Review of La La Land (2016) by Harry W — 16 May 2017
La La Land is in love with a bygone era and serves as a truly beautiful tribute to the minds, crafts and ideas that fuelled the golden years of Hollywood. The songs are all good and catchy, particularly the Oscar winning "City of Stars" that is revisited throughout the film as a sort of hymn to the romance of Mia and Sebastian, acted perfectly by Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
Do I think Emma's performance was enough to earn her Best Actress Academy Award? No... I think there were other nominations more worthy of recognition, however in such a strong year all the actresses deserved recognition.
The cinematography is TO DIE FOR and is probably some of the best I've seen in recent years, proving that La La Land is not just a postcard picture film but was also an incredibly hard film to make, as each glimpse of a Los Angeles sunset frames and fuels the story in every way that Gosling and Stone do.
Musicals are dying and La La Land wants to resuscitate. The story is craftily done and is so vintage that I kept having to remind myself it is actually set in the present day, as one minute its The King and I with its purity and vintage playfulness, but then we catch a glimpse of a smartphone or a rendition of the 80's hit "Take On Me" .
It's clever and pure.
This review of La La Land (2016) was written by Harry W on 16 May 2017.
La La Land has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
