Moonlight (2016)

This is perhaps one of the greatest pieces of filmmaking that I have seen in a very long time. Everything about this movie is outstanding and beautiful. Barry Jenkins does such a great job of portraying how our experiences, both the good and the bad, truly shape who we are as human beings. I loved the soundtrack and the cinematography especially. This film is simply an engaging masterpiece that definitely was not what I was expecting.Moonlight depicts three important stages in the life of the protagonist, Chiron. The film begins by showing the first chapter in Chiron's life, titled "Little." The audience sees that Chiron is a quiet and reserved character who is often tormented by his peers. He is eventually taken in by Juan, a drug dealer, and his girlfriend, Teresa. It is also revealed that Chiron's mother is a crack addict who receives her drugs from Juan. In this chapter, Chiron meets Kevin, who introduces Chiron to the realities of boyhood. The second chapter, titled "Chiron," focuses on Chiron during his adolescence. Chiron is still tormented by bullies and his mother has slipped further into addiction. However, Chiron reunites with Kevin and the two smoke a blunt on the beach (among other things). The next day, Kevin is pressured by a bully into fighting Chiron and this results in Chiron retaliating by beating the bully with a chair. Chiron is arrested and moves to Atlanta with his mother. The third and final chapter, titled "Black," focuses on Chiron's adulthood. It is shown that Chiron has become a muscular drug dealer who resembles Juan. His mother, on the other hand, has been rehabilitated and wishes that Chiron would abandon the criminal life. Chiron and Kevin meet again at the restaurant where Kevin works. They discuss how they each progressed in life and drive to Kevin's. Once there, Chiron reveals that Kevin is the only person to ever touch him sexually. The two then embrace each other and the film concludes with a shot of black children playing under the moonlight.There is deep internal conflict with the character of Chiron. Throughout the film he is depicted struggling with his sexuality and masculinity. We see that Chiron copes with these internal struggles by being a quiet and reserved individual. Chiron's questioning of his sexuality is only further complicated by his relationship with Kevin. Chiron internalizes a lot of the personal traumas that he undergoes and this creates the character that the audience sees in the final chapter of the movie, a hardened and physically muscular individual who survives by intimidating those around him.The theme of bullying is present throughout a majority of the film. The audience sees that Chiron has dealt with bullies since childhood and we see the effect that this has on his character. There is also a complicated conflict that ensues between Kevin and Chiron, both characters are eager to validate their masculinity and this results in them being pitted against each other.While this film doesn't make a point of directly responding to social issues, Jenkins does address issues of poverty, drug abuse and homophobia through his characters. We see that a lot of what drives the conflict in this film are issues that are caused by society. Juan's desperation for financial security leads to him unknowingly supporting Chiron's mother's crack addiction. Traditional society's emphasis on hyper masculinity results in the teenage males engaging violence simply for the sake of validation. Another aspect of this film that I enjoyed was the visual symbolism. Moonlight places heavy emphasis on the color blue throughout the film, and this results in some memorably dope sequences that left me mesmerized. I also love how the film foreshadows the fight that is to take place between Chiron and Kevin by having the two playfully wrestle each other as children.At its core, Moonlight is a film that addresses a lot of the issues that afflict the Black community, but it does so through the unique perspective of a black male questioning his sexuality. This movie shows the way that hyper masculinity can detrimentally affect young people and how love can rectify this.

Wanted to see as many 2016 films as possible, especially those that won or were nominated for the big awards. Took me a while to see 'Moonlight', with the controversy it garnered when it was announced for the Best Picture Oscar and the amount of hate it's got here part of me was wary.Finally getting round to seeing 'Moonlight', it turned out that it was more than well worth the while and that the wariness was not needed. 'Moonlight' is not a perfect film and may not have been my personal pick for the Best Picture award (for me that was 'La La Land' though that is not a popular opinion it seems). Truly admired what it set out to do and found it a brave and powerful film, despite what the detractors say there is far more to 'Moonlight's' appeal than politics, sexuality and race (clearly trying to find conspiracy theories and reasons for why a film they dislike is loved by others, without taking into account that the film simply just connected to and resonated with those who liked it).'Moonlight' does end on an anti-climactic note, some of the last act is a bit rushed. A longer length would have helped as a result, it also would have helped make a couple of events in the first act a little clearer and not so choppy. It may not say much new, despite the ground-breaking concept on paper with the exploration of lives rarely seen on film, and doesn't always have subtlety. Then again it is tackling far from subtle themes and a heavy subject, so that sort of was going to be inevitable. However, 'Moonlight' is an exceptionally well made film. The cinematography and editing are some of the most eye-pleasing and best of that year, and can't find anything to fault the expertly handled direction. The music is cleverly mixed and has haunting power and fluidity. Regarding the writing, it is not perfect, at times as said a little heavy-handed and vague in parts, but it is thought-provoking and handles very ambitious, relevant, important themes with power, truth and (mostly) delicacy. The story makes the most of the three act structure, it's handled simply but not simplistically and also handled cleverly and with passion, honesty and intelligence. Found myself relating quite a lot to and being moved significantly by the story and found the film handled a heavy and sensitive subject matter with a lot of relevance and importance today more than admirably. Can't fault the acting, doing wonders with compellingly real characters and strongly defined character relationships (especially the central one). Much has been made of Maharshala Ali and Naomie Harris and deservedly with two of the best performances that year, Ali especially is extraordinary. It is easy though to overlook Alex R. Hibbert, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders and one shouldn't, as they are just as worthy (particularly Sanders). Overall, didn't completely blow me away but very well done and with a lot to admire. 8/10 Bethany Cox

First time I watched this movie I didn't know what to expect. I really liked the cinematography and music from the start. Actors were also good. This movie did a great job in all those aspects. I didn't know anything about the plot prior and was pretty surprised about him being gay. I just wasn't expecting the movie to go there. Anyways it came as a surprise and I think I didn't enjoy the movie as much because it came about kind of randomly. I ended up watching the movie again later on and this time I really enjoyed it. I noticed all the production a lot more and really loved it. I could also understand his story and struggle a lot more knowing that he was fighting with this from the beginning of the movie. Anyways, the whole production was just beautiful. I understand why this movie did so well. It has nothing to do with them doing something edgy by casting a black gay dude. The whole production was amazing and that's why this movie deserves the awards it got.

In three stages of life - youth, adolescence, and young adulthood - the life story of Chiron is told. Chiron is an African-American who grows up in a poor, black community in Miami and later moves to Atlanta. His early life is plagued by bullies and a difficult home life as his single mother is very troubled. During these bad times, he is consoled by surrogate parents that he visits occasionally and his friend Kevin with whom he shares a sexual attraction in the teen years.The scenes of bullying are so accurate that they are sometimes difficult to endure. They include the "blame the victim" mindset that too often accompanies bullying. Luckily, there is relief in lighter scenes such as when Chiron visits his surrogate parents where a bond is clearly growing.There is a brilliant scene at the end when the adult versions of Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) and Kevin (André Holland) are reunited. The mutual sexual tension between the actors under Jenkins' guided hand create a very unique scenario leaving the viewer on edge, wondering what will happen next. Will they actually connect? (It's also fascinating how they resemble the pair in "Brokeback Mountain" where one partner is more outgoing while the other is more reserved and afraid due to his difficult past. The same match also occurred in "Being 17".)This perfect scene is unfortunately cut too short. If it had continued at the same pace and the viewer saw the men connect, I would have given this film as high a rating as most others are giving it. It's hard to guess why Jenkins (also the film's writer based on a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney) made this choice. It may be the general sexist attitude among filmmakers regarding love scenes between same-sex couples. When such scenes are between two women, their naked bodies are seen flailing across the screen for several minutes but this is rarely, if ever, the case when the bond is between two men. To use the clichéd excuse of "leaving the rest to the viewer's imagination" is a cowardly cop-out. Another reason an extended love scene would have worked: the love would have helped balance the many hardships exposed in the beginning. This criticism is not so much against "Moonlight" but against the film industry in general. In fairness, "Moonlight" is more courageous than most films.There is much else to praise in "Moonlight". In addition to the great performances by Rhodes and Holland (who also create great chemistry together), there are also praiseworthy performances by Naomie Harris as Chiron's mother (her final scene is a standout) and Mahareshala Ali as Chiron's surrogate father in the film's beginning. Credit must also be given to the young actors who played the younger versions of both Chiron (Alex Hibbert and Ashton Sanders) and Kevin (Jaden Piner and Jharrel Jerome). Much discussion has occurred lately regarding the under-utilization of the very talented pool of black actors. When movies like this one use such talent so generously, all moviegoers benefit.