Moonlight
Juan: "At some point, you gotta decide for yourself
who you're going to be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you."
"Moonlight" is directed by Barry
Jenkins ("Medicine for Melancholy") and stars Alex R. Hibbert as
Little, Jaden Piner (9), Ashton Sanders as Chiron, Jharrel Jerome as Kevin
(16), Trevante Rhodes as Black, André Holland as Kevin, Mahershala Ali as Juan,
Janelle Monáe as Teresa, and Naomie Harris as Paula.
The three stages of a boy named Chiron are
shown throughout major points of his life where he discovers more about his
sexuality and love. With no father figure, his drug-addicted mom yelling
homosexual slurs to him, and him being bullied, Chiron has a tough time admitting
his true feelings for his longtime friend. It's coming-out-of-the-closet story filled
with love and heartbreak. You will feel the feels.
Wow! This fall has made up for the s**t
pile of movies that we got over the summer. Many of them have been huge disappointments.
"Moonlight" alone probably has made up for like half of the summer
movie disasters. I've heard the buzz about this movie ever since it premiered
at the various film festivals it was shown at. Undoubtedly, I was excited to
see it. The finished product knocked my heart around a good amount of times and
I now see why the buzz was so good. Let me tell you now that "Moonlight"
is going to appear on my top 10 of the year list. What surprised me the most is
how the storytelling worked to its advantage. This movie is told in three
different parts showing Chiron's understanding of his homosexuality. It's a big
risk for a film to use that technique of storytelling since there are gaps of
time that could potentially contain something of importance. At times, we, as
an audience, are just expected to know what happened during that time or the
plot keeps moving forward with exposition scenes. This contains none of that.
Chiron's experiences on screen are when he is a little kid, a teenager, and an
adult. There are big time gaps and it still feels like the same Chiron as an
adult is the same as him being a kid. The actors, by the way, are unbelievably
talented. "Moonlight" is comprised of an all black and talented cast.
It's a film that I didn't expect to have one race surrounding a boy that feels
through his sexuality like this. The thing is, I saw this as a human film.
People in urban neighborhoods discover themselves and no film has truly
captured it as well as "Moonlight" has.
Great performance all around, but the three who play Chiron are the standouts.
The music, the cinematography,
the direction, and all the other technicalities that make a movie pop are all
so perfect in "Moonlight". I can't think of one mistake that
"Moonlight" makes. It's a beautiful film with beautiful performance
and a beautiful screenplay. I can't say anything more than, "Go watch this
movie." This is, without a doubt, going to garner an nomination for best picture.
I have no gripes with this "Moonlight" so I'm going to end my review
here because there isn't anything more I ought to talk about without spoiling
or giving away an experience that deserves to be felt by everybody.
"Moonlight" is a modern masterpiece.
5/5
PRO
- Fluid movement of Chiron's experiences works perfectly
- A beautiful and human love story; it isn't told enough in film
- Performances
- Effective use of music, directing, writing, and cinematography
CON
- None
"Moonlight" is rated R for some sexuality, drug
use, brief violence and language throughout
Click here to watch the
trailer
"Moonlight" is in select theaters now
No comments:
Post a Comment