Decided to dust this old thing off/rechristen it, and what better way than with some grousing!
The trailer for La La Land was released today, and it was undeniably pleasurable, though I have a feeling it will fall into the long line of 2016 films (Green Room, The Lobster, The Nice Guys, very likely American Honey, etc.) that I felt I would either love or hate, and just end up liking very much, a feeling compounded by my growing ambivalence on Whiplash.
The trailer was of course received rapturously in The Dissolve and to some extent, on Film Twitter, which bothered me little, but one remark did strike me as patently ridiculous: that the colors were Demy-esque. Demy is of course very near-and-dear to me, and though the other person loves The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, I couldn't help but take offense to the comment (though I voiced little of said offense).
It may be that Gosling's presence affected my thinking, but if anything La La Land's colors remind me much more of the brash hues of Nicolas Winding Refn compared to the pastel lushness of Jacques Demy. True, the plot can be described as a hybrid of Umbrellas and Young Girls, though this negates the complexity of both, and some moments (a kiss especially) are reminiscent, but it feels dangerous to use such a monumental director's name in such an off-hand way.
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