La La Land

A gem where Damien Chazelle beautifully led me as a viewer. It all looks and sounds beautiful, but I had a problem adjusting to the fact that La La Land is too retro and a tribute to old musicals. But the director saves the strong emotions, the brutally truthful moments, and a slightly harsher treatment of the protagonists for the last third. That truly broke me. And it is precisely the contrast between the beautiful dreamlike world full of color and love and the reality that can be very cruel to dreamers that places La La Land among the films that simply must be seen. (15/05/2017)

The only musical since Moulin Rouge! that is not only artistically beautiful, but also internally fragile. The most poetic romance since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And maybe the ”cutest” movie ever, with its heart on its sleeve. It is a wonderful tribute to film, music, love and the city of stars (pardon, angels), which won’t give you anything for free. Damien Chazelle is a game changer; he understands much more deeply than anyone else. And he does what he wants without disturbing the perfect fulfillment of the genre template. In short, he’s the greatest new filmmaking talent of this decade. (23/01/2017)

Am I supposed to feel touched by a stupid romance between two unlikeable, narcissistic elitarians? Am I supposed to suffer because of their first world problems? All because of a film with a plot disguised as a ridiculously banal allegory of the four seasons that is more see-through than Casper the ghost? Fuck no! There is plenty to praise (the random stage sets, a couple of cute moments, the last ten minutes or so – that would have worked better with more likeable characters), but if this is supposed to be an unrivalled favourite for this year’s Oscars, kiss my ass! No LA-LA here for me, massive disappointment. PS: I’m still thinking why this film didn’t work for me (because I really thought I would like it). The main reason I see is that the initial musical build-up of the relationship doesn’t manage (at least for me) to lay down a sufficiently strong foundation for the feelings in the ambitious non-musical ending. (04/01/2017)

I'm not denying that it has the intrinsic energy and impressive technical processing, but I'm not willing to deal with the fact that the musical interludes actually hurt it (the second half, which more or less gets by without them, is much better than the first). In addition, the lavish kitsch framing the story of the supposedly naive but in many ways self-centered narcissists is actually annoying. What I want from Chazelle is any genre film where the music will be a means, not an end. Given his age, he has unique skills. (05/01/2017)

It's been a long time since this genre has been this good. I myself don't understand what the magic is and where that lightness comes from, which so many others are usually lacking. I can't even imagine how hard it must be to gauge the line between genius and kitsch in film music. You can really smell the talent. And Ryan, with Emma by his side, just lays it on like he was born for the part. 4.5 stars. (17/04/2017)