La La Land is a terrific movie about an aspiring jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who fall in love in Los Angeles. With its stunning cinematography, the wonderful sets, the lovely costumes and Damien Chazelle's downright beautiful direction, the movie is pure magic that is just so compelling, entertaining, poignant and mesmerizing from start to finish: not only it's a wonder to look at, but there's much more than that to it. It's a moving, beautiful love story and, as the tagline says, a tribute to "the fools who dream". The score is also fantastic with "Epilogue" being a brilliant piece of work, and the songs are all fantastic too: they can be fun and catchy ("Someone in the Crowd", "A Lovely Night", "Another Day of Sun"), tenderly romantic ("City of Stars") or downright heartbreaking ("Audition"). I don't care what the detractors might say - I love this movie and I'd be thrilled if it won Best Picture (even if I prefer Moonlight).
The role of Mia is a tricky role as it requires an actress to sing, dance and also play some difficult emotionally charged scenes, but it's also kind of straightforward on paper and one that a lesser actress could have made sort of bland. Thankfully, the actress in question is Emma Stone, who is in my opinion one of the most effortlessly charming, radiant and talented actress working today. Some people are already critizing Emma Stone's performance in this movie for being a display of her usual off-screen personality but honestly I don't think that it's a bad thing; actually, I think it's one of the reason why her performance in this movie works so well. She puts her own charm at the service of the role and not the other way around - her charming, funny personality and screen-presence enrich the part greatly, and they help making Mia an endearing and likeable character right from the beginning. She is the definition of radiant and she controls the screen in a way that is completely effortless and never overbearing - she never seems to be trying too hard, instead she naturally gains the viewer's interest and attention due to how genuine and spontaneous she appears on screen. But of course her performance is not just based on her charm and Stone does a fantastic job at portraying her character's determination to achieve her dreams - Stone is very moving in each of the audition scenes at portraying Mia's frustration and sorrow as none of them ends up well but she also effectively shows how those failures don't affect her optimism and ambition.
Emma Stone does not necessarily have the greatest singing voice ever, nor is she the greatest dancer, but she certainly sings and dance well enough and most importantly she brings the needed energy, passion and nuance to each song: Stone does not just sing her musical numbers but she acts them as well - for example, "City Stars" is a great song not only because of the lyrics but also because Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone bring the needed tenderness to it, and "A Lovely Night" is not just catchy because of the rhythm and the funny but also because Gosling and Stone sing it with playfulness and energy. Speaking of her scenes with Ryan Gosling, the chemistry between the two is the kind of unique connection that makes a love story one for the ages - Stone's electrifying screen-presence and Gosling' low-key but unresistible charm blend so beautifully together, balancing each other perfectly and creating such a wonderful armony. In their early scenes, the two of them are very entertaining at portraying both their initial hostility but also mutual, undeniable attraction and as their love grows the two of them couldn't be more wonderful - they are just a marvel together and you can't help but root for them as they make you so invested in their romance. Moments like the two of them walking around the sets or dancing at the planetarium are just magical to watch and the actors are a big reason why.
In the second half of the movie, the relationship between Sebastian and Mia starts to deteriorate (as his successful career starts to drive him away from her) and she grows increasingly disillusioned due to her inability to find success as an actress. This is where Emma Stone is required to show off her dramatic chops and she absolutely thrives. There is a brilliant sequence in which a dinner between Mia and Sebastain slowly degenerates into a heated argument: it's an absolutely mesmerizing scene due to Gosling' and Stone's incredible acting - they are phenomenal at showing the strains in their relationship and they just keep you glued to the screen because they're so effective in their roles. What I love the most about their performances though is that, even in the moments in which the two characters seem to be more distant, they still show the underlying love between them. Stone is also terrific at portraying Mia's growing frustration and pain as her career never seems to take off: there is a scene in which Mia performs on stage a play she wrote only to find out that the theatre is almost empty and overhearing later two people mocking her work - her facial work in this sequence is the definition of heartbreaking and with her beautiful, expressive eyes Stone conveys so perfectly her character's feeling. The scene in which she tearfully expresses her doubts about her own talent to Sebastian is also very moving, but still the highlight of her performance is the scene towards the end in which she tells a story about her aunt at a very important audition: Stone is groundbreaking in the scene with her singing being at its absolute best and she is just fantastic at showing the pain and the struggle of Mia but also her unwillingness to give up her dreams. It's one of the movie's best moments and it's thanks to Stone who sings her heart out and breaks the viewer's. I won't spoil the ending, but I can say that it's one of the best of 2016 and it's the kind of bittersweet ending that brings both a smile and a tear to your face. Stone's final glance at Gosling is nothing short of incredible - with that smile, she conveys a thousand of feelings and brings an amazing closure to her performance.
In the end, I think this is a fantastic performance from a great actress: she enriches the character with her luminous screen-presence and gives a captivating, endearing and touching performance that works so well with Ryan Gosling's turn and Damien Chazelle's vision. It's a beautiful performance that is simple and complex at the same time and if she wins the Oscar tonight I'll be overjoyed.
Emma Stone does not necessarily have the greatest singing voice ever, nor is she the greatest dancer, but she certainly sings and dance well enough and most importantly she brings the needed energy, passion and nuance to each song: Stone does not just sing her musical numbers but she acts them as well - for example, "City Stars" is a great song not only because of the lyrics but also because Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone bring the needed tenderness to it, and "A Lovely Night" is not just catchy because of the rhythm and the funny but also because Gosling and Stone sing it with playfulness and energy. Speaking of her scenes with Ryan Gosling, the chemistry between the two is the kind of unique connection that makes a love story one for the ages - Stone's electrifying screen-presence and Gosling' low-key but unresistible charm blend so beautifully together, balancing each other perfectly and creating such a wonderful armony. In their early scenes, the two of them are very entertaining at portraying both their initial hostility but also mutual, undeniable attraction and as their love grows the two of them couldn't be more wonderful - they are just a marvel together and you can't help but root for them as they make you so invested in their romance. Moments like the two of them walking around the sets or dancing at the planetarium are just magical to watch and the actors are a big reason why.
In the second half of the movie, the relationship between Sebastian and Mia starts to deteriorate (as his successful career starts to drive him away from her) and she grows increasingly disillusioned due to her inability to find success as an actress. This is where Emma Stone is required to show off her dramatic chops and she absolutely thrives. There is a brilliant sequence in which a dinner between Mia and Sebastain slowly degenerates into a heated argument: it's an absolutely mesmerizing scene due to Gosling' and Stone's incredible acting - they are phenomenal at showing the strains in their relationship and they just keep you glued to the screen because they're so effective in their roles. What I love the most about their performances though is that, even in the moments in which the two characters seem to be more distant, they still show the underlying love between them. Stone is also terrific at portraying Mia's growing frustration and pain as her career never seems to take off: there is a scene in which Mia performs on stage a play she wrote only to find out that the theatre is almost empty and overhearing later two people mocking her work - her facial work in this sequence is the definition of heartbreaking and with her beautiful, expressive eyes Stone conveys so perfectly her character's feeling. The scene in which she tearfully expresses her doubts about her own talent to Sebastian is also very moving, but still the highlight of her performance is the scene towards the end in which she tells a story about her aunt at a very important audition: Stone is groundbreaking in the scene with her singing being at its absolute best and she is just fantastic at showing the pain and the struggle of Mia but also her unwillingness to give up her dreams. It's one of the movie's best moments and it's thanks to Stone who sings her heart out and breaks the viewer's. I won't spoil the ending, but I can say that it's one of the best of 2016 and it's the kind of bittersweet ending that brings both a smile and a tear to your face. Stone's final glance at Gosling is nothing short of incredible - with that smile, she conveys a thousand of feelings and brings an amazing closure to her performance.
In the end, I think this is a fantastic performance from a great actress: she enriches the character with her luminous screen-presence and gives a captivating, endearing and touching performance that works so well with Ryan Gosling's turn and Damien Chazelle's vision. It's a beautiful performance that is simple and complex at the same time and if she wins the Oscar tonight I'll be overjoyed.
5/5
Magnificent performance, I agree completely, and though I don't love the film as much as most, I adore Stone's performance. Hope she wins!
RispondiEliminaI can't say yet if she is my favorite performance of the bunch, I agree she's fantastic and she will be very deserving if she wins (which I think is very likely). Glad we agree!
EliminaWhile I can see why people would prefer Huppert over her, I think her win will be more than deserved.
RispondiEliminaI can't talk about Huppert yet but anyway Stone's performance is more than worthy of a win. She is just superb.
EliminaAmazing work couldn't agree more.
RispondiEliminaThe Academy made a very fine choice.
EliminaI am so happy Emma won the oscar,what an amazing achievement creating a character that is funny, heartbreaking and talented is a no easy feat.
RispondiEliminaYes, it's a really wonderful performance and I'm glad she won. Also, her speech was absolutely adorable!
EliminaMy lead actress win in a ridiculously strong year. The Academy could not have made a better choice in my opinion <3
RispondiEliminaIt's indeed an incredibly strong year for the category.
Elimina