La La Land (MA15+)
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Amie Conn
THE term movie magic is bandied about a lot – or was in times gone past – in recent times there has been very little magic to the movies.
This past year was particularly bereft of “magic”, it was a year of the mediocre, the re-imagining and re-hashing of ideas, stories and franchises.
It’s little wonder then that critics have been raving about La La Land. Why all the fuss? It’s not too much to say it’s a breath of fresh air – a dash of bright colourful magic in a monochrome movie world.
In modern day Los Angeles, two ambitious artists who fall in love – one a dedicated musician (Ryan Gosling), the other an aspiring actress (Emma Stone) – chase their dreams and discover the joy and heartbreak of risking it all for your passion.
In part it’s a good old-fashioned movie musical but there is something beyond that too – it’s fun and joyous and yet tinged with unexpected reality at once cliched and yet still breaking the mould.
Director Damien Chazelle has re-invented the cheesy old Hollywood musicals and yet given it a stamp all his own. Jean-Luc Godard said once “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”
And that’s just what happens here – this has a magical fairytale quality and while Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling aren’t the best singers and dancers in the world they take us back to the age of Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds but in a way that pokes gentle fun at our current culture and ’80s music and need for Disney endings.
Whether La La Land dances away with all the awards going or not (and I think it will) at least it has shown there is still room for creativity and imagination in movies.
– Tania Phillips
