Summary
The movie moonlight is about a black boy growing up and figuring out his identity and life within his area he is living in. he goes through heart ships, struggles, and even some deaths. While this happens, he must figure out what point of life he is in and becomes "stronger" as time goes on, leaving his comfort zone.
Film Analysis
The Narrative structure was able to help me figure out more of Chiron's character. Since the movie is mostly about him, the set up from the chapters to even the days passing or the cuts in between that showed the mother yelling all let me know that he was growing up and becoming someone new. With each chapter you can really see the change in how he acts, even if it is subtle. And you can also see how the side characters evolve with him, like his mom and friend Kevin. They all change with him, the mom getting worse with her drug addiction and Kevin getting better in life despite the mishap with his teenage years of false masculinity. A few of the less important characters like the kids also have some change, especially with Terrell, but the main plot point is about a little turning into Chiron and then Black.
For a Mise-en-Scène, I am specifically going to talk about two scenes here. One being where the mother, Paula is yelling with the harsh neon pink light, and the other being the ending scene where Little looks back at the audience while on the beach. For the first scene, the first time this scene is presented, she is yelling with this peaceful like music playing over. You can see the anger in her face, you can tell she is shouting, and the neon pink is raging so bad that it seems like a warning sign. The reason I chose this scene is because all of what I just said gives you an uneasy feeling, especially since it is also hard to make out what she is even saying. And the music almost gives a false sense of security, like trying to block out your parents arguing with headphones. As for the second scene I had mentioned with Little looking back at the audience, the way this scene is set up is just very aesthetically pleasing. The blue lighting, the subtle ocean waves and blurred background, the look of Littles lost eyes. With this scene being right after the intimate moment between Black and Kevin holding each other, it makes it seem like Black was brought back to when he was little and within the calm environment of the ocean. I also say this since most of Chiron's best moments happened on the beach, so it is like Kevin's comfort is bringing him back to the beach, where he feels secure and calm. Very clever.
The cinematography in this movie was very apparent. It felt like every scene in this movie had some sort of lighting or color-coded scenes, or even the camera moving in a certain way based on a certain scene. some scenes that stuck out to me the most are the scenes where Little is running, or the cameras on him. The camera seems a lot more unsteady and handheld, while if it was on Juan or Kevin, the camera stayed a lot steadier. Speaking of Juan, another scene is when he is driving in his nice car, and the camera spins around him, giving you a full view of everything and the scenery of where he is in. And two last scenes with good camera movement is the scene where Juan is teaching Little to swim, and the other being where Little is playing with the other boys. You are so up close and personal with the scenes to the point you are either mingled in between the boys, or literally underwater with Little and Juan. The footage just seems so raw and authentic, and honestly, I could go on all day about the camera angles they choose, but these are the main highlights I enjoyed.
The editing was not a core part I noticed in the movie, besides some subtle editing like before with the music over Paula or even when Black was on the phone with his mom. But instead of you actively seeing him on the call, you get this mini montage of him doing stuff while you hear the call or voicemail that the mother had sent. Another editing detail could also be the chapters to give a clear idea of the pacing and time period the audience is falling. It is subtle in my opinion but adds the final touches to the movie.
The sound design seemed like an important aspect of this movie. In the movie, there seems to be this constant background noise of waves, indicating the beach which is a core symbol of this movie. The music they use for certain scenes also indicates what era it is. The music that is played in the car for both Juan and Blacks scenes lets you know not only that it was the 90s, but also that they were in Miami. And I keep going back to the scene of the mother screaming, but I feel as if it is also a core part of the sound design, like I stated before about the peaceful music. But there's a few other scenes where they play peaceful music, even if it's just a transition, and I honestly feel like this peaceful music that's been sprinkled around in the movie is not only just background music to add, but also giving that false sense of security again, or even could be Chiron trying to find peace in the little moments he has.
As for the performance, the casting for this movie was beyond beautiful. I personally do not watch a lot of movies, but I have NEVER seen a child actor be this elaborate or articulated with how they act. Little played his part perfectly, from the silent treatment, his quietness when formulating words, his anger and timidness. I really enjoyed the actor in Little, and I am glad they chose him. The other actors were amazed as well, but I cannot harp on the actors or Chiron enough. The older actors did so well at playing his part and portraying Chiron the way he was played as Little from the ground up. Even Blacks actor kept the same mannerisms that Little had, and I just cannot get over how well they all played this character. The other actors like Paula were fairly good too, I think the actor did an excellent job of playing a crack addict and someone who is slowly spiraling, from the actions and even to her looks. Those two actors seemed the most authentic and important to me.
Reflection
The scene that had stood out to me the most was, as I pointed out a lot, the mom screaming. But another scene was also the ending scene with Little looking back at us. All for the same reasons I had explained during my analysis, and the overall dynamic and aesthetic of these scenes. I feel as if the cinematic elements made me feel closer to this movie. It's not a lot that I feel connected to a movie or genuinely sucked into it, but what really got me was the scene of Little swimming It was the way the camera was so intimate with Juan and Little, the way the waves hit the camera, and how the camera ducked under the water occasionally. I had a similar learning experience, so after that scene I was hooked. And the way it was portrayed was similar to my own. The filmmaker, well, I think they wanted us to just look at the bigger picture to put it in simpler words. Let us see new perspectives and get a different view on these types of people, proving that stereotypes were nothing BUT stereotypes that us as people either go against or prove as true.
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