Hollywood

Hollywood. The land of dreams is no stranger to appearing on the big screen and being presented from many different angles, but it has been a long time since it was quite so colourful and quite so musical. This is La La Land.

Seb (Ryan Gosling) and Mia (Emma Stone) are both dreamers. The former longs to own and manage his own jazz club, the latter sees her name in lights, her face on the big screen. Their paths are interwoven and they can chase their dreams together with encouragement and support but the world we live in isn't easy for dreamers. There are expectations to live up to, finances to organise, and the proverbial 'man' keeping our protagonists from their ultimate success. Also, the film teaches us that sometimes success and dreams do not come hand in hand, that one does not necessarily equate to the other. This is not just a story of Seb and Mia, of their love and dreams, this is a story of how Hollywood engulfs those who wish to chase their dreams, how it forces compromise and conflict, how small decisions can change everything. And this story is told through song and dance.

The film opens with a traffic jam - welcome to Hollywood. But one by one, the commuters begin to sing; they step out of their cars and dance down the road in a spectacularly flowing set piece. Welcome to La La Land. The tone is apparent and the stage is set; we are thrown into a two hour rush of colour, music and movement. Director Damien Chazelle glides through his narrative with confidence, the film dancing along with its stars, helped in no small part by cinematographer Linus Sandgren. Chazelle and Sandgren choreograph each scene to the beat of the film, their camera as one of the performers. It weaves in and out of cars and bars, it swings around the piano that Seb plays, it circles Mia as she sings her heart out; it captures every ounce of emotion and, more importantly, soul that the film has to offer. If Chazelle's last feature Whiplash embodied the intensity of jazz, La La Land captures its warmth.

That warmth is amplified by the charisma and chemistry of the two leads. Both Mia and Seb are instantly and overwhelmingly likeable and their pairing slowly builds, eventually blossoming into love. From the gentle touch of finger tips in a cinema to helping plan each other's visions, their relationship is electrifying and full of life. The two powerful performances from Stone and Gosling over the course of the film culminate in a riveting and emotional climax with one of the most charming sequences in the film, leaving you smiling despite being metaphorically punched in the gut. The talent of the whole cast cannot be overstated with cast members learning new instruments (for their roles, Gosling learned piano from scratch and John Legend learned guitar), as well as dancing and singing live onset. No doubt you will be leaving the cinema tapping along to the catchy songs now permanently etched into your brain.

La La Land is a musical adventure into fantasy. It's more universally appealing than Chazelle's Whiplash, it's more charming and a lot less bleak, and also harks back to the golden age of Hollywood. This is almost a guaranteed formula for critical success (see The Artist's Best Picture win in 2012), but it also makes for a wonderful piece of cinema. It lacks the depth and power of some arguably better films, but it is inoffensive and totally captivating. It is a glimpse of what happens when a skilled film-maker decides to create something joyous; La La Land does not need to be dark to be brilliant.

Bloody Drums

Imagine a suspenseful thriller. What do you picture? Guns and crime? Murder and detectives? Now think of an underdog story. Again, what do you see? Sports or dance, perhaps. Forget all of those things. Replace the guns with trumpets and the crime with a jazz orchestra. Focus the plot around drums. Sound crazy? This is Whiplash.

Andrew Neimann (Miles Teller) is a young, ambitious drummer. Enrolled at the Shaffer academy of music in New York, he dreams of being a core drummer at the Lincoln Center. When Fletcher (J.K. Simmons), the conductor of the Shaffer studio band hears him perform, that dream seems to be one step closer to being a reality. But Fletcher is no Mr-Nice-Guy. Slapping, screaming, and hurling chairs are not out of the ordinary in his practise room. Whiplash shows the twisting relationship of the pair as Neimann gets pushed harder and harder, whilst Fletcher's constant changing attitudes make everything as uncertain as a coin toss. 

Teller's performance really packs a punch

This uncertainty, created by the impeccable encapsulation of Fletcher by Simmons, is exactly where Whiplash draws its power as a thriller from. Simmons makes Fletcher a see-saw, constantly shifting dramatically, but never becoming unlikeable. Even at his most abusive, he manages to convince you his motives are pure before stabbing you in the back. It wonderfully villainous and utterly captivating. It will leave you with trust issues. It takes a truly talented performer to achieve what Simmons has here. Miles Teller is also not to be forgotten. Like his character, he put his own blood into the performance and through his mix of arrogance and ambition, he assists in raising questions about Fletcher's intentions. Together the pair fire off of one another with some of the best chemistry, albeit negative chemistry, of the last year.

Fletcher can get really brassed off

Whiplash dances with its camera and music, the editing jives and swings between shots with immaculate precision and focus. Take for example the first band practise; the band nervously prepare, the camera shooting from instrument to instrument in rapid succession before it focuses on the specifics of Simmons raised hand, the band in soft focus, secondary to the conductor's gestures, and then the room explodes into wonderful music. From then tension, conflict, and suspense are formed with how the camera jumps, or refuses to jump, between instrument and conductor. Sometimes Chazelle lingers or circles around the action, at other points he darts between two focal points like a tennis match. One things for certain, it's editing will get your heart beating harder than percussion laden score.

Whilst Whiplash does not do anything grand like some of the other big films of the year (Birdman and Boyhood), it is a testament to how effective the simple tools of film making can be when applied to their biggest potential. An incredible film, and possibly the best of 2014.

Best bit? A gruellingly long scene in which the three drummers try to match Fletcher's tempo. Blood splatters, drums fly, and sweat drips. Music, man.