In the Realm of Kitsch

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2017)

This movie puzzles. I watched it two days ago and I'm still a bit confused. There is no doubt it is well done. It touches you. The last scene is amazing and brings a tear to the eye. It also full of interesting commentary on life, like when Gossling's band-mate asks him "How can you be a revolutionist if you're such a traditionalist?" There's amazing freshness that the director brings to the screen - for example, the long car horn flashback, and it's subsequent use throughout the film.
But there's no denying the film has issues that - depending on what you're expecting - will affect the way you see it.
1) Is it too long, or too slow? It could be. The first-kiss scene for example, seems to be an endless impossible build up. But the question is - is the kiss really important? If you don't care about rushing to anywhere, maybe you can just enjoy the long dance and talk and fantasy that precedes it. And that's true for the whole film.
2) Is it full of clichés? Yes. It is. You will enter the Realm of Kitsch. But hey - it's a musical for heaven's sake! And it's even called "La La Land". So why should you expect anything else? There is no effort to avoid clichés or kitsch - on the contrary, they are sought after and elevated. This movie is an ode to innocence. To the old naive cinema. The characters are not complicated - they have simple drives. The narrative isn't complicated (an important evening, the other promises to be there, but he/she forgot that they have other engagement, etc. - a pure and cliché expression of the conflict between love and life). It sells you the big dreams of "being an artist" and not "selling out", of romantic love that transcend time. But so what? These are universal themes, that we all should be reminded of sometimes, even if they are far-far-far from our realist and complicated life.
3) There's also the tiny con that the actors didn't always hit the note too well. But it's not too bad or noticeable.
I think if you will take all this into consideration, you will enjoy this movie tremendously. But even if you don't - it's still a good fun movie that is definitely worth seeing.