La La Land : A Musical for the Ages !

Sometimes a film may just remind you of something you have not thought of in a long, long time.
The Damien Chazelle film LA LA LAND, for me, is such a film where I am reminded of those musicals of the late 1940s and 1950s, where entertainment was more valid than realism in film.

The Poster Sheet for LA LA LAND

Currently nominated for 14 Academy Award categories, the wondrous innocence and easy happiness in this film seems to have spoken to other people as well. What spoke to me about the film was that there may be a moment in which you (and also other people) can step out of your moment to reflect with song on the situation in an emotionally charged way, while on the other spectrum hope and optimism prevail in the daily humdrum routine of your boring life. I myself am no longer a young man but I still have hopes. The main characters in this film are pretty young but no less suffering from situations in their lives they seem to be unable to rise above. Until something extraordinary happens. A chance meeting of people, who may not be lifetime partners but who can instill in one another the drive to continue and finally succeed, where at first you failed.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone

While I was watching this film, the experience of watching such whimsical musicals reminded me of having seen films like SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, THE BAND WAGON and HIGH SOCIETY, when I was much younger, in years where realism wasn't so important in films. After all, you don't often see people on the streets burst out in song and dance all of a sudden. So if this may not be your thing, that's okay. Skip then, but if a fun film about longing, wanting and inspiring one another to do what is needed to get there, may be your thing, give it a shot. I was surprised myself. I loved it.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are wonderful to watch in the film. Gosling has a little bit of a young Fred Astaire in himself, even though perhaps not as a dancer but in spirit, but Emma Stone reminded me of Audrey Hepburn and other stars like that. The music by Justin Hurwitz is quite good, too, although it will be interesting to see if the nomination for Best Original Score will be rewarded with an Oscar, surrounded as it is by dramatic scores, not of the same category, really. 

LA LA LAND is a wonderful date movie. It is a bit long at 128 minutes but it is never boring.

Try it out if you like.