La La Land : Movie Review

 
Director Damien Chazelle returns to the scene with 'La La Land', a big-screen musical for the first time in a long time. While the bollywood audience may not find it as strange that crowds of people suddenly burst into song and dance, it is something that hasn't been seen in mainstream Hollywood for some time now. And I am happy to see it again, very happy.

The film is based in contemporary Los Angeles but everything else about it is rooted in the past, the heart, the soul and the characters. Our two central persons : Sebastian (played by the gorgeous Ryan Gosling) is a jazz pianist, smooth but a cranky purist about what he listens to, plays and where he plays it; and Mia (the uber-cute Emma Stone), an aspiring actress and playwright smitten by the magic of movies, who works as a barista on the WB lot while rushing between auditions.

It has the predictability of the romance that buds between the two characters as they sing and dance through different stages of falling in love, but the story lies deeper within, on how they both will make good on achieving their own personal dreams. They both face the all too familiar battle of art v commerce, and the movie switches from innocent cutesy story to hanging-on-to-the-dream sort of theme.

The camerawork is nostalgic, yet brilliantly modern in tech. The music, with the bias towards a lot of Jazz, is inspiring and emotionally stirring. The main piano theme, the one in the trailer above will pull at your heart strings and will become a part of you, and I love it. 'La La Land' isn't quite a masterpiece, but it makes a really good attempt full of passion, and leaves the audience feeling elated and full of feeling. It leaves you happy. And that's why I'd rate this movie 10 out of 10 Christmas cakes.

Oh, and keep an eye out for a cameo appearance by J. K. Simmons *wink wink*

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