Chazelle's debut feature is a charmingly small-scale one, following the eponymous Guy and Madeline in the aftermath of their breakup. Mixed perfectly with Hurwitz's scoring, the film comes to life in broad shifts of tonal brilliance, exemplified by exceptional scenes such as "Love in the Fall" and "Boy in the Park", where Chazelle shines as a director with a good sense of framing and purpose in his camerawork. Elsewhere, frequent long takes and close-ups build up a distinctly personal style which, accompanied by decent performances from Desiree Garcia and Jason Palmer, helps the audience understand the characters better. Chazelle uses the age-old trope of the two lovers temporarily separated to set-up and underline the film, filling it with seemingly unconnected glimpses of the lives of each one, but through cunning use of sound, thematically and tonally feels united and smoothly transitions these themes from scene to scene.
Despite this, it cannot be said to a good film, crippled as it is by bad storytelling. How did the initial breakup go? Did they part amicably? What did Elena do in the end? Initially, it seemed that it would be a story which focused mostly on character through close-up, personal dialogue and musical moments, except the characters never get their due diligence, and in the end, the emotions don't hit as hard as they should, because the characters have spent too long in an unclear storyline, which although fits the transitions of theme throughout the film, fails completely to stand on its own as a comprehensible story. The main story and much of the dialogue fails to engage the audience fully for the same reason, the lack of proper context in the story, which never fully appears.
At one point, I had thought that Madeline's job at the lobster diner was in NY, because of bad signposting of where the characters were. And Elena's subplot with the old man was definitely better off on the cutting room floor.
All that aside, there is a definite charm, style, and authenticity of storytelling through this thematically strong piece, which seems to waver between sticking to traditional styles and Chazelle's by-now characteristic musical flair. A little more flair throughout would've been appreciated, as would a story which would either be more focused or more complete.
Hurwitz's score throughout was thoroughly enjoyable, and bumps up the rating by a star. The pure charm and delight in the moments of musical flair are capsules of the same magic Chazelle unleashed in La La Land, and the amount of enjoyment I got out of that, and the clear potential which we have seen blossom, gives it another star.
On it's own merits, this is a 5. But to me, it goes to a 7.
If I had one gripe, it would be that Chazelle only showed us Guy and Madeline on a park bench once. Considering it was the title, and the location itself got two songs, I was hoping for more. It would've given a nice focal story point which was otherwise absent.
Despite this, it cannot be said to a good film, crippled as it is by bad storytelling. How did the initial breakup go? Did they part amicably? What did Elena do in the end? Initially, it seemed that it would be a story which focused mostly on character through close-up, personal dialogue and musical moments, except the characters never get their due diligence, and in the end, the emotions don't hit as hard as they should, because the characters have spent too long in an unclear storyline, which although fits the transitions of theme throughout the film, fails completely to stand on its own as a comprehensible story. The main story and much of the dialogue fails to engage the audience fully for the same reason, the lack of proper context in the story, which never fully appears.
At one point, I had thought that Madeline's job at the lobster diner was in NY, because of bad signposting of where the characters were. And Elena's subplot with the old man was definitely better off on the cutting room floor.
All that aside, there is a definite charm, style, and authenticity of storytelling through this thematically strong piece, which seems to waver between sticking to traditional styles and Chazelle's by-now characteristic musical flair. A little more flair throughout would've been appreciated, as would a story which would either be more focused or more complete.
Hurwitz's score throughout was thoroughly enjoyable, and bumps up the rating by a star. The pure charm and delight in the moments of musical flair are capsules of the same magic Chazelle unleashed in La La Land, and the amount of enjoyment I got out of that, and the clear potential which we have seen blossom, gives it another star.
On it's own merits, this is a 5. But to me, it goes to a 7.
If I had one gripe, it would be that Chazelle only showed us Guy and Madeline on a park bench once. Considering it was the title, and the location itself got two songs, I was hoping for more. It would've given a nice focal story point which was otherwise absent.