Why I am not a fan of 'La La Land'
- limetoblue
- Jan 11, 2017
- 5 min read
I can’t help myself comparing this movie to its musical predecessors or other movies that carry the same feeling or theme. From 'Hairspray' to 'Les Misérables', from 'The Artist' to 'Cafe Society', I take almost all film aspects into consideration while comparing it. Not because this movie itself cannot stand alone or it is so different that I shouldn’t compare it in the first place, but because it will help you to understand my point.
Despite all of the broadway-esque musical and the sad love story, of the wonderful set and pretty costumes, in my opinion, the weakness of this movie is in the acting, choreography and vocal technique.
It’s inconsistent.
I could feel Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling’s chemistry when they’re interacting to each other, but lost it when they’re singing and dancing together. I understand the fact that both are not real singers and their lack of vocal techniques should be understood, but when I saw them singing, I couldn’t really grasp the emotion and instead, I focused on their singing technique and got annoyed. This became irritating.
This was when those two movie titles come up in our discussion after watching La La Land; 'Hairspray' and 'Les Misérables', and my friend said this:
“You can’t compare it to 'Hairspray' because it’s a happy story and this one has a sad ending. And their voices are really great because it’s broadway and 'La La Land' is a movie although it’s carrying a broadway concept, so it’s not fair to compare them.”
Well, in my opinion, 'Hairspray' has lyrics that also expressing the character’s feeling and situation in the movie. Let’s take 'Good Morning, Baltimore'. You could feel the happiness, the hype, the excitement of Tracy Turnblad in greeting a new day. It’s quite grand as an opening number.
In La La Land’s case, when you see the opening scene, you could feel that this movie could turn into a great one. It was quite a good start, but then it dropped dramatically when Emma Stone sang and danced with her 3 other roommates. That was kind of … awkward, unnatural, and over-the-top acting performance, the choreography and singing could be far better than that. Although, this was choreographed by Mandy Moore, I feel that the scene ended up ordinary.
Now, I agree that 'Hairspray' was adorable because it’s easy to follow and everyone loves happy stories. And here comes the other movie title, 'Les Misérables'. This was even sadder than 'La La Land', only one actress possessed a great singing technique and that’s not even Anne Hathaway, who was the main character. Yet, Anne Hathaway won the Oscar because she could act through her singing. She was telling her character’s story. She conveyed her feelings successfully. And that’s what I couldn’t (or almost, at least) feel in 'La La Land'. Or maybe, I couldn't really feel it because I was already distracted by the bad singing technique.
It's hard for me to find the words to explain why I don't like it until lately I've found a video of Lea Salonga being interviewed and one of the questions was about musical movie (they're talking about 'La La Land', to be specific). Her explanation was the same reason why I couldn't enjoy watching 'La La Land'.
"If the vocal performance is... right. I'll just be like people in the audience and weeping and everything. But if something's not right then something else clicks in my head, and it's like my whole physical being starts to rebel at the sound that's coming from the screen at me."
My favourite scenes in 'La La Land' were when Emma Stone’s character, Mia, got mad with Ryan Gosling’s, Sebastian, because he didn’t come to her monologue performance and she decided that her dream was done. Then the other one was when Sebastian came to Mia’s house to tell her that she got a callback and was possibly gonna star in a big movie. Those two scenes had no dancing, nor singing, nor any choreography related. Those were purely their acting shown in front of my eyes and those were the best moments for me to finally really feel their problems, to really understand Mia and Sebastian, as if they’re real characters.
To be honest, I always love Emma Stone. I adore her. But, unfortunately, I got the impression that she was kind of overacted in some scenes. I felt that she brought the theatrical sense through her acting because this movie carried the broadway theme. One simple unnatural and over-the-top gesture seen here and there, and it ruined the best thing this movie could ever offer. That’s too bad. I love her acting better in 'Birdman'.
However, that doesn’t mean I hate it.
I just don’t think I want to watch this for the second time.
I love the music and the lyrics. I can feel Damien Chazelle’s love of jazz in this movie like his previous hit, 'Whiplash'. In my opinion, if all the singers in this movie (yes, not just Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone but all of them except John Legend) really have a great vocal technique that they could sing effortlessly, 'La La Land' would be spectacular, even more than now. Because, the music are so ear-catchy, I could find myself humming the same melody over and over again.
I have to admit that Damien Chazelle wrote a beautiful story. The ‘what-if’ montage at the end was truly heartbreaking and I believe it’s also the scene that made some of my friends cried.
It is a reality, not a beautiful happily-ever-after story that could only happen in a movie. And somehow I really could relate with it. I, personally, always believe that there’s always a price for everything. When you’re facing two options, you can’t get both, you need to choose one. And the other one that you let go is your sacrifice. However precious it is, that’s the price.
Both Sebastian and Mia got a chance to be together and to follow their dreams. But, when they were together, were they happy? Only at the beginning. And when they finally achieved their dreams, they couldn’t be together anymore. It was too late and Mia had already started a family of her own.
This is just one good example that sometimes you need to know what you want to do in your life. You need to work hard and never give up to achieve your dreams, especially if it’s not just your ambition but something that truly makes you happy. Go for it! But remember, there’s always something you need to sacrifice. There’s always the price you need to pay. If that means you need to let go of your loved one to really live your dream, which one would you choose? Does loving someone mean owning him/her? I think, by choosing to follow your dream over your lover, that means a self-fulfilment. For some people, living their dreams could mean the whole world. In Sebastian’s case, the price to pay is by being alone. Actually, being alone doesn’t have to be lonely, because loneliness is just a state of mind.
Now, the ending Damien Chazelle chose to happen is alright. It’s beautiful in every angle. It is love in a different form. It is perfect. And I love it.
Despite the so-so choreography and singing technique that are the weakness of this movie, I really root for Damien Chazelle to win an Oscar in Best Original Screenplay this year. This would be interesting.
'La La Land' is written and directed by Damien Chazelle. Music composed by Justin Hurwitz. Starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend and Rosemarie DeWitt.
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