La La Land
Viktor Prentovski

Review by Viktor Prentovski Pro

La La Land 2016

★★★★★

Watched 05 Jan 2017

Part of Vprento’s Top 150 Movies of All-Time

Vprento’s 2016 Movies: Best to Worst

Sorry I'm late to the party guys and gals, I was rehearsing "City of Stars" and working on my whistling skills. But seriously, this just premiered today in Macedonia, and it's about time. It's actually the perfect time, a day after my birthday.

My friends were kind enough to buy me tickets for this one, and I thank them with all my heart. It's not like I wouldn't have seen this today without the birthday tickets, but it's certainly a nice gesture.

Okay, okay, enough rambling about my life, let's talk about one of the greatest movies I've ever seen!

Director Damien Chazelle has created pure magic once again, a very honest romance, set against the backdrop of colorful Los Angeles, infused with a spellbinding jazz soundtrack and a heartbreaking study of hopes and dreams in the city of stars.

My most anticipated movie of 2016 has delivered even more than I had hoped for, besting not only Whiplash, which is an achievement on its own, but outshining almost every single movie I've ever seen.

Where do I start praising this tour de force? Be it the spellbinding visuals, the phenomenal music, the knockout acting, the touching romance, La La Land has it all.

The use of colors and the style of the movie is extraordinary. It looks so vivid, every shot worthy of a frame around it. The costumes, the set-design, how is it all perfect?

It's a musical, one of the few I've seen, but everything works so well. Every song, every note is in the right place and at the right time. "City of Stars" dominates the entire movie, its underlying presence can be felt in every scene. However, the other songs are just as good, although I must admit Mia's audition song was my favorite.

On the topic of Mia, Emma Stone knocks it out of the park. She delivers undoubtedly her best performance, but also one of the finest performances I've ever witnessed. The way she tears up when singing, the way she smiles, the way she trembles, it's perfection. With her eyes only, she manages to act better than most actresses. It helps that she has divine green eyes, but let's not go there.
Ryan Gosling is also brilliant and their chemistry is superb.

Mia and Sebastian's story is a joy to watch, a realistic portrayal of relationships, hopes, ambitions and dreams. There are many funny moments here, but it's mostly a poignant romance about two souls trying to find their place in the world.

La La Land has one of the most bittersweet endings ever, with a conclusion that will definitely make you shed a tear. In fact, the last 40 minutes or so can make you bawl like a baby. I know I did.

One critique I don't get and I see it very often is the question why aren't more scenes captured by a song during the middle-to-end part of the movie. I absolutely adore Chazelle's decision to let some very important scenes play out without being songs.

If you could see each and every path your life would take if you had done things differently, every life that you'll never live through, what would you do? I don't know how to answer that question, but La La Land certainly does.

A crowning jewel of world film-making, La La Land is one of the greatest movies ever made!

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