Modern Movie with all the right vibes from old classics – Spoilers Ahead

Rating: 9/10 (28 September 2017)

La La Land is a beautiful movie by Damien Chazelle that brought back everything we love and adore about old musicals and brought the genre back in our lives. La La Land is basically a movie about a movie – it is masterpiece that follows the lives of Sebastian who is an aspiring musician, and Mia who is an aspiring actress. The story follows the lives of these two artists – separately at first until their paths cross and they become the point of support and motivation for each other. Even though the plot takes some time to develop and in the first part of the movie you are not really sure of the direction it will take, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Obviously, it is not a perfect movie and it had its cringey moments that are so Hollywood- ly obvious like when all of a sudden there was a very important casting director at Mia's show and she has one final audition that would of course change her life and give her everything she dreamed of. What I specifically liked about Sebastian's character and his development is that he did not stick with the band but he ended up opening the bar and even though his dreams did come true, there is still mention of how the bar is doing just fine – it is not the number one place in LA to have a drink in, which gives it the more realistic and less fairy tale ending unlike Mia's.
However, if we neglect those minor details I think the movie ended on a good note. Not many movies have a great script combined with the great director and I think what Damien Chazelle did with the ending was amazing. As this was in fact a movie about movies, he did in film what directors do in real time – they film several endings only to decide in last minute which one to use, and Chazelle gave us an alternate ending in addition to the real one.
If I were to focus less on the plot of the movie and more on its style of filming, lighting and cinematography in general, I would say this movie was destined to be a classic. It pays beautiful homage to the classic musicals from 1950s and if this movie were in black and white I am sure everybody would agree that it would blend into era carelessly. Though Damien Chazelle has the advantage of digital technology to assist him in how movie is photographed, edited and distributed to the public, over directors in the 50s, he used them very elegantly and has created a beautiful art piece that is obviously a result of combined efforts of many artists who worked on the movie.
Emma Stone was just fantastic and delivered beyond my, and I believe many, expectations. And, although I am not a huge fan of Ryan Gosling I must admit that he was just amazing and was a perfect cast for the role of Sebastian, as he delivered the character so seamlessly. Justin Hurwitz did an incredible job on the score, and the music follows the storyline and the character development perfectly. The only thing I would hold against him is that for a movie in which main character is obsessed with jazz, there was not enough jazz music, but otherwise I loved the score! Linus Sandgren and Tom Cross also did a fantastic job in cinematography and editing and Mary Zophres just excelled with costume design. Every color of every dress, every suit and every outfit was planned in detail and fit the old musical vibe as well as the new modern era in which the movie was actually taking place in. Set decoration and production design by Sandy Reynolds-Wasco and David Wasco is what impressed me the most! Again, little details that were randomly placed around set were hidden enough that they did not take away from what's on the screen, but at the same time when combined together they created that what made this movie feel like a set in 1950s while at the same time we see that main characters are in fact driving modern cars and using iPhones. All the decisions based around decorations, set, production design and costumes, among others, fit right into philosophy of the big studio era which is that aesthetic elements of the film should be maximized – and there we have La La Land – beautiful movie with beautiful people.
The lighting of the movie is absolutely on point and perfect. My favorite part about watching the movie was figuring the meaning of colors in it. If you happen to see it more than once, you will be able to realize how Sebastian's color is blue, while Mia's color is red and when they are together and in love, they are surrounded by purple. Chazelle obviously never ceases to amaze with his devotion to detail and color was no exception. Movement is another part in which this movie excelled because the dances, the grimacing, emotion and acting perfectly matched character development, plot twists and score.
Overall, you are guaranteed to love La La Land if you are a fan of old musicals, and if you are into discovering meaning behind every costume, dress, color and act. If you loved the 50s and wish you could somehow relieve the era, this movie is guaranteed to take you back in time, and it will do that with such detail, precision and a perfect blend of now and then, that it will feel like a dream once the credits role after the final scene is over.