Written by Barry Jenkins And Tarell Alvin McCraney
Directed by Barry Jenkins
Black (to Kevin): "You the only man that's ever touched me. You're the only one. I haven't really touched anyone since."
This month I've made the effort to watch a variety of LGBT cinema and with this, I had an Oscar movie I needed to catch up on. I can't believe it took me this long but I'm glad I'm caught up with this one.
Split into various chapters, this movie focused on Chiron (Alex Hibbert). He's a shy boy, bullied by his peers, given the nickname "Little" and caught between his drug addicted mother, Paula (Naomie Harris) and his father figure, Juan (Mahershala Ali). Then there's Kevin (Jaden Piner).
Early in this film, it's established that Chiron being bullied by his peers and a victim of his mother's ire stemmed from Chiron being gay. This became more apparent when we meet the teenage version of Chiron (Ashton Sanders) and his closeness to Kevin (Jharrel Jerome).
The bullying that Chiron suffered in his teenage years, mostly at the hands of the spiteful Terrel (Patrick Decile) escalated so badly that Chiron eventually lashed out. Chiron inflicted the same abuse on to his bully that they had done to him and it was a pretty justified. However it also might have changed Chiron for the worst.
By the time we get to the adult version of Chiron (Trevante Rhodes), he's going by "Black" and has become a more fearsome character. He's also become a drug dealer that hasn't been intimate with anyone in a long time while his mother has gotten clean.
The reunion between Chiron and Kevin (Andre Holland) certainly highlighted the contrasting lives they've lived. There's more contentment on Kevin's part but regret at what might have been had things been different between him and Chiron.
- Singer Janelle Monae appeared in the movie as Juan's girlfriend, Teresa. She's in the first two parts whereas Juan only appeared in the first part.
- The Chapters for the movie are Little, Chiron and Black.
- Standout music: Barbara Lewis's Hello Stranger.
- Chronology: Chiron's story is broken into his childhood, teenage and adult years in both Liberty City, Miami and Atlanta.
Moonlight is a beautiful, raw depiction of a man's struggle with his sexuality throughout three different time periods. Beautifully shot (especially the moonlight sequences), coupled with soulful performances, it's simply a gorgeous movie.
Rating: 8 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment