliant apart, but they're even better together. It's not often we get many new, original musicals nowadays which is quite sad because I'm always looking forward to hearing something that I've never experienced before, something that no one has ever experienced before. Unfortunately, for the past few years we've only gotten film adaptations of Broadway musicals, or film adaptations of older film adaptations of Broadway musicals. La La Land, though, is different and offers not just new music, but sensational, endlessly emotive, and utterly beautiful music especially. The soundtrack is something I find myself returning to so often, it's kind of crazy. There have been years where 'Another Day of Sun' or 'It's a Lovely Night' have been on my top songs playlist of the year because I listen to them simply that many times. Even 'Planetarium', and the other scores for this film were just absolutely beautifully composed and blended so well with the other tracks in the film's soundtrack. I'm probably missing out of millions of Jazz facts and little intentional details in the music that Damien Chazelle geeked out about on set, so that tells you that I'm not even remotely a big fan of Jazz as much as Chazelle, and that he's a fucking lunatic and a genius one at that. Finally, I wanna talk about the overall theme of this film and what it's really trying to say to all of us film watchers. I'm kicking myself for being stupid enough to not see the meaning behind every deliberate choice in this film when I saw it for the first time, but thankfully now I finally get it. La La Land is all about exactly that—la la land, but more specifically, all of our own la la lands, that take place inside our minds that we strive to make come true, but will never truly become true. It's a sad fact, but la la lands becoming more than dreams requires great sacrifice, something that may taint our la la land, but alas, it's the price we must play. I'm still so absolutely blown away at how Chazelle conveys this through the film, however, because it's so well done that I didn't even notice it the first time around, and yet the film was just as good as this time around. The surrealism, the extravagant and vibrant lighting, the picture perfect shots, the beautiful landscapes and locations, the bright and colourful palette, and finally, the fantasy sequence, are all aspects of the film that show us that this film really is a dream come true, because it has its ugly moments with break ups and hardships, but that's precisely what makes a la la land come to life. This film is just perfect in every way; it really is the fantasy that many (including me) say it is because it I were to outline every single aspect of this film to someone who's never even heard of it, they would tell me that a film so perfect and flawless in every way can't exist, and that I wasn't being realistic, and that I was stuck in my very own La La Land. I'm always gonna love you. Emma Stone Ranked IB Level: 7+ 5/5 **24 October 2025 chymp**