‘Moonlight’ is masterful restrained work
Print Edition
“moonlight” is as wistful a film as its title might suggest. Director Barry Jenkins, in only his second feature, has created a singularly powerful and masterfully restrained work of art about a young man’s coming of age in South Florida told in three different stages — child, teenager and young adult.
This is no “Boyhood,” however. There are three actors portraying Chiron, and although it takes a bit of imagination to accept the three as the same person, “Moonlight” feels somehow even more poignant than that 12-year experiment.
That’s no small feat, and perhaps that’s because of the power of the subject and its exploration of the gayness of an African American man. But Jenkins has also accomplished something truly extraordinary in that “Moonlight” feels as real and raw and vague and specific as a memory. That this all coalesces into a coherent and impactful story is a testament to his singular talent — not to mention how wildly different it is from his debut, “Medicine for Melancholy.”
Jenkins adapted “Moonlight” from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.” The subject, Chiron (played first by the promising newcomer Alex Hibbert) is introduced as a wisp of a boy in a rough, sunny neighborhood. He’s being chased by some kids when he finds refuge in a blighted apartment.
An adult on the streets notices the scene and comes to Chiron’s aid, coaxing him out of hiding and back into the world.
Something is not right with this quiet little boy and this man, Juan (a powerful standout Mahershala Ali), and his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae) are generous and well off enough to help. We soon find out that Chiron is indeed from an unstable home. His mother, Paula (Naomie Harris, showing grit and substance) is fiercely protective of her little boy when she’s alert, but she’s also a full blown addict. It’s a condition that only worsens with time.
Thus, Chiron bumbles back and forth between the nurturing hominess of basic strangers, the coldness of school and the ugliness of his mother’s place. There’s also the uncomfortable truth that Paula buys her drugs from Juan’s men. His savoir is the reason he needs saving.
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