‘La La Land’ Live: 5 Takeaways
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By Kevin Prchal
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land is one of my all-time favorite movies. So asking me to review La La Land Live in Chicago with the film’s composer Justin Hurwitz conducting is like asking Guy Fieri to review hot dogs. But I went, I wept, and you should do the same because it was a thing to behold.
Here are my takeaways from the experience.
1. Justin Hurwitz Forever
From the minute La La Land composer Justin Hurwitz walked out onto the stage, he was in complete command of his craft. He’s only 40 years old, but given his remarkable body of work thus far and people’s relationship to this film, I had a feeling while watching him that I’ll be paying to see the same show in 40 years.
2. Very, Very Exciting
Whether watching La La Land for the first time at the theater in 2016 or on my couch for the multiple times I’ve watched it since, I’ve been inwardly applauding this film for years. So it was such a relief to be able to outwardly applaud with a theater full of people after each musical number.
3. Gosling and Stone, Man
I’ve seen this film a dozen times, but I’m always awed by the presence of and chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The second Stone starts telling that story at the beginning of “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”, it’s game over for my emotional nervous system. And I’ve gotta give it up to Gosling for his comedic sensibilities. Little moments, like when he walks into his apartment and flinches at the sight of his sister, show the kind of comedy and charisma that can’t be taught.
4. Here’s to The Man Who Dreamed
Hurwitz and Chazelle started working on this film when they were still in college together at Harvard. Knowing they, like Mia and Sebastian in the film, also had Los Angeles-sized dreams, it was something special getting to see Hurwitz’s dream both reflected and realized as the story played out before him.
5. It Captured A Feeling
Due to a last-minute plot twist the day of the show, I ended up going alone. This, I discovered, was for the best because I was overcome with emotion from beginning to end (sorry to the woman sitting next to me). Go ahead and call me a romantic, but don’t say it like it’s a dirty word.
Kevin Prchal is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Cinema Sugar.