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"La La Land" is the story of a Pianist named Sebastian (Played by Ryan Gosling) and an Actress named Mia (Played by Emma Stone) who fall in love with each other as they try to live their dreams. Mia can't find a role making it impossible for her to become a big name actress and Sebastian is stuck playing a boring setlist in a restaurant where no one listens to him. After they meet, they serve as support for each other, Sebastian encouraging Mia to write her own play and Mia encouraging him to accept Keith's (played by John Legend) offer to join his band.
To me, the plot is pretty standard, but purposefully standard. First of all, there's a BIG "Golden Age of Cinema" feel to the movie as a whole. The music is mostly Jazz, the transitions are very "old school" (with a lot of fades), and the premise is basically "boy meets girl" and "The American Dream" story arcs in one, and maybe is just me but there are a various elements in the story that are borrowed from "Casablanca". All of these elements make the movie feel like an homage to Old Hollywood classics, and a simple a compelling plot fits this mold. All of these elements, however, are properly stylized so it doesn't feel/look like a repackaging old stuff, but instead something familiar but new. Another thing that I love about this movie is the simple way they divided the Story arcs. The movie opens in the holiday season, then it cuts through the four seasons and ends in winter. The holiday season works nicely as a prologue, and Spring, Summer, and Fall are the 3 acts, which come together nicely on the Resolution in Winter. Again, simple but creative and familiar.
This movie relies heavily on character due to the simplicity of its story. The chemistry of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling is perfect in this movie. Without the chemistry between them, this movie would've fall apart very quickly. Mia and Sebastian are characters you get to know and love. You know what they want, who they are, and never does an action feel out of character. One thing that I love is a funny parallel between Mia and Sebastian and Jazz music. In the movie, Sebastian explains that Jazz came to be when musicians in New Orleans couldn't understand each other because they spoke different languages. Music was how they communicated. Mia is an actress that loves movies and knows nothing about music and Sebastian is a musician who loves Jazz but knows nothing about movies. Just like the musicians in New Orleans, Mia and Sebastian didn't speak each others' lingo, but it was the overall goal and determination that draws them together. I particularly loved this parallel between the characters' relationship and Jazz music because it does help bring together the music closer to the story. Almost as if music is not a tool to tell the story, nor is it a plot device, but rather an integral part of the story and characters. To me, besides an homage to the Golden Age of Cinema, "La La Land" is a well written Jazz love song.
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It's a musical with a big Broadway feel to it. When it breaks into song is not supposed to be real, it is supposed to feel big. For example, the opening song is a group of people stuck in traffic, they sing and dance, and then go back in their cars. If you are not a fan of musicals in general where people break into song or have a dance number for no reason, then you might not like this movie. Other than that, I feel the camera work wasn't that great. It was good, but not pitch perfect as to be expected from a high budget film. I think there were one or two shots that were slightly out of focus for no reason. In some music numbers, specially those with large amounts of people, the camera moved too much trying to capture everything making it hard to make out and appreciate what was going on. One example of this is the party scene that happens before Mia meets Sebastian. Another example is a scene where Sebastian is playing at a club and Mia is dancing. The camera pans from Sebastian to Mia and back in a call-response manner. The first time the camera pans from one character to the other is cool, but the more it pans between the two and the faster the song is going, the less effective this style is. By the 4th time it pans, I felt the camera man was struggling to keep up with the tempo which not only is it distracting but also could've been done through editing with a lot more ease and more accurate cuts.
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This is a personal pet peeve and this is a detail from the plot, so Spoiler Alert: When Sebastian goes and plays with Kieth and his band, who seem to be all trained Jazz musicians, Kieth incorporates electronic music into the song and sounds terrible. It is supposed to sound terrible, I get it. We, the audience, are supposed to understand that this is not what Sebastian wants to do and to him this sounds like a butchering of Jazz music as an art, but he has to do it because its a possible steady source of income. The problem is that the electronic beat is off tempo, and added very lazily to the song they are playing. In fact, later in the movie, the band plays live and sound nothing close to what they were trying to do in that recording session. Kieth later argues that Jazz is dying because no one is listening, so he is trying to revive Jazz by incorporating more modern elements. There is a way to do this right. There's a genre called Electro Swing and it is amazing! When Keith tries to justify his musical decision, it seems that's what he is going for, but again the beat was so lazily added it makes no sense. If this was a work in progress, he wouldn't have sounded so confident in the recording session about something that sounded so obviously terrible. I know what the purpose of the scene is, I get it. However, there is a way to convey the same message without having to demonize the opposing point of view (specially if you are trying to sell a single out of it). By this point in the story, we know how Sebastian feels about joining this band and about Jazz in general. Adding electronic music to a song is more than enough to tell the idea without having to make the music sound purposely terrible.
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SPOILER SECTION: I labeled this part as a spoiler section because I'm going to discuss the ending. First, let's get this out of the way: This is a great ending. I feel like the entire final scene is a summary of "Casablanca". Having Mia come from Paris was subtle enough, but having her walk in to the club that Sebastian owns years after they parted ways and then have him play this movie's equivalent of "As Time Goes By" is no coincidence. After the musical number, Mia leaves with her husband as she gazes back at Sebastian. They look at each other and with a final goodbye, they part on their own separate ways, just like in "Casablanca". I love this ending not only because of the similarities to "Casablanca" but also because this is such an emotional scene, and properly conveyed silently. No dialogue. It is perfect... except for the musical number. It is instrumental, but it is a dance sequence that summarizes the entire movie and explores an alternative version where Sebastian and Mia end up together. As beautiful as this dance number is, it is completely unnecessary and overkill. Instead of adding to the emotion, it takes away from it by spoon feeding us what we wanted to see. Everything that needed to be said was said with two things: The looks they give each other and the song. This was a beautiful, bittersweet, emotional and powerful ending that's cut short for fan service. That is what this dance sequence feels like: fan service. Amazing visuals, music, and choreography of what WE wanted to see. It's sad not seeing Mia and Sebastian end up together, yes, but do you know who else we didn't see end up together? Rick and Ilsa from "Casablanca" which this ending has borrowed a lot from. Another example, Jack and Rose from "Titanic". My point is: we don't need to be spoon fed, and there is no need to compromise a ending to please an audience.
As a conclusion, "La La Land" is a MUST WATCH. It's definitely worth your time and money. This is a movie with a compelling story, lovable characters, amazing music, amazing dance sequences, and outstanding sets and visuals, and overall, a love song to the Classics of Cinema. "La La Land" will not disappoint your expectations!
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