City of Dreamers

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2018)

A love letter to L.A (I just now realized the title pun... yep), that vilified city where half its population are sure they´ll make it and often get ridiculed for it. The tagline "Here´s to the fools who dream" can´t get any clearer. L.A. might or might not be a city of dreams but it´s most definitely a city of dreamers. La La Land makes sure all the landmarks shine bright. The Griggith Observatory, the Watts Towers, Long Beach, Hermosa Beach, Vine Street; all the cafes, the boulevards, the jazz clubs, the convertible cars, the movie sets; all of this places (and the highway!) are memorable even for someone like me, who has never set foot in any of them.
The city is more than just a setting but it obviously needs a couple of dreamers because, after all, it wouldn´t be anything without its fools. We have a jazz revivalist and an aspiring actress working as a waitress, which has to be the oldest cliché in the book. It makes sense, tough, revitalizing an old fashioned character is a statement on how the simple story isn´t only enough, it´s everything. Dreamers dream their dreams today as they did a hundred years ago and the world getting worryingly cynical give all the more reason for romantic spirits to speak up.
La La Land doesn´t just speak up, it shouts at full lung its passion for the oldie golden days, it´s a burst of unstoppable romantic emotion that leaves you shaken, stunned, flurried. It´s loud, very loud, like 2001´s Moulin Rouge on colorful steroids. It commands its audience to be taken higher and higher and, although it has the confidence and power to make such demands, I personally felt exhausted and kind of relieved it was finally over.
I´m a fool for this kind of thing and I appreciate the nostalgic yearning for simpler times, for soulful music, dressed-up men and women in summer dresses. I can smile at two hands touching for the first time and I can admire the technical prowess of light, color, music, editing and costumes. I can also cringe at some musical numbers, over-staged apartments, preposterous coincidences, try-hard manipulations and worn-out clichés. I appreciate the light but without getting blinded by it.