The Eddy (2020)

I feel like I was a little deceived. I thought that Damien Chazelle was doing the whole series but it turns out that he only directed the first two episodes. But the marketing worked; his name drew me to this Parisian jazz drama. I didn't actually care much for the drama. But I love the jazz. I wish there was more music and less plot because the plot is messy. The characters' motivations are often fuzzy. They make irrational choices and most of them are pretty annoying. It was ultimately worth watching for the music and the great jazz memorial scene.

First Man (2018)

Damien Chazelle is our American wunderkind. In many respects, he shares similarities with Xavier Dolan, the Canadian counterpart. They even kind of look alike. Chazelle takes a page out of Dolan's book with a format change a la Mommy. Except when Dolan does it, it's pretentious and forced, we watch a box format for the whole length of the movie so he has the chance to stretch it out in one scene. Chazelle does it more seamlessly, and with better finesse. The moon landing scene is filmed in glorious IMAX 70mm, while the rest of the movie is on beautiful grainy 35mm or 60mm. Film ain't dead.

Linus Sandgren's cinematography is breathtaking accompanied by Justin Hurwitz's hypnotic score. What's really extraordinary is how intense this movie is. Much like Chazelle's brilliant Whiplash, he manages to make something that is not obviously intense unbearably intense. Despite knowing how it's going to turn out, it is still exciting. We are fully immersed in the space missions, with the shaky cameras, close-up shots, and thrilling soundscape. We feel the anxiety that Gosling's enigmatic Neil Armstrong does when a mission fails. At the end of the day, it's not actually about the moon landing. It's a character study on the Armstrongs (yes, Janet too), one of whom happens to go to the moon. Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are both excellent.

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009)

Damien Chazelle's first movie makes his love for jazz and film.
Besides the obvious thematic similarities to La La Land, some of the music is even the same.Filmed on grainy black-and-white 16mm, there are some really wonderful moments. There are three musical numbers, all kind of enchanting.  There are lots of close-up shots, which I didn't mind, and some awkward zooms.

As for the story, it was barely coherent. The movie interestingly starts with the breakup and we see how he got there and how he mends it. Having read the synopsis after watching the movie, I kind of get it, but there are lots of extraneous scenes that muddle the plot. Understandably, this was his first movie. And he very quickly worked out those kinks. In this movie, Elena's subplot doesn't really fit into the story. She serves as a distraction for Guy, but as Chazelle discovered later in Whiplash and La La Land, it is jazz itself that is the passion incompatible with a relationship.

La La Land (2016)

La La Land is exactly the masterpiece I hoped it would be. I have been waiting to see this film ever since they announced casting of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for a jazz musical (two things I love) directed by Damien Chazelle, hot off of Whiplash. He is perhaps our finest young director today. It did not disappoint; it was so beautiful. How do you know you're watching something special? I literally had goosebumps, and there were moments in the film that just brushed over me. It's when you can physically feel the euphoria take your breath away. Only film and classical music do that to me.

Let's start with the plot. It's simple but it's classic a la Golden Age Hollywood. I have to admit, their first encounter in the restaurant tricked me. It was the seen that we're fooled into thinking we knew already from the trailer, but it's not that scene. At first you're taken aback, but then you understand that their courtship is a little more complex than that. Amidst the dream-like sequences, the plot and dialogue is actually extremely realistic. The dialogue is perfectly natural. The movie is so emotionally affecting because it is so well written.

This is a contemporary musical nostalgic for a time gone by. That theme is played out through Seb's infatuation with traditional jazz. It makes a plethora of references to the classic musicals of yore, but it looks forward. It includes the requisite pas de deux, and the big numbers, and the recurring musical themes. It moves towards a wistful ending, not necessarily the happy one you expect from old Hollywood (the ending actually sort of coincidentally reminded me of Once). This movie has depth the way song-and-dance used to be able to get away without.

Chazelle's love letter to Hollywood is necessarily a love-letter to movies (the tone is reminiscent of Cinema Paradiso). You know I love movies about movies. But it's more than that. Because Los Angeles is a unique city. He captures the spirit of a town full of dreamers. Briefly about the ending--I think it's perfect. It reminds us that the essence of the film is not simply their love for each other, but for their high hopes and dreams. The film, after all, is named for the city that will make or break you.

This review is going to get a lot longer than I intended but I'm going to keep going cause there's a lot of ground to cover.

The look: the colors are perhaps a little too obvious. And by that I mean, they pop so much that we're not used to such bold un-patterned primary color coordination. But I think that adds to the dreaminess of the film. The ten-minute balletic epilogue is just stunning. The cinematography is just stunning. Los Angeles has never looked so good. La La Land is not the first film to do the long takes, but it does it very impressively. Someone in the Crowd requires some fancy camera navigation and a well-placed mirror. The opening sequence was all filmed in one shot. I think we've entered a period (maybe starting a few years ago with Gravity) in which the expectation is for contemporary films to go big and do the long single takes. It is becoming normal. But that is not to underscore the massive achievement of getting it all at once perfectly.

Jazz: The soundtrack is phenomenal. I've been playing it on repeat nonstop. Also, looking at the lyrics more closely, they're appropriately fitting. Justin Hurwitz has two Oscars coming his way, for sure. I think jazz is very fitting for Los Angeles. LA is not a jazz town, but the music really captures that trying spirit. Everyone is a constant struggle to make it and what is jazz if not about improvising your own path. As Sebastian points out, it is conflict and compromise.

Acting: I saw Emma Stone in Cabaret on Broadway and she was great. She's not the best singer and neither is Ryan Gosling. But if they could sing, then they wouldn't be struggling artists. The whole point is that they are talented in their own right, but that's not always enough in LA. The parts don't call for excellent singers. They were correctly cast. The leading lady and man are our new Hollywood couple. They've acted together before and I imagine they will continue. They have the look. I love the scene when they're singing City of Stars together. Whereas some scenes look like the actors are singing to a track, this one is unequivocally live. You hear and see it in the imperfect tone and the quavers in their voices. It is vulnerable and human. And it pulls us down from dream world (or la la land). Ryan Gosling plays piano very convincingly. Even if he can only play those couple of pieces, that is pretty impressive. Emma Stone carries the film though. We may focus more on Sebastian's story line, but Emma Stone gives her character dimension and emotion more interesting than Gosling's. I do think John Legend was a weird choice; he's a little too smooth for jazz. I kept thinking Jamie Foxx would've been great.

So if you couldn't tell, I loved everything about this movie. To people that say they liked it but didn't love it, just look and hear and moreover feel how beautiful this movie is. Don't confuse it for a shallow musical. It is more complex than it may let on. 

Whiplash (2014)

Pure, unrelenting intensity.  This film reminded me a little of Black Swan.  At their cores, both films are about the unstoppable pursuit of perfection  And the path to success is thrilling and nerve-wracking and slightly mortifying.  It reinforces to young artists that greatness is not easily achieved.  It requires persistence, determination, concentration, hours of practice and a teacher to push you beyond the limit.

The acting in this movie is phenomenal.  JK Simmons is the scariest band conductor you could imagine.  All of his students are terrified of him and avoid eye contact at all costs.  Simmons is really quite monstrous, inhuman.  And Miles Teller just takes it.  He uses the yelling and the insults to motivate him to be better.  He, too, deserves recognition for pushing himself to the limits--you can see it clearly in his facial expressions.  Both are helped by smart writing.

Damien Chazelle adapted his own short film into a feature length film.  What is the message that Chazelle tries to convey?  It is semi-autobiographical, and obviously he had a bad experience in band. The teacher has a lasting negative impact psychologically.   But perhaps Chazelle agrees that the teaching style brings out the best in the musicians.

The excitement level is helped by some really sharp film editing and cinematography.  The jazz rhythms dictate the fast and rhythmic cuts.  Each shot is beautifully composed.  My favorite shot is of Teller's character intensely practicing at his drum set. We see his face on the right half of the screen at an upward angle and the left half of the screen is blocked by the cymbal.  Who knew that drumming could be so exciting?