“La La Land”
“La La Land” is a 2016 American musical romantic comedy-drama film directed and
written by Damien Chazelle. The film stars Ryan Gosling as Sebastian "Seb" Wilder, a jazz pianist
and Emma Stone as Mia Dolan, an aspiring actress. Other cast members include John Legend as
Keith, J. K. Simmons, as Bill, Rosemarie DeWitt, as Laura Wilder, and Finn Wittrock, as Greg. The
film was released on December 9, 2016 in United States.
In between auditions, an aspiring actress serves lattes to movie stars, and jazz musician
Sebastian scrapes by playing cocktail-party gigs in seedy bars. Each appears ready to give up
their beloved craft after years of disappointments and bills, and that’s the time the two artists
meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams in Los Angeles, California, USA. However, as
their success grows, they are confronted with decisions that threaten to fray the delicate fabric
of their love affair. After all, being a famous actress or musician isn't exactly part-time work and
the dreams they worked so hard to maintain in each other threaten to tear them apart.
“La la land” becomes one of the greatest musical films of all time. As magical as the title
suggests, the film takes the viewers on a phenomenal ride of love and ambition but without
turning a blind eye to the harsh realities of life. One of the many remarkable aspects of Damien
Chazelle's "La La Land" is the amount of energy and time it devotes to movement and music,
rather than just lyrics. The modern musicals which are frequently based on Broadway shows,
have placed a strong focus on songs that advance the plot. But I noticed, in Chazelle's vision,
choreography had the greater part in the film and a simple piano can be more powerful than a
lyric. For the first thirty minutes of the film, Chazelle creates an artistic and slightly alternative
universe of modern day L.A. with colourful numbers and comedic perfection reminiscent of
classic musicals of the late 1950's and early '60s. The opening number "Another Day of Sun" in
particular hearkens back to the classics with its unique setting and style of music was
impressive in regards to how it was directed and shot that really pull me into the film. The
dance choreography stand out right away, I just don’t see the dance moves but also dancer’s
entire body as they perform them. At the same time, the quality of music created by Justin
Hurwitz is great which I found captivating. It has a mix of many styles, rhythms, instruments and
tempos creating so many different moods and evokes so many emotions. The music is certainly
something wonderful and it just perfectly builds up every part of the story and delivers the
goods.
The greatest thing about the two leads, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is that they both
have the kind of star power that helped make so many classic era musicals memorable. Gosling
is smooth and charismatic, and Stone is astute and lovely. They were both great and so
wonderfully charming together that I couldn't help but fall in love with their characters, as they
portray them excellently. I really thought both of them did a terrific job in their acting, their
dancing and their singing and I can honestly say that they were among the most entertaining
couples from recent memory. They really get to shine with the comedy, the romance and the
drama and they really pack a great punch.
The main aspect of life which the film wants to highlight is that life is full of failures, but
we should never give up. In times like these days, it's easy to get discouraged by the world. It's
easy to believe that our dreams might don't come true and that true love can only be found in
movies. However, the film "La La Land" reminds us that movies can still be magical and provide
a channel for us to see magic in our daily lives. It's not so much another day in the sun, as the
characters sing in the opening number, but the dreams of the night before, which we wake up
and try to fulfil, keeps us dancing.