K-Robe’s review published on Letterboxd:
I don't give a shit anymore, this movie is perfect.
The sappy hopeless romantic in me obviously adores La La Land and the viscerally emotional experience of being alone on Valentine's Day only heightened this particular rewatch. It's beautiful in all the ways movies can be beautiful: it's got two of the most charismatic leading actors in cinema who, of course, have marvelous chemistry with each other; Chazelle's mastery of cinematic formalism shines in every scene, which effortlessly switch between contemporary dramatic blocking to classic Golden Age Hollywood musical composition; Justin Hurwitz's soundtrack and score are the best in the business, and listening to the music now is just as (and maybe even more) breathtaking as the day I first listened to it all the way back in freshman year of college.
It's such a different experience watching this now than when I was younger. I was so young back then and I didn't understand what the struggle for success in any kind of media industry was like, the sleepless nights wondering if this gig economy thing is really gonna pan out, wondering when the big break is finally going to happen and the stress can finally lay off. You have to think about what you have to do in order to be secure and so often your dreams don't survive that. And in La La Land, of course, our lovely main characters do achieve their dreams, but not without a lot of pain and not without permanent heartbreak.
I don't know how he does it, but Chazelle is so good at this. I'm convinced more than ever that Babylon is a true spiritual sequel to this film; there are so many little parallels you can make between the two works, how they handle similar situations differently, the contrast in tone and scale -- but ultimately they settle on the same theme: What is the cost of achieving your dreams? Come to think of it, Whiplash asks the same question, too.
But Chazelle always answers with this: there can be no other option except the pursuit of what you want so deeply in your heart, no matter what it takes to achieve it. Maybe it means losing the love of your life. Maybe it means becoming what you always hated. Maybe it means that you need to run away from it all when it all comes tumbling down and it makes you question if any of it was worth it at all. What grand films, all of them.
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