Directed by: Barry Jenkins
Screenplay by: Barry Jenkins
Story by: Tarell Alvin McCraney
A young, African-American, gay man deals with his dysfunctional home life and comes of age in Miami during the "War on Drugs" era. The story of his struggle to find himself is told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love while grappling with his own sexuality.
It took me so fucking long to finally manage to see this. It didn't come to the local theatre so I've been waiting for it to be on DVD. It's been clear from early on that this is a very important movie.
The first incredible thing I noticed about this movie is the cinematography. I've seen jokes on the internet like "I can't believe Moonlight invented cinematography", but I had to say that too while watching. The cinematographer of Moonlight uses both still, calm shots and really effective movements of the camera, which still are super smooth. The colours are incredible, and so is the lighting and the composition of pretty much every shot. This is how movies are meant to look. Moonlight really sets the bar high. I especially loved the swimming scene and how the camera was partially underwater, that always looks amazing.
Moonlight has the same challenge every drama movie has. The plot is something very ordinary, and there's no great adventure to keep the audience interested. Moonlight keeps the audience's attention by being such an unbelievably beautiful slice of life movie. It's beautiful, delicate and poetic while also showing the dark parts of Chiron's life. The balance is amazing. And while the movie can be brutal, it doesn't revel in it. This is exactly what drama should be like.
Writing in Moonlight is amazing. The dialogue is simple and easy to keep a track of, yet there are so many incredibly touching lines. Also Chiron as a character is interesting to follow. While the actors change, the character is still in there, while also growing up and changing. It clearly is one person's story instead of three characters who somehow feel like they could be the same person but are too distant from each other. One thing that slightly bothers me though is how the kids' dialogue doesn't feel like actual children talking. But children's dialogue usually is very hard to write so it actually sounds real.
Of course this movie has that feeling all Oscar winners have - it feels a bit too serious, a bit too important, a bit too artsy and a bit too hyped. but that's often not the movie itself, it's the Oscars. Moonlight definitely deserved the hype it got, it was a beautiful film, even if a bit ordinary. Maybe it's ordinary just in the right way - enough to be relatable, especially to gay black people, but not too ordinary so it's actually interesting.
Moonlight is an incredibly beautiful movie and I will admit, probably the best movies made in 2016. However I'm only giving it 9/10 because I did feel a bit bored during certain scenes, but of course it seems like the story style was a bit minimalistic on purpose - not a lot happened, but that's what growing up might feel like.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
9 / 10
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