The musical film genre has slowly faded since the 30's-50's where it was highly prominent. How prominent? An average of 39.1 musical films were made per year between 1930-1959 (over 1100). Now mind you many were unknown and/or had small releases. Since then however - the last 57 years - there have been an average 11.5 musical films per year (1960-2016). Again many of the films in the genre released since 1960 have been direct to video releases, animated shorts, and films that were on the low budget side and therefore not many have heard of those films. But still. Over 600 films in just under 60 years compared to the well over 1100 in 30 is quite the change in amount released into the public.
Why the sudden change you might ask? Well, the film industry really took off in the 30's as the US was in the midst of a depression.
Films took a fantastical approach to story telling with swash buckling, "safe" horror, and musicals making their marks. Taking people away from the times they were living in, the 30's is known still today as the golden age of Hollywood which bled in to the mid 1940's. But as time went on, people wanted more realistic, human drama, and grounded films to go see - films they could relate to. As more films like that emerged, the musical genre began to decrease in amount and even popularity in some cases. Things like the swashbuckling, monsters and sci-fi genres still survived due to their ability to evolve and have non-happy endings with more graphics that over time upped in quality making it more real (as real as monsters and sci-fi could ever get of course). While companies like Disney still thrived on musicals (even to this day they do), it was hard to make as much money, so with that, musicals really only survived through Broadway. Every now and then the occasional musical film would be a hit throughout the country (Grease, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Annie, Moulin Rouge), but even still, the genre just doesn't thrive the way it used to due to.
As 2016 films have been dominated by super heroes at the box office and drama centered films like Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight, Fences and others getting all the big award noms, it seems like another typical year for film. But if you pay attention to the award season, there are always two films that get attention for one of two reasons: being the "black sheep" of the films nominated (by black sheep I mean a film that is very different from the rest. I say it in no negative way), or being a "dark horse" that snuck into contention. Hidden Figures is definitely 2016's dark horse, as it has snuck up late and has gained ground in terms of award conversation. Take a look at the nine nominations for Best Picture at this years 89th Oscars. Almost all are serious, "grounded" movies with a couple films that aren't straight up dramas like Arrival (a film which has sci-fi at it's roots) and Hacksaw Ridge (a graphic war film with lots of human drama). Last year's bunch was a little more diversified in genre with the obvious black sheep being Mad Max: Fury Road. It won the most Oscars in 2016 with six. And this year's black sheep couldn't be more obvious: La La Land.
The hype surrounding the 2016 musical film "La La Land" left me wondering if it really could be that good.
Let me assure you - it was.
Director Damien Chazelle has now pieced together two back-to-back masterpieces in "Whiplash" and "La La Land". One is a dark and gritty tale of a drummer who wants to make it big in the music industry while pleasing his abusive teacher. The other is a fun musical film showcasing a jazz pianist and an aspiring actress who fall in love while chasing their dreams. Chazelle is a young director who has much in front of him and I can't wait to see what he has next on the horizon.
La La Land features top notch acting from the film's two leads, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. I will say that Gosling's character is more compelling, driving the story and relationship while Stone's is just "there" at times but she does what she can with what she's been given and elevates it to an overall great performance. This is Stone and Gosling's third film together and they show their perfect chemistry from start to finish. What made their performances even better was that despite not having the best voices, they sang the songs themselves, adding another element to their characters. Both received Golden Globe awards for best actor and actress, while receiving Oscars noms in the same categories (Stone is the front runner for Best Actress).
Also: kudos to Ryan Gosling's piano skillz (skillz with a "z"). He should get an award for that alone.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone received near universal acclaim for their performances - garnering a plethora of awards
What helped the actors and their performances was how believable their stories were. The film was grounded with a realistic story while still holding onto all the retro-nostalgic sets, music, and colors that hark back to the musicals of the 30’s-50’s. Being set in modern times, this was a story I could relate to much more. Perfect blending of fun, fantastical sets and music with a story that is compelling and gets you emotionally involved with its two leads.
Of course being a musical you have to wonder whether the score, singing, and dancing are well done. The score was impeccable and I've been listening to it on repeat for days. "Mia and Sebastian's Theme" had me crying by the end of the film. The singing wasn't top notch, but as I said earlier, it was better that Stone and Gosling sang their parts as it added to their characters that much more. The dancing was a lot of fun, especially in "Another Day of Sun" and my personal favorite, "Lovely Night".
Finally, what made the film go from good to great was the ending. An ending that polarized viewers, I personally think it made the movie that much better. Up to the final ten minutes, I was wondering how it would end, as the ending can make or break a film for me (I typically expect it to be the latter). But it was perfect. I wouldn't change one thing about the film.
I will have to tell you this: If you're expecting a musical that features amazing singing and dancing, you will be sorely disappointed. La La Land is a great *film*, not maybe as much a great musical. Then again the musical and overall feel was awesome and truly did pay homage to the great musical films of the past.
This film was easily my favorite of 2016 (beating out my previous #1 which was Hacksaw Ridge) and to be honest, it could very well end up as my favorite of all time. Highly recommend you go see it in theaters asap. And download the soundtrack immediately.
Final score: 10/10