ratingbull’s review published on Letterboxd:
"I'm always gonna love you."
Damien Chezelle is a filmmaker who out of nowhere made one of the greatest films of the decade in Whiplash. I remember hearing about the premise and that it was one of "the most intense films ever" and feeling a little sceptical. I didn't know how a film with that plot synopsis could be remotely intense, but how wrong was I? When I heard his sophomore film would be yet another film about a jazz musician, starring J.K Simmons I couldn't help but be a little cynical again. Like many others I imagine, alarm bells started to go off. You could be forgiven for questions such as "is he a one trick pony?" "Is he out of ideas already?" "will it be derivative?" coming to mind, but La La Land could not be more of a different film to his acclaimed break out debut. Yet again, Damien Chezelle continues to surprise and impress.
He's managed to make a completely different film in terms of genre, style, intent and tone which is remarkable. What's even more remarkable, is that he succeeded in what he set out to do perfectly. He's managed to breathe life into a genre that wasn't just stagnant, it was dead. He's created a traditional musical in the mould of musicals from a bygone era but put a fresh, modern spin on it. It feels both nostalgic and reminiscent, as well as new and exciting. The film is quite simple - it's about an aspiring actress who meets a Jazz pianist with his own dreams and aspirations, their paths almost being fated to cross. With this simple premise, the film is about something quite simple. Two individuals and their inner conflict between passion, art, dreams and romanticism vs relationships, realism, pragmatism and security. There's something incredibly magnetic about watching people who are passionate and enamoured by something, and watching these two people fall in love both with each other and their art is a joy to behold. Watching them try to balance it with their love for each other, difficult to watch - in the best possible way.
The film is aesthetically beautiful. Colourful and vibrant, full of vitality, energy and life. The cinematography, colour palette and scenery is everything I love about film. La La Land is both a love letter to a bygone era of musicals, and to a city - Los Angeles, the city of angels hasn't looked this gorgeous in the movies for a long time. The sequence depicted on the poster is just incredibly choreographed and visually stunning, I got lost both in the character's movements and the dreamy, ethereal backdrop. One of my personal problems with a lot of musicals are the songs, and when that's what the genre's narrative is built around, it's a massive problem but the songs are genuinely catchy, enjoyable and memorable. When you combined that, with a wonderful story with great characterization and on screen chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone you have the best film of the year.
La La Land lifts you up and gives you a feeling of pure euphoria and exuberance, then gives you a gut punching, heart-breaking, melancholic ending. The sacrifices you make for passion and an innate desire left a lingering feeling of sadness inside me and when a film can give you a combination of contrasting emotions, you know that it has been more than just a film, but an experience and it's by far one of the best films of the year and further cements Damien Chazelle as one of the most exciting talents of his generation and I believe he has so many more great movies in him.
