I am finally on my way to hopefully closing down the Oscar nominated movie shortlist for 2016. La La Land got record tying 14 nominations so not a bad way to start. This is a beautiful film that reminds you of the beauty of those old movies shot in film while the story is still set in modern era so you can relate to the times even though we are not part of the LA community of struggling actors, and screenwriters, and jazz lovers among others. The movie manages to make you sad and yet happy with how it was acted, and displayed on screen. The director, Damien Chazelle, and the cinematographer Linus Sandgren deserve huge credit for that.The story to me was somewhat generic about two people coming together and falling in love fueled by their ambitions to pursue what they love and then the same ambitions causing them to fall apart It reminded me of a few Bollywood films I had seen long time back. The real beauty of the film, henceforth, lied in how the story was told and how honestly it was acted on screen by the two leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Their chemistry in the movie is very natural and cannot be overlooked. The music by Justin Hurwitz adds another layer on top of their performances. This might be the first (certainly the best) movie I have seen about an actors playing actors in a movie which is not a parody. The camera transitions between scenes was seamless and I was wondering if it was one shot or just excellent editing which is a huge credit. I also appreciated the change in colors possibly showing the change in the character's story or emotion. The ending alone, even if not a happy one, was still so good to watch because of all the factors I mentioned above.
Talking about things I did not like, one short song (City of Stars) even though it was a precursor to the full song later did not fit the flow of the movie in my opinion. Some of the cliche "conflicting of appointments to create tension" was also something I could have done without but perhaps it does happen a lot in the busy lifestyles in today's world.
This one is not my best movie of the year but I probably put fun factor in same level as the quality of the movie which is why the movie that just speaks out to me is Swiss Army Man. But that aside, this movie is worth watching.
Rating: 8
/10