La La Land stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as starving artists trying to make it in Los Angeles, Gosling as Sebastian: the jazz pianist, and Stone as Mia: the actress and playwright. Both of these actors put everything they've got into these parts, but it's Stone who shines brightest. Her nuanced performance captures everything about a struggling, hopeful creative and bundles it into a single, great character. Gosling gets his spot too as he gets to show some spot-on comedic timing and has a great emotional arc to produce. What really lifts the movie up, though, is the immense amount of chemistry these two leads have. There are genuine smiles and chuckles throughout the film and it always seems as if these two are made for each other.
Now, La La Land is a musical, so much of its strength relies on its music. Justin Hurwitz delivers an amazing score. Every song is memorable and gorgeous. City of Stars and Audition are personal favorites, but every piece is infused with love and care, especially the instrumentals. After coming off of Whiplash, Hurwitz puts forth the punchiest, coolest jazz tunes I've ever heard. Each bar becomes more beautiful than the one before it, and it could not work better.
I'd like to take some time now to talk about Damien Chazelle. If you weren't impressed by each and every perfect frame of Whiplash, you should probably see an optometrist. He brings the same eye for a scene here but ups the ante. The first thing I noticed in the movie was the incredible use of vivid, saturated, primary colors. Each scene, each character, each moment has its own gorgeous color scheme, with the movie centering around a captivating, deep blue that brings everything back together every time it appears on screen. On my second viewing, I was able to pinpoint the meaning of each color and its purpose for each character, which I won't spoil, but know that these choices are not arbitrary in the least. The framing of each and every scene is so spot on. Objects come into the frame in the perfect spot to be seen without becoming too big of a distraction, pans are used to an incredibly moving effect, and I can't go on without talking about the long shots. Musicals used to have the numbers shot with one long shot, needing no cuts like a stage production, but that sort of fell off for movie musicals. Chazelle brings them back in an incredible display of bravery. Several song and dance numbers are 5-minute long shots, and the movie is all the better for it. I can only equate it to when the director of an action movie chooses to show the work that their actors have put in rather than giving short, terse moments of the fight. Did I forget to mention that Damien Chazelle wrote the script for the movie as well? The dialogue is smart, funny, cute, and, most of all, real. Chazelle brings a sense of realism to a movie where people randomly break out in song and dance. Every character feels tight and together, never leaving what they would do to act on a weird plot device. Chazelle is one to look out for in the coming years.
I want to take a moment to give the spotlight to people who normally do not. Tom Cross, the film's sole editor (which boggles my mind), does an incredible job. The pacing is so spot on and each song lines up perfectly with what is happening on the screen. David Wasco, the film's production designer, and Austin Gorg, the art director, made the most beautiful sets I may have ever seen in a movie. The layout, the color, the everything is absolutely wonderful. Mary Zophres, the costume designer, chose each and every outfit flawlessly. Every main character pops out in a crowd, and their clothes blend gracefully into any scene.
There isn't much more I can say about this splendid piece of art. I can't wait until it goes wide and more people can see it because this should be a global sensation. I've seen 1,000+ movies, and I can say with extreme confidence that this is one of my five favorite movies of all time, if not my new favorite. That doesn't happen, like, ever. I was expecting greatness, but what I got was perfection.
10/10
