What A Lovely Night Indeed

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2017)

*MINOR VAGUE SPOILERS BELOW*
Chazelle's La La Land not only succeeds at being an outright love letter to the golden age of Hollywood and be able to convey the magic it had, but also succeeds at being a grounded, profound, and genuine depiction of how we aspire for dreams. The film shows another side of how we try to achieve success or how we essentially try to be the best in our craft and passion just like in his previous film "Whiplash" (2014), but what's so special about this film is the fact that the dreams of the characters give way for their love to flourish, but at the same time it inevitably sets them apart.
The classical and nostalgic backdrop of the film compliments the dream like aesthetic and feel that drips in every scene. From being presented in Cinemascope, to the the Ingrid Bergman wallpaper, to the breathtakingly fitting colorful color palettes, the musical numbers that make you wonder if this film truly is set in the 21st century and the dialogue that is reminiscent of the usual golden age superstars like James Dean and Humphrey Bogart. All in all, this film breathes an atmosphere that truly makes it feel like we are dreaming along with the protagonists and it also makes you want to go back to the times where films weren't bloated with excessive blockbusters or piffle cash grabs and instead bring in the uplifting or melancholy magic that they should truly present. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling bring in their best performances yet, with a triple- threat-esque nature to their performances just like the legendary actors from the golden age of cinema, as both of them truly knew how to sing, dance, and most of all, act. The simple nuances each character bring to screen even in the smallest detail of visual comedy (which people rarely do nowadays), or visual story telling in each scene that makes the audience learn so much about a certain character with just one look or change in their face, this is real acting, show and don't tell. This is the same reason why we remember Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart so much from Casablanca, because they did not need to convey their love through oblivious dialogue, but through one glance at each other and we know it tells countless stories. We immediately know Stone's character "Mia"'s aspirations as she glances at an actress and see a strong emotion present in her face, she didn't need to say anything more or outright say "This is my dream!" through some sort of monologue. This is tremendously subtle and well done acting that we rarely see nowadays. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and stunning in each scene, the locations are incredibly iconic and nostalgic and the back drop of Los Angeles, especially at night, gives the movie an unique feel that will definitely remind you of the golden ages.
The story and plot is quite simple, yet layered enough to be such a universal story that anyone can fully grasp or have some sort of relation to. Sure it tells a faithful love story to the usual tropes and stories we saw in the 40s or 50s, but it tells it through the lens of so many specific and realistic aspects of life. The use of jazz once again by Chazelle just like in Whiplash, and of course acting as a profession, helps layer the story to a more grounded level, their dreams. Another way to view this film is to see how it may not have been entirely a love story after all. Sure there is no denying the chemistry and love brought by the two DID EXIST, but in the end it was a story about conflict and compromise and about how sometimes, compromise is walking away from something for each person's benefit no matter how hard it is. The film presents that love can be used as a tool to help you achieve your dreams and how even at the end, if not everything ends up the way it is, you acknowledge and find compromise in that arbitrary feeling and connection of love that helped you in the way. In the film Whiplash, the protagonist had to leave his girlfriend because he thinks that love was a distraction to the goal he needed to achieve, but in La La Land, they explore how love CAN also help you reach the goals you want in life. But in the end, just like most things in life, you cannot have everything and this is why this film is such an honest and inspiring depiction of people who want to aspire for something.
In the end, La La Land wasn't just a love letter to the golden age of Hollywood, it was also a love letter to the fools who dream, it's a love letter to anyone who wants to find someone in the crowd who can lift them off the ground, it's a love letter to anyone who may have been discouraged or disheartened in achieving something, it's a love letter to anyone who feels like dancing and singing see themselves flying off with their dreams.
Verdict: 9.9/10