Movie Review: Moonlight (2016)    In the Oscar Nominated film, we are taken through a three part sto

Movie Review: Moonlight (2016)    In the Oscar Nominated film, we are taken through a three part story of Chiron, a young boy growing up in Miami.  This film beautifully captures the harsh reality of growing up in the 1980s as a minority in the United States.  Chiron’s story is filled with struggles centered around his family, financial security, and sexuality.  Be warned, though, tissues are essential when watching (spoilers to follow).      Growing up in a low income area of Miami, there was an influx of drug trafficking.  Earlier on in the film, Chiron was running from bullies at his school and found a safe-haven in an abandoned house.  Minutes later, he comes face to face with Blue, a drug dealer in the neighborhood.  Chiron and Blue’s connection was almost ‘father-son’ like, something that Chiron never had considering his dad was not in the picture and his mom was an addict that could never be there for him.        One interesting observation I made from the film was that Chiron’s character never had a long narrative that described what was happening, or how he was feeling, in a particular scene.  In fact, his character says a total of 10 lines throughout the film. Yet the visuals of his body language and facial expression were so powerful that the viewer could almost internalize what he was feeling. Something as simple as his eye contact he had with his lover, or even the way he looked at his mother when she was in rehab, was all I needed to see in order to understand his thought process.  This is what made this movie so moving.      The movie is split into three parts: childhood, high-school years, and adulthood.  When he was at the youngest age, his mother was never emotionally or physically there for him.  She was either yelling at him, sleeping with other men, or stealing money from him to buy drugs.  Chiron also had trouble fitting in with kids his age, especially in high school, but he develops a strong friendship one of the boys in his school.       He partakes in more “feminine” activities such as dancing, and because of this, the younger boys didn’t want to play sports with him because they saw him as “weak”.  This stereotype shaped his high-school experience, where he ends up being teased and beaten daily by other boys in his grade that were more “masculine”.  There are some violent scenes, ones where I had to shut my eyes in pain, because I couldn’t bear to see him get hurt.      His one friendship with a boy from his childhood years remains.  One night, he travelled by subway out to the beach in order to avoid his mother at home.  When he arrives, his friend at school ends up running into him, and they smoke together.  During this scene they hook-up.      His father mentor, Blue, also passes away, but he continues to see the girlfriend of Blue, since she is more of a ‘motherly’ figure.  Eventually, he leaves after graduation, never goes to college, and pursues the dangerous drug lifestyle that his fatherly figure––Blue––had.   One night, he receives a phone call from the boy he had been involved with in high school.  Unfortunately, he was skeptical to go and visit him because  he day after they were on the beach, the school bullies had “forced” Chiron’s crush to beat up Chiron. This fight caused an emotional tear in their relationship.   This fight acted as a catalyst for Chiron’s new behavior.  He forced himself to appear more masculine as well as making an effort to hide his sexuality.    Blue Moonlight is a captivating film that draws viewers in with the meticulous details of it’s cinematography.  It touches on difficult situations of human existence, such as sexuality, economic status, and family issues.  It is more than just a story about Chiron, but rather a tribute to those who have managed to persevere through similar obstacles.  Article by Zoë Photo by IMBD -- source link

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