La La Land (2016)
Country: US
Technical: col/2.55:1 128m
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, J. K. Simmons
Synopsis:
In L. A. the freeway is in gridlock as the citizens head in for work. But, as winter gives way to spring and ultimately returns, for two dreamers among them it will be a year that sees the greatest love affair of their lives duelling for first place with their dream.
Review:
From its pre-credit show-stopper chorus number done in a single take, Chazelle's homage to Hollywood musicals, and billet doux to the town itself, announces itself as an emotional rollercoaster to match Whiplash, and one which is not shy of making similarly bold artistic flourishes. It begins as Gold Diggers of 1933, as Stone's Mia doggedly pursues a round of auditions in search of her big break, then moves through the 1950s with nods to An American in Paris and Rebel without a Cause, before ending up in the self-reflexive present, and in the company of other films in which actors without singing voices have direct-recorded songs on set. And so, rather like a special effects film that mixes analogue tricks of the trade with CGI, you are constantly left juggling its razzle-dazzle with its discourse of realism. Like it or loathe it, it's what Hollywood has always been about, in the term of Mark Cousins: 'the bauble'.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.55:1 128m
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, J. K. Simmons
Synopsis:
In L. A. the freeway is in gridlock as the citizens head in for work. But, as winter gives way to spring and ultimately returns, for two dreamers among them it will be a year that sees the greatest love affair of their lives duelling for first place with their dream.
Review:
From its pre-credit show-stopper chorus number done in a single take, Chazelle's homage to Hollywood musicals, and billet doux to the town itself, announces itself as an emotional rollercoaster to match Whiplash, and one which is not shy of making similarly bold artistic flourishes. It begins as Gold Diggers of 1933, as Stone's Mia doggedly pursues a round of auditions in search of her big break, then moves through the 1950s with nods to An American in Paris and Rebel without a Cause, before ending up in the self-reflexive present, and in the company of other films in which actors without singing voices have direct-recorded songs on set. And so, rather like a special effects film that mixes analogue tricks of the trade with CGI, you are constantly left juggling its razzle-dazzle with its discourse of realism. Like it or loathe it, it's what Hollywood has always been about, in the term of Mark Cousins: 'the bauble'.
Country: US
Technical: col/2.55:1 128m
Director: Damien Chazelle
Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, J. K. Simmons
Synopsis:
In L. A. the freeway is in gridlock as the citizens head in for work. But, as winter gives way to spring and ultimately returns, for two dreamers among them it will be a year that sees the greatest love affair of their lives duelling for first place with their dream.
Review:
From its pre-credit show-stopper chorus number done in a single take, Chazelle's homage to Hollywood musicals, and billet doux to the town itself, announces itself as an emotional rollercoaster to match Whiplash, and one which is not shy of making similarly bold artistic flourishes. It begins as Gold Diggers of 1933, as Stone's Mia doggedly pursues a round of auditions in search of her big break, then moves through the 1950s with nods to An American in Paris and Rebel without a Cause, before ending up in the self-reflexive present, and in the company of other films in which actors without singing voices have direct-recorded songs on set. And so, rather like a special effects film that mixes analogue tricks of the trade with CGI, you are constantly left juggling its razzle-dazzle with its discourse of realism. Like it or loathe it, it's what Hollywood has always been about, in the term of Mark Cousins: 'the bauble'.