A La La Land That Works

Rating: 9/10 (24 January 2020)

Living in La La Land, that's exactly what director Damien Chazelle wants people to feel when watching this film and he really did accomplish that. A struggling actor, Mia (Emma Stone) and a passionate jazz musician Seb (Ryan Gosling) cross paths through a series of weird events that eventually bring them together. Throughout the film, I really felt like a part of the story and while the writer pulls you in with the compelling plot in the movie, many other elements including acting, the soundtrack and cinematography contribute to the overall wowing effect.
Right off the bat, the acting seems very realistic. Ryan Gosling often plays softer characters with little musical background, however when his character Seb gets fired from his job, the facial expressions he uses are striking and makes it seem like he really cares about Seb's passion for music. During this moment, the audience can really see the raw emotion of Chazelle's characters contributing to the wonderful acting and emotional grasp throughout much of the film. Again with Emma Stone, you can tell she really cares about her acting within this movie because she seems very emotionally connected to her character Mia. When Mia is auditioning for her final role for a movie in Paris, she begins to cry and have various flashbacks and fantasies. Again, I really liked the acting in this scene because it made the characters seem more real and connected me to the plot. Overall, the acting in this movie was great and really added to the likeness of the film for me.
Also, the soundtrack throughout this film continues to show this fantasy effect of a sort of La La Land as well as tie in elements of a theatrical production. Usually in musicals, the soundtrack can be very cheesy and contain almost all love songs. La La Land definitely has some of these and at times I laughed because it was very dramatic and unrealistic. But maybe these moments weren't supposed to be funny and laughable? Sometimes it seemed as if the soundtrack didn't add the right emotion to the movie as the director had hoped, however the songs are very catchy and provide an avenue for soliloquy. For example, after Ryan Gosling meets Emma Stone he walks onto a pier to what it looks like reflect on the moment but instead he sings "City of Stars" which although a sadder song, does not portray all of the emotions he is feeling at that time but instead adds to this theatrical style that Chazelle creates.
Lastly, the cinematography really emphasises the style of this movie. Without it, it would break the film to be honest. During many moments of emotion or theatrical expression, the director does a really great job of capturing it by zooming in to gain a more personal affect and zooming how to get the full picture. Also the colors they use in this film are amazing and make it seem as if you are apart of this floating setting the director creates. However, sometimes I thought the way they filmed it seemed childish because they were so focused on the color and show-like atmosphere that some of the deep character development is lost. Even though it could be taken as childish I really do think for the most part the cinematography added to the film.
In conclusion, La La Land surprised me because of how great it was and how connected I felt to it when I watched it. The acting, soundtrack and cinematography in this film very much made it an impactful one.