La La Land - a review

Just in time for the Oscars.

A down on her luck actress meets and equally down on his luck Jazz-pianist. They fall in love and together they muse about their futures and the dilemma of success and staying true to oneself. 

The reason I like movies isn’t just about the stuff I see on the silver screen. There’s more. There’s the element of movies being a sign of the times. Easier rider, Taxi driver, Battleship Potemkin, these  movies could only have been made at that precise moment in history and like a moving painting they tell the generations to come about their time.

But movies can also be made to create a time. Every few years a new anti-apartheid movie comes out (Twelve years a slave, Amistad, Crash) that gambles on the slumbering knowledge that there will come a time in de near future in which racial discrimination in the western world dies out completely. And wouldn’t it be great if this particular movie was the final sledgehammer against the crumbling wall?

This is one of the ways to look at Academy Awards (best picture) contestants. A correlation between a ‘sign of the times’ and the ‘changing of the times’.

Now; Donald J. Trump is president of the United States of America (something liberal Hollywood isn’t quite pleased about). More so, half the world is ablaze in some kind of warfare. 

Not really that much more as, say, twenty years ago but nowadays we can watch the slaughter live on youtube.

In a (somewhat) depressing world that deals out a daily dose of violence on our senses the time might be right for a happy movie for a change. Something to show the viewer that not everything is terrible; and this is where La La Land comes along. Shot well before Trump’s surprising win of the American Presidency it still works as an antidote against the darkness in the world (a sign of the times) while highlighting the changing of time.

The review

Chances of La La Land winning the lot this year are pretty likely. Directing, editing, original score, cinematography, costumes, acting, make-up, effects – and I’m probably forgetting some- are all of the highest level. I think, if there is one little cloud on this star scattered night it’s that La La Land is trying a tad too hard.

This is something I hated about Birdman. It felt like that movie was ticking all the boxes to become the ‘quirky’ Oscar hit. La La land also has this a bit.

The first kiss happens at the exact hour mark, there’s an ambiguous ending and there are various other formulaic moments.  It leaves a bit of an ‘oscar bait’ aftertaste in your mouth.

But then again, this movie is such a happy moment in dark times I’m more than willing to forgive it.

And If a movie has so much fun throwing in references to olden time movies I’m the happiest geek on the planet – I’m sure  I’m not the only one who giggled when he caught the Balon Rouge and the  American in Paris reference.

The story

I’m a script junky who keeps on hammering home one of the most basic rules of screenwriting: keep the story simple!

Well, La La Land’s story is as simple as can be and therefore  the visual side of things have every chance to spread its wings.

For starters, this movie is an unapologetic old fashioned Hollywood fairytale. And yes I completely agree with the criticism online that their characters aren’t entirely down on their luck.

I don't know my cars that well but the one he's driving will cost a pretty penny. And her driving a Prius? That's not a cheap car. Not to mention that both characters pretty much start off in a rather good position -it's not unplugging the sewers of McDonalds or anything. And both their apartments are way roomier that my first dorm room. So, the critical me, had a few problems taking their personal problems seriously at the start.

I’ll also won’t deny the criticism that Hollywood should stop making movies that take place in Hollywood. There’s far more to Los Angeles than the movie business. So why make one of the characters an actress?

But the movie has one big plus these (solid) points can fight against: La La Land is filled to the absolute brim with charm.

Each and every single character, shot, mise-en-scene is there to woo the audience into the loving fiction surrounding Sebastian and Mia. You might try to stay critical, but it's like watching a baby making happy faces: your heart just melts.

This happy script, with warm colors in clothing and décor just wrap around you like a comfortable blanket.

Script wise/acting wise the movie even throws in some clever running gags to keep the audience on its toes like Ryan Gosling’s constant ‘surprise shock’ or his hilarious car horn.

Acting

Which brings me to the acting. Ryan Goslin and Emma Stone are two very solid actors, no question there. And they can even sing somewhat (more about that later).

The movie entirely depends on them and they both bring their A-game. I would have preferred a bit more grandiose drama to suit their acting chops perhaps but then again that’s not the material they are working with/ the movie they are making.

That’s a small duality in La La Land. The opening song is grandiose in its lavishness but after that the movie becomes smaller and smaller. I liked it but, in the end, it does make the (cold) opening song feel a bit misplaced in retrospect.

Décor and clothing

It’s always fun when a movie takes the extra effort to show the costumes they make. Normally this is something reserved for the fantasy genre of movies (e.g. The Lord of the rings) or the extravagant movies like The Birdcage. For La La Land the choice was made for primary colors all the way through. Which creates a great fifties/sixties-sense not seen since West Side Story.

La La Land relishes in it. Two good looking stars in beautiful clothing against a wonderful sunset: simple to write perhaps; amazing to see it executed so marvelously.

However

However, there are some nitpicks here and there in this movie. Let’s begin with a simple one: apart from J.K. Simons there’s hardly anybody over forty with speaking lines in the entire movie. What is this, a Millennial thing? It’s just something that caught my eye.

Should I read La La Land as a movie for Millennials? Am I reading too much into it?

Second, I’m growing a bit weary with the long-take. I love, adore, the long take but if everybody is going to do it –especially now with digital effects to hide away the cuts- I fear it’s going to lose its charm.

There are various scenes in La La Land (the getting dressed song-and-dance-scene, for instance) that didn’t need a long take. I would even suggest faster cuts (and closer shots) to tighten it up a bit. So don’t overdo it, is my advice.

My third nitpick then is one I tend to repeat: The choreography is awesome (though I do miss Fred Astaire and the like), but what is so wrong with hiring some professional singers to dub the voices of the actors?

For a while now it's been a trend for movies to let actors sing themselves. And if you've got Beyonce at your disposal -perfect, no problem. But you're not always that lucky. La La Land lucks out with the singing voices and the demands of the songs - but for the next time play it safe: just do a My fair lady and dub the voice. I'll be just as happy to pretend it's the real Ryan Gosling singing as I'm willing to pretend he's dancing on the moon with the love of his life.

I think this is especially annoying when you listen to the songs and realize that they could have been even better if sung by a professional singer. I, for one, can’t wait for the cover of A lovely night, because the acting was great, the choreography was great, the singing –however, not perfect, which is a shame.

Conclusion

Is La La Land a sign of the times or a wish for a change? I think both. As always the world dreams for a better future. But it think we now start to realize once more that we can actually make it better. Maybe I'm naïve, I don’t know. I do know that this movie is the surefire Oscar winner this year and for once in a long, long time (since the Departed – and that wasn’t even Scorsese’s best work) I wholeheartedly agree with it.

Update: As it turns out I was wrong in my prediction. How about that?