La La Land (2016) - A love letter to artists!

Those who know me well are fully aware of Damien Chazelle's La La Land being my all-time favourite film. And often people question why. So when my local cinema reopened after lockdown, and I saw La La Land listed as one of the classics being re-released, I thought it would be the perfect time to go in-depth and consider what it is I love about this film.

It is very easy to love La La Land for many reasons. You've got the genuine performances by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. The gorgeous cinematography by Linus Sandgren. The toe tapping songs spread throughout the film, accompanied by Justin Hurtwitz's equally emotional music score. And while all these factors are key to this film being a classic, I feel there's a stronger point to make. La La Land speaks to the inner artist in everyone. Regardless of whether we strive to be artistic in the sense of painting, music, performance or film making, we strive to follow our dreams and passion. We in a sense are artists of our own lives. We're given a blank canvas at birth, and it's our decisions and actions that make that canvas our own. Just as artists strive to literally create artistic masterpieces, all humans strive to be happy in their lives. And the journey our two leads take in La La Land explores the key aspects of how our passions bring us joy but also misery.

Both Mia and Sebastian start this story with little to no success in their respective fields, but as they found the love they have for one another, so they too find their pathways that lead them to where they want their careers to be. But with that success comes a costly fee for their relationship. Its poetically tragic. No matter how many times I watch this film, I pray they can find the balance between work and love that we see in the film's epilogue, yet my heart is always broken by the tragic end to their romance, but I also find joy in seeing them achieve their artistic goals. As someone who has been and still is striving to find his gateway to where I want my career to be, it's easy to appreciate what Mia and Sebastian go through during this film.

It's also helped by the effortless chemistry between Stone and Gosling. Their performances make me fall in love with them both effortlessly every single time I watch this film. Brownie points also go to Gosling for the fact that he went to the effort to learn and play the music Sebastian had to play on the piano throughout the film, his efforts add a whole other layer to the performance that hand doubles or miming simply wouldn't. I also can't help but love their vocal performances during the songs. They may not be the world's greatest singers, but that in a way makes you love their performances more. Listen to Gosling and Stone perform City Of Stars or hear Stone perform the Audition song, and then tell me their singing doesn't bring the feels.

The biggest praise however must go to Damien Chazelle for his unwavering passion for this story. The efforts he's gone to bring his vision to life is incredible. From the beautiful tribute to old-fashion Hollywood, to the fact that he shut down a section of the Los Angeles freeway to shoot the incredibly energetic opening number, (Another Day Of Sun) the talent this man oozes is really inspiring for a lot of struggling film-makers.

If you hadn't already worked it out already, La La Land continues to be my all time favourite film, and is highly unlikely to ever be moved from that spot. The way it speaks to not just the world's artists, but to everyone through it's depiction of balancing life, work and love, makes it a must see for everyone, regardless of whether you're an artistic person or not. All I can say is thank you Damien Chazelle. Your passion for this story has rubbed off on me and many others across the world!

SCORES

Story - 5/5

Characters - 5/5

Production - 5/5

Acting - 5/5

Music - 5/5

Total - 10/10