Review Detail

I've only seen La La Land once before, which meant I was only vaguely familiar with what was being changed. This is often my preferred way to watch fanedits, since it allows me to be less "alert" when cuts are made and hopefully have less of a familiarity bias.

Visual quality here is not on par with the blu-ray, but it looks good. Audio is stereo and sounds good as well, though I felt like I had to turn it up more than normal. No complaint there, just an observation. I haven't compared with the source.

The editing here is generally really nicely done. I didn't notice any audio transitions, except for the kiss toward the end. I couldn't remember how this scene went down exactly, but something in the audio shifted, which then reminded me that the orchestra swells there normally (I think?), but now it just stays with the piano. It's not a bad cut by any means, and it's creatively done (the execution of that whole sequence must have been tricky). I think there was just something about some of the ambience in that moment that just seemed off.

Visual editing is rarely noticeable. There are some fades here and there, which I think are well handled, but since you don't see that transition used very often in modern film, I think it's typically a hard technique to mask. The fade during Stone's callback felt a bit unnatural to me and I think could have worked better as a hard cut. Additionally, the opening title was a nice touch, but looked a bit odd and jittery to me. Otherwise, titles/fonts etc. are on point.

Narrative functions well and I think LI has achieved his goal here. In spite of the title, there IS a little bit of dancing and singing, but it's dancing and singing that happens in a grounded fashion, and isn't theatrical. The key thing about this edit is that it takes a musical and changes it into a straight drama. There is still an air of the theatrical, simply because of the cinematography if nothing else. The whole thing pops and has this vibe, and it's more than just the music and dancing that contributes to the film being a sort of retro/musical homage. However, none of LI's changes feel out of place. Apart from some minor narrative stuff (see below), things generally flow well, little is detracted from the relationship and it functions well in this format. I enjoyed it just as much as I did last time (watching the theatrical) - maybe even a little more in some ways? I did like the original musical aspects, but there were a couple of numbers (like the opening) that I wasn't keen on.

A couple of fairly minor narrative things:

1. There's a minor continuity issue with the horn-beep gag. Since the origin is removed, when Gosling picks up Emma for her date and blares his horn she immediately knows who it is and is delighted; whereas, without the context you'd expect a different reaction. Again, it's not a huge thing, but it creates a brief "eh?" moment as an audience member.
2. There is a plot-hole created somewhere, since Gosling's character makes reference to knowing Stone's house would be in front of the library, and there is no prior indication to the viewer as to why he would know this.


Lastly, I really loved the "own the source" sequence at the start. Completely original and a really nice touch! I love stuff like that; it puts a personal twist on the fanedit experience.

All in all, very enjoyable, and definitely recommended to those that are either allergic to musicals or are merely curious as to how La La Land would function in this format.