"Moonlight" Still as Poignant as I Remember

 

    I write this review as someone whose watched this film before, and as someone who frankly still feels a little unequipped to be properly talking about this film, giving it the grace I should have. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think it's perfect, but honestly with a film like this it's kind of hard for me to rank it on the usual scale of enjoyability I use for films. It's hard for me to slot this film into my rankings because frankly it's a hard film to watch. It's harrowing, it's devastating, it does it's job well, and leaves you just kind of uncomfortable by the end. So let's talk about it.

    To me, this is a film about environment, whether it be as Little, Chiron, or Black, Chiron is struggling to figure out who he is, and is morphing before the viewers eyes. Like Juan said, in the moonlight he isn't just defined by who he is on the outside, or who other people think, he can become something completely different, and that's something he struggles with. In this sense, I have to admit I think Mahershala Ali did a phenomenal job in this film. Trying to grapple with the fact that Juan not only enables the destructive forces in Chiron's life, while also trying to be a steadying one at the same time. Only for Chiron to end up in the same lifestyle he had, really speaks volumes to how little agency it feels like Chiron has at the times. 

    For so much of the film, Chiron feels like the sand on the beach, constantly being washed pushed back and forth by the waves of life, having his emotions be washed away in the sand like his first time with Kevin. Even then it's not like you ever really see it all come to fruition, this film doesn't end with Chiron crying his eyes out at the beach, proudly declaring that he's free to be himself and no longer wants to be a drug dealer. You just see a grown man crying, whose become empty from a life that's hollowed out everything he was all for being who he was.

    Of course, that's not to say I had gripes with the film. Honestly, I was surprised at this film being almost two hours long, in my first rewatch I could have sworn that this film was only like an hour and a half long, and now, after having watched it again, it does kind of feel like it drags on a bit at times. I found it surprising that Black was actually the longest part of the film, because in my mind I remembered the three parts being about equal in length, and frankly it still roughly felt that way. That's not to say it was a dealbreaker for me, but I suppose the first two parts feel longer/more important because the ending is simply showing viewers what his life has culminated into. 

Final Score: 80/100

    God this movie really is a hard watch though, but I suppose that's part of what makes it good. Was this review even any good. I mostly waxed poetically about the film, because I just think this is one of those films where it shouldn't and doesn't need to be dissected into which of the three parts of Chiron's life was best, and what I thought could have been improved upon. What I'll remember is how sad the film, and the impact it left on me, so that's what my review should be. Do I think this should have won over La La Land? How would I know? They're just two dramatically different films, not only in content but in style too. So let's just appreciate Moonlight for what it is, an excellent example of storytelling.