Starring: Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monae, Andre Holland
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 111 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2017
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The preview was in the morning and, that afternoon, news that Moonlight had won the Golden Globe for Best film, Drama. It had some strong competition but it is a compelling film.
Much of the setting is familiar to moviegoers, especially the films from the 1990s showing poverty, drug deals, the experience of racism, life in the hood. While this is the setting for Moonlight, the audience is invited to look at situations, characters and issues from a different, more humane, perspective.
This is the story of Chiron, told in three chapters, with three different actors taking the role of the boy (Alex R. Herbert), the teenager (Ashton Sanders) , the man (Travante Rhodes) – one difficulty which can be accepted being that the actor portraying the teenager seems more slight physically than expected and not the kind of frame that could bulk up to the adult Chiron. There are three chapters: Little which is the nickname for the boy, Chiron which is his actual name, Black which is the nickname given to him by his friend, Kevin.
The city is Miami, some ventures into the centre of the city downtown but by and large life in the suburbs, the African-American suburbs (the only white characters in the film seen at the end in the diner where Kevin works as chef).
Chiron is a quiet boy, particularly reticent, even speaking few words when he is encouraged. He is bullied by the boys at school, chased, stones thrown at windows… He lives with his mother, Paula, a persuasive Naomie Harris, who is a drug addict and treats her son angrily, not showing any affection.
One of the best things that happens to Chiron is that Juan, a drug dealer, finds him in an abandoned house and befriends him, taking him home, Juan’s girlfriend, Teresa, able to coax him to speak. Juan, a very sympathetic Mahershala Ali, becomes the father Chiron never had, affectionate, interested, with a wonderful scene where he enables Chiron to trust him and to learn to float and to swim.
It is Juan who explains the title: Juan is from Cuba where he was told that black skin in the moonlight looks blue.
One of the aspects of the bullies is that they call the little boy faggot.
The teenage Chiron goes to school and the bullying continues, brutally physical at times, even getting Kevin to punch his friend. Chiron’s mother is still the same, and Teresa is the continued support. Chiron’s reticence is still characteristic and his wondering about his identity, his sexuality – dramatised very quietly by a scene with Kevin on the beach.
The third part of the film takes place 10 years later, Chiron having been in prison, bulked up, and really assuming the character and role of Juan. The main drama of this section includes a visit to his mother in rehab and some kind of reconciliation and a tear. But, it is also the friendship with Kevin, a phone call, a visit, a meal, the lyrics of a song, remembrance of the past – and the openness for a future.
Director Barry Jenkins has created a film that is always interesting, that is very moving, that has touches of poetry, and a humanity that we may not have been expecting.
12 Random Films…
