La La Land

Released 25th December, La La Land follows the dyad between Mia and Sebastian as they find each other (and themselves) in Los Angeles, the city of stars if you will. While the film presents itself as a musical, the musicality is an integral part of Mia and Sebastian’s blossoming romance and the subsequent tone elevates the narrative to extensive heights. Through their story, Mia and Sebastian’s love illustrates themes of compromise, dreams, belonging and perseverance. A key part of La La Land’s identity however is how it embraces classic Hollywood films’ aesthetic choices as well as its history to develop Mia. Meanwhile, Sebastian’s draw to Los Angeles is connoted as providing a setting for his dreams of resurrecting jazz for the masses (and himself).

Sebastian is brought to life by Ryan Gosling in what I would say is a career defining role; Gosling provides a childlike musicality and charm to Sebastian. However, he also harbours a gentle and compassionate personality which he uses to encourage Mia through her emotional lows and impart his passion for jazz towards Mia, played by Emma Stone. Emma Stone provides a similar childlike musicality to Mia while presenting a an emotionally perky demeanour; more so than Sebastian, Mia plummets to festering lows while also facing boundless heights across the narrative. The strongest aspect of the film however is the robust chemistry that the two leads share; the casting truly works wonders to imbue life into Damien Chazelle’s witty yet wholesome script. While there are supporting actors, notably John Legend as ‘jazz’ musician Keith, there is minimal depth provided and the film instead opts to utilise the supporting cast as concepts that initiate conflict in relationships.

As stated previously, the film makes strong uses of classic Hollywood aesthetics with David Wasco’s production design carrying many of the film’s visuals; production design that Linus Sandgren is able to implement into awe striking cinematography. With every frame a painting and every character a canvas to the world, how does the soundtrack fare? I can confirm that Justin Hurwitz’ soundtrack is one of the best in all of cinema; from the catchy and a suitable musical numbers to the heart-wrenching leitmotifs, Hurwitz’ soundtrack will not leave your mind for an extensive period of time. Epilogue is perhaps one of the most sophisticated and raw pieces of music ever orchestrated for a specific sequence of film and is bound to make anyone invested in this film tear up at the end. That is La La Land’s legacy in my mind: an energetic viewing experience packed with picture-esque cinematography, emotionally raw performances and an even more emotionally resonant soundtrack that delivered one of the greatest films of all time.