by Frank Calvillo
If there is one aspect of the poignant and highly involving indie Moonlight which may turn some people off, it’s the fact that so many years are covered in such a short amount of screen time, covering a span of at least two decades. Certain audiences may feel the film plays out as too sporadic and quick to be a genuine portrait of someone’s life. However, while Moonlight is about a life for sure, it’s more about the small and deceptively fundamental moments that make up that life, rather than a cataloging of specific monumental events.
Divided into three chapters (“Little,” “Chiron,” and “Black”), each one signifying a different stage in the life of its central character, Moonlight is the story of a young African-American boy living in Florida raised by his single mother Paula (Naomie Harris). With appearances from an unexpected mentor/father figure in the form of drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) and his loving girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae), the character (played in each chapter by Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes, respectively) is thoughtfully and poetically explored.
It’s hard not to applaud Moonlight for being a stark and informative look into the social experience of what being a part a drug and crime-filled environment is like. Shot in real locations with cinematography which highlights both rawness and undeniable beauty, Moonlight shoots its audience straight into fly-on-the-wall territory for a look into a world which many may not be well-versed in, but which feels so utterly real. Beyond just the look and feel of the film, Moonlight is a deeply personal inside look at what it means to exist in that world; the survival techniques and the ways of coping with the hazards that exist on the streets, and even in one’s own home. Writer/director Barry Jenkins’s script wisely also manages to look beyond the roughness of the ghetto and search for the soulfulness behind the stereotypes attached to his characters, exploring the ideologies they have adapted in spite of and/or because of that world. The result is true gritty realism mixed with sheer poetry.
Moonlight is ostensibly a film about identity and how it affects the individual. We watch our central character forego his own identity as he adapts a variety of methods in order to blend in and survive in the rough world he lives in. At times he is quiet and unassuming, coming across as invisible to those around him. Eventually he adopts the persona his world dictates he should have, if for no other reason than to use it as armor when he is forced to engage with the outside world. While finding and claiming your own identity in spite of the world around you should be a natural instinct, Moonlight shows the fear and apprehension attached to such a notion. The question of identity extends to those surrounding our character as Moonlight wonderfully shows the difference between those who know what they are and those who are pretending to not be who they really are. While certainly unexpected, Moonlight is one of the best cinematic examples of a film dealing with recognizing one’s own self and having the courage to embrace what you want from life.
Never before in films has a trio of actors been so in synch with playing the same character. The act of having just two actors play the same role in and of itself is always dicey, but here, Hibbert, Sanders, and Rhodes are all so in tune with the soul of the person they’re collectively playing. They each perceptively recognize his feeling of isolation, pain, and need to find his place in the life, despite the world he was born into. Aiding them is some of the best supporting work of the year from Ali, Monae, and especially Harris, who deserves major awards attention for her devastatingly harrowing performance.
Needless to say, the current social climate has proven to be a sadly fitting time for Moonlight to come out considering all the tension and upheaval permeating throughout the country right now. Thankfully, the film manages to avoid the political at every turn and goes for the personal and human instead. The final moments of Moonlight’s third chapter had me feeling a tad uneasy for a time with regard to what our character was thinking and the emotional place he was entering. While the film’s ending could have gone a certain way, it wisely decided to forego any form of stereotype, opting instead for the kind of true beauty that the film will surely be remembered for in the future.
