La La Land- film review

La La Land- Film Review

La La Land is written and directed by Damien Chazelle who wrote and directed the very entertaining Whiplash that starred Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons. La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, and the film is about a young upcoming actress and a jazz pianist who fall in love with each other, and the film is about how these characters want separate things from life and how these dreams conflict with each other. This film like Whiplash has the theme of Jazz within its narrative and this might be because the director likes the genre of music but it all depends how the film is made, but this film has been getting all positive reviews and has won seven golden globes and won a number of other awards. So let’s talk about the film La La Land, and see if this is any good.

There are many things to like about this film, the first thing is that the performances from the leads are amazing, this is by far the best work from Emma Stone. In this film her role is probably very relatable to her real life because she plays an actress which is struggling to get roles within Hollywood. This film is unbelievably meta but it something which you can admire when you watch this film because you will appreciate the hard work the filmmakers put into making films. There is not one single flaw with Emma Stone’s performance in this film because she has managed to make her character very relatable and when she goes through the character arc and the characters experiences her down moments in the narrative you will sympathise with the character onscreen. Ryan Gosling is also outstanding in this film he has had some great roles in the last couple of years with films such The Nice Guys but his performance in this film is great. The character he portrays is probably his most complex with everyone seeing him as unlikeable but you can understand why and this is mainly due to how Gosling performs the character rather than the script. Gosling has portrayed the character so that the viewers can enjoy the character, and part of this is because the character is very three dimensional.

The camerawork and cinematography is some of the best that has been put on film in a while, the opening sequence is amazing the filmmakers have used these long takes on the highway and the makes the opening scene very entertaining and it is nothing like a music video when it is cutting every second to show a new shot, the musical acts are all done like this and they have done it to keep the audience’s attention on what the performers are doing onscreen. However, the best scene in this film is definitely the tap dancing sequence because once again it is done in one take or there has been seem-less edits but the lightning is excellent and the camera is very static but it focuses on the characters at that particular moment. The other thing that is great about this film would be that the filmmakers have done some great elements with the lighting because if the director wants the audience to focus on character at that moment then the other people around that character have the lighting removed. The attention to detail in this film is something which is outstanding and there is no other word that can possibly describe it.

Some other great things about this film would be that unlike musicals within the past couple of years the musical items actually develop the characters and therefore they are connected to the story and this is something which musical such as Mamma Mia forgot to do. Chazelle has written the script so that the musical elements neatly fit into the moments and express how the characters develop. The editing is good and while an average person won’t notice it, no shot lasts longer than it should and the editing has someone who understands the feel and look of the film and it has some of best editing work that has been put to film. The other thing to like is that the film is that there are some comedy moments during the film and this was unexpected but the moments fit perfectly into the film, there is nothing wasted and nothing unnecessary within the film. This is an excellent example of filmmaking and the attention to detail is outstanding, this film has a tiny flaw, during the second act the pacing feel slow and sluggish and this might be a script issue or because they needed to fill the two hour run time but other than this, the film is outstanding and if anyone likes musicals then they should definitely go and watch this film.

Conclusion

An outstanding piece of filmmaking that shows that someone in Hollywood can make a great film like this on a limited budget, this has excellent performances, excellent writing and direction with some great camerawork and with only the pacing issue during the second act this film should be watched more. It is no surprise that this film has received critical acclaim and seven golden globes, this is a fantastic film.

Rating: 9/10.