2016 (UK: 2017) Dir: Barry Jenkins
I first saw MOONLIGHT a month ago, on the back of a lot of incredible praise. I was obviously very excited to see it, especially since people were putting it above LA LA LAND, which I had already seen and adored. And to be honest, I didn’t get it. I enjoyed it well enough, on a visual level it’s just lovely, the use of colour and light is exquisite, but I missed that feeling of being blown away that others had described.
So the other night, before the now famous envelope incident, I gave it another go, and I have to say it finally clicked. It might be because MOONLIGHT is so delicate, so subtle and light of touch that my daft mind just didn’t catch all of its beauty first time round. Its very well directed, but not flashy or bombastic, it opens with a great, circling long take, but it was so well done I barely noticed. It’s really quite a unique film, one of those that are hard to categorise, but the experience is almost like watching a collection of memories through someone else’s eyes.
On second viewing, this film was just wonderful. Powerful and brutal, yet so gentle and graceful with its characters, each one of the all black cast giving an absolute standout performance, especially Mahershala Ali as Juan, a drug dealer who comes to act as sort of a surrogate father to Chiron, who will then model himself after Juan in later life.
The film is as beautiful as its story, bathed in rich purples and blues, it’s use of light in the night time shots especially, are some of the most gorgeous you’ll see all year. I loved the use of a shallow depth of field as the camera follows Chiron around, adding to the feeling of trying to get inside his head, his thoughts and feelings. Its a fantastic, beautiful film and fully deserving of Best Picture. If you haven’t seen it, definitely make time to do so, or if you had seen it and weren’t blown away, try a second viewing. Its a quiet, special little film.
that lego guy 