City of Stars, Are You Shining Just For Me?

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2017)

I was sceptical going into this film, however Damien Chazelle's La La Land earned a historic 14 Oscar nominations as well as winning all seven Golden Globes that it was nominated for.
The film opens with an array of Crayola-like colours in a busy Los Angeles traffic jam and already the cinematography is breathtaking. This opening sequence is a perfect example of what Hollywood can do on the big screen without the visual aid of superheroes, big car crashes and all the other CGI nonsense used to break box offices these days. The picture is a throwback to MGM musicals with a modern twist - after all, it has been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. It is the perfect mixture of cheesy musical and a US take on French new wave, if you could even imagine of such a thing - but it works, excellently. Chazelle has become the master of making retro, feel new.
We've been here before with Hollywood, trying to resurrect the bygone genre of musicals on the big screen. Many failures have been and gone; Scorsese's New York New York in 1981 didn't quite reach the heights of the Manhattan skyline that it was set in with viewers, whilst Woody Allen's 1996 Everyone Says I Love You didn't really take off, described as a "Allen's frightened worldview is finally given full exposure, and it is a grisly thing to behold" by film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum.
The film follows the tough relationship between Seb, a struggling musician who finds hope in all things Jazz, and Mia, an aspiring actress looking to get her career kick started. What I liked about La La Land was how "rea"l it was - it wasn't ruined with CGI effects, unrealistic plot lines or an array of visual steroids. Yes, I know - it is a musical, but Chazelle has done a great job at making it feel oh so real. A close up of a cracked iphone screen, not exactly the textbook example of product placement, but something we can all (especially myself) can relate to at one point or another. Even the way in which Seb and Mia first meet - this is not your typical love story. Seb is playing the piano in a sophisticated restaurant in LA, only to go against his bosses demands as he plays some of the finest Jazz I've ever heard. As Mia goes to congratulate Seb, he simply barges right through her, as if she was not there.
As much as I can sit here and praise Damien Chazelle for days on end, a lot of the films charm lies with the two leads. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone possess the chemistry and charisma that can really make a film. La La Land is the pair's third film together, and they simply just work whilst sharing the screen. The two are not the greatest singers or dancers to have graced the screen, but they have so much fun in doing so - which makes it all the more fun to watch. Stone has never been better, she fits the role down to a T, so hats off to the casting, even if she was the second choice for the role behind Emma Watson.
The film is about personal drive as opposed to a love story - professional success is the aim, and if you need to break a few hearts in the process then so be it. Nonetheless, this film is made with charm, and although we're only in January, I'm not confident a film will beat for the remainder of the year.