LA LA LAND: A modern fairy-tale in a realistic world.

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2017)

Before the release of La La Land, people were already pretty excited about the movie , mainly because of our favorite duo, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and also because the expectations went for an epic love story to take place. I was pretty excited too although I usually get turned off by people over enthusiasm for a movie.
Now, that I have watched the movie; I can say that this is by far one of the most wondrous movies I've ever seen. La La Land is a musical comedy following the lives of an aspiring actress, Mia (Emma Stone), and an ambitious Jazz singer, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) as they try to forge their paths through art and music, while falling in love all at once. It might seem a bit clichÃ© simple story but it's a dreamy one that only gets better thanks to the magical touch of music and the theme of dreams. La La Land is the kind of movie that instead of a scenario, you watch the actors singing and dancing. This instantly brought to my mind Grease, Sound of Music, and West Side Story and others. The only difference is that La La Land takes place in our contemporary world, yet still it gives off the retro feels,and that's how revolutionary La La Land is. Having previously worked on "Whiplash", Damien Chazelle has done more than an excellent job when he made this simple story into a piece of art narrating the story in a dynamic unexpected way. This is a genius work in my opinion. It was far from simple.
The cinematography, camera moves and shots, colors, costumes and lights, this all was the soul of the movie.
As for casting, I love Ryan Gosling for so many obvious reasons just like I love Emma Stone. However, at some point while watching the movie, I had this feeling that what if Mia wasn't Emma Stone? Don't get me wrong, in fact she was really amazing, she had a warm voice, but she is replaceable, unlike how things are with Mr. Gosling. Their successful chemistry, though, is my solace.
I can talk about the theme of the movie for days. I needed a movie like this, I needed to believe not only in achieving my goals but also in fairy tales because that's what we miss in our world now. The clash between your dreams and the sacrifices you have to make in the process was more than brilliant, because unlike fairy tales, this is purely realistic. Having someone in your back, telling you not to put your dreams in the back burner, reminding you that you are not stupid but letting go your dreams is.
The soundtracks couldn't be better, Justin Hurwitz is the master of the beautiful tracks, the best of which for me is City of Stars and Mia and Sebastian's theme. The dance moves weren't that exceptional but was more than enough for me.
Again, having a musical comedy in a contemporary world with a touch of retro, is something I never thought to be a thing. That one definitely deserves the 14 Oscars nominations.