Moonlight (2016)
One standout aspect of this film is that it dares to put a shy person of very few words, one who still hasn't really got in touch with himself at the center stage. The film basically covers three chapters of his life - Little (age 9), Chiron (age 16) and Black (Adult). In the first two chapters, Chiron passively responds to bullying both at school and at home, trying to avoid it rather than standing up against it. Even though he hardens up in life by the third chapter, I liked how they allowed him to remain a man of few words till the very end - He is still avoiding things; He is still hesitant and takes a long time to dig out words from within. You don't get to see a good portrayal of a shy person that often. The photography is also excellent, creating a great atmosphere.
But, these are the only parts of the film I liked. Even though the acting is generally good, I didn't see anything special about Mahershala Ali's performance (compared to what he has already done in 'Luke Cage' or 'House of Cards'). The pacing is slow, but that is not an issue at all since I am used to kilometer long walks without anything else accompanying thanks to Bela Tarr's films. It is not the lack of understanding of a different culture either because I was fine with "The Wire" and "Luke Cage". The problem I have with "Moonlight" is that the 'story' itself is a disjointed series of incidents. Between them, there are a lot of gaps which we need to fill ourselves. As a result, I could 'understand' but still not emotionally connect with the characters. I liked the character of Teresa (Janelle Mone), but you don't get to know her at all besides her handful of interactions with Chiron. In fact, you don't get to know any of the characters that well besides Chiron and his mother (and a little bit of Kevin). That is a good choice to make if you want the focus to remain on a handful of characters, but it also feels a bit hollow. 'Blue is the warmest color' had all these 'issues' as well - slow pacing, gaps in the timeline between scenes, not focusing on side characters - but it was a very involving film. Even setting aside all other aspects, 'Moonlight' is not even the best 'gay film' I've watched (though I must clarify that it is only a minor part of 'Moonlight'). Pedro Almodovar's 'Bad Education' went much further, making me uncomfortable enough to watch some scenes with half an eye closed, but had a very interesting 'package' of murder mystery to deliver it in. Anyway I see it, 'Moonlight' is a fairly good film, but it isn't all that great (at least to me).
