Uncomplicated joy

Rating: 7/10 (2 February 2017)

Here's a confession: I am a somewhat nostalgic person. When I hear a tune by Ella Fitzgerald or Frank Sinatra, I think to myself: what happened to this kind of uplifting, well-made, wonderful music? The same goes for musicals. The pure, uncomplicated joy expressed by the classic Hollywood musicals seems to be a thing of the past. It was an expression of postwar optimism, when people yearned for escapist entertainment. In the cinema, all they wanted to see and hear were nice-sounding tunes, dazzling choreographies, colourful set designs, and happily smiling characters. Later on, as society changed, the social dramas, the war movies and the psychological thrillers made the musicals look a bit silly.
The musical didn't really die, but the happy-go-lucky feeling of those classic Hollywood musicals did. Recreating it seemed impossible. Until La La Land came along.
The film captures a spirit of carefree optimism that nobody expects in 2017. The title, the cinematography, the boy-meets-girl-story, the Tinseltown setting, the references to classic films: it all fits perfectly together. In this sense, La La Land is a wonderful movie.
On the other hand, it is just that: a modern-day recreation of the classic Hollywood musical. It's good, really enjoyable and fun to watch, but it's not monumental, thought-provoking or deeply emotional. I enjoyed watching it, but the hype in the media and the record number of award nominations are perhaps a bit overdone.