Film Review: La La Land

In all art, one has to understand the past in order to appreciate the present, and imagine the future. After Damien Chazelle’s ebullient indie jazz musical Guy And Madeline On A Park Bench, he made Whiplash, the Oscar-winning portrait of abuse, ambition and masculinity. With La La Land, Chazelle continues to reinvent the jazz film, and his own thoughts about maintaining artistic integrity run through this charming exploration of art and love.
Ryan Gosling stars as Sebastian, a jazz purist frustrated by the inauthentic LA music scene. His grumpiness is undone by the effervescent Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress trying to survive the industry’s constant rejection. Through flirtatious tapdancing and romantic crooning against Hollywood’s purple sunsets and palm tree silhouettes, they fall in love. However, they must individually decide what they’re willing to sacrifice for their art. 
Chazelle wears his cinematic influences on his sleeve, and La La Land pays homage to films like Casablanca, Singing In The Rain and An American In Paris. However, like his characters, Chazelle realises the importance of embracing modernity as well as nostalgia. Ensemble dance numbers take place in the midst of LA traffic jams, while Gatsby-like pool parties are filled with schmoozing wannabes. And the glamour of black and white cinematography is replaced with the punchy pizzazz of primary colours.
Unlike Astaire and Rogers and their ilk, Gosling and Stone are clearly actors who can dance, not visa-versa. The musical numbers are therefore low-key and romantic rather than rousing, but they capture the dreamy wistfulness of falling in love with art, and people. 
Chazelle’s vision of LA is unnervingly whitewashed, and the film could do with another original song, but his inventive cinematography and joyous spirit will leave you inspired – and dying to see what he does next.
La La Land trailer: