Arguably the best film of 2016.
La La Land
Grade: A
Director: Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)
Screenplay: Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling (Drive), Emma Stone (Birdman)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 hr 8 min
by John DeSando
“This is the dream! It's conflict and it's compromise, and it's very, very exciting! “Sebastian (Ryan Gosling)
Sebastian, a jazz pianist with ambitions to start his own club in LA, pretty much sums up the thematic heft of La La Land, a contemporary musical that evokes the golden age of Hollywood. Together with Mia (Emma Stone), who aspires to be an actress and playwright, the two embody the dreams of young people then and now, crystallized in Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with Gene Kelly thrown in for good measure.
The opening musical number sets the joyous mood by breaking into song and dance during one of the monumental LA traffic delays on 405. It’s choreographed with eye opening color and mirth, an appropriate antidote to LA’s notorious torture chamber. However, all is not sunny Hollywood, for the dramatic arc takes us through the difficult times this radiant couple must endure while pursuing love in a loveless land.
This joy and sorrow is directed by Whiplash’s brilliant director-writer, Damien Chazelle, whose devotion to the spirit of ‘40’s and ‘50’s Hollywood dream factory is matched by his willingness to portray its vicissitudes and not end just the way you would have expected. The integrity of this film lies in his showing the power of ambition and the unwavering sacrifice to fulfill it.
Besides Chazelle, the success of this winner lies at the feet of Stone and Gosling, whose song and dance are not perfect, all the better, but so romantic that it is hard to believe they are not professional musical actors, and maybe more to the point, not romantically involved. Yes, their chemistry is that good.
La La Land has already received wide acclaim, and rightfully so. It refreshes the musical genre of old Hollywood, and it reminds us “we are such stuff as dreams are made on.”
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
