La La Land

I cannot really articulate the way La La Land makes me feel. The lights, the sounds, the emotions, the performances: it’s all perfection. As someone who is quite averse to musicals, I have been putting off this movie for so long. Just over six years after its initial release, I finally forced myself to watch La La Land, and this movie is a masterpiece, through and through. Not a leaf out of place, not a stone left unturned. I could not point to a single thing in this movie that could have been improved or was not to my liking. Chazelle has outdone himself with this one. This film is a cinematographer’s fantasy. Every shot is so warm and beautiful and meticulously executed. The use of contrasting light and color makes scenes pop off the screen and demand your attention. So many frames could be removed from this movie and even an acontextual viewer could understand what is happening in the scene and find beauty in it as well. One of the most vibrant, visually-pleasing films I’ve ever seen.  Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have never, ever been better. The chemistry these two share is something special, and I hope to see them work together many, many more times. The dialogue-heavy scenes between them are so fun to watch; they play off of each other so easily and naturally. Chazelle thankfully allows both of them to play to their strengths and it works amazingly. Gosling’s innate charm and humor works perfectly for the character of Sebastian, and Stone has this amazing ability to say a thousand words with only a look, which is on full display throughout the movie. Could not imagine a better version of Mia and Sebastian. The music was also really good! Musicals have always come off as being really hammy and disingenuous to me because the song breaks can feel unnatural and forced, and most of the time the music isn’t that great. Can’t really get into em. But in La La Land I loved the way the music complemented the narrative; it always felt right and never out of place. The recurring theme that plays throughout the movie is so so so beautiful and sends tingles down my spine. I loved the way it was interpolated into other songs and thus took on different meanings in different contexts. Found myself actively saving songs on Spotify as they played during the film. Shoutout Justin Hurwitz for putting together such an amazing soundtrack. As for the story itself, I was feeling such a wide array of emotions throughout the movie as the narrative unfolded. I was like a puppet in Chazelle’s hands, going exactly wherever he wanted. And god that last scene! My heart was fluttering about and it wasn’t just because of the lack of exercise. So that’s me trying to express how La La Land made me feel. It’s surely too longwinded and all over the place, but there it is. And if you haven’t watched the movie, you’ll get it when you do. Cinematic brilliance. But Moonlight still deserved it.