He said “I started over, built myself hard”
Compared with the label of "same sex", I think that growth is the theme of this film. Choosing to sink in the eyes of others, or constantly chasing the light under the moonlight, this is the point of this film.
As soon as Chiron appeared, he was a taciturn boy who was as hard as a stone. He was chased, spurned and even beaten, his classmates, and his mother too. So one day, he sat next to Juan's desk and asked, "What is a pervert? How do I know if I am?" Juan hesitated at first and didn't know what to say, and finally he replied, "You will naturally know. ."
A few years ago, there was a best-selling book called: Whose youth is not confused. I haven't read the book, but the name is excellent. When we are young, we always don't know who we are and what path we should take. Sometimes we yearn for the role of a guide around us, like Zarathustra or Philemon. They are full of life wisdom and can give timely guidance and help us find the direction of life. But the reality is often disappointing. We often can only understand ourselves through the evaluations of the people around us. However, some established prejudices can cause us pain. Many times this pain is indescribable, and sometimes it even makes us suffer. We think we are wrong.
But this is not the case. A screenwriter said in his acceptance speech the year before last: "When you feel that you are out of tune with your surroundings, please don't give up being yourself, because you choose a path that few people take."
No, this is not life.
It's a choice, it's a life that chooses to be imprisoned by the eyes of others.
As Sartre said: "Others are hell". Confined to the opinions and opinions of others, he eventually loses his will and leaves everyone behind.
Chiron is like this, small and thin, and has always been mocked as gay. He loved being with Juan and Teresa, who gave him parental care. However, just when Chiron was almost used to all this, his mother said to him in a drowsy after a drug addiction: "You have my blood on your body, I am your mother, they are nothing. "
At the same time, Kevin, who always understood and supported him, could only throw a fist at him under the instigation of the local snake.
He suddenly understood that if he didn't become stronger and get rid of this predicament, he would sink into it forever.
So in the third chapter of the movie Black, he suddenly appeared in a new form, and he went behind Juan. Here, he gradually reconciles with his mother and sees Kevin goodbye.
When he saw Kevin again, Kevin said to him:
"You've changed a lot."
"I'm still me."
The part where Juan taught Chiron to swim is very symbolic. Before swimming, they had a conversation, which was a point.
Keep chasing the light in the dark, you also have the right to choose your own life.
Black and blue reminds me of The Bluest Eye I read before. The story is also about a little black girl who wants to be loved. One day she saw a doll in a shop, it was a white doll. The doll's blue eyes immediately captured her heart, and she firmly believed that if she had those blue eyes, she would become the center of the world and be loved by everyone.
Like this little girl, Chiron wanted to dye herself blue in the bathtub when she got home.
However, Juan taught him to swim in the end, and in that segment, Juan showed his image as a guide and father, and invisibly planted a seed in Chiron's heart.
In the end, the seeds took root, and Chiron found his own life.
But the sobering part of the film doesn’t stop there, as Chiron chooses to sell drugs like Juan for a living, albeit as a relative powerhouse in the world around him. But still can't get rid of that chaotic and dark world completely, just like the black boy only turns blue under the moonlight.
As we often discuss, do we really have free will? Our preferences and choices are the products of the environment around us. Even if we choose to resist and break free, we are still opposed to that environment. We can never escape the influence of that environment, so we live in its shadow forever. Just like Chiron no matter what he chooses, the upper limit is still a drug dealer with Juan as an example.
In addition, this film consists of many blank shots, and some small objects are well connected to the plot while leaving the blank, such as the small bell on the door when Chiron and Kevin leave the restaurant, etc. In addition, there are many symmetrical structures in the film, such as Chiron lifting his head from the ice sink twice, mother hysterical twice, etc.
In terms of soundtrack, the film is relatively modest. Among them, the emotional music made with instrumental music is very present. Because the whole film is relatively restrained in terms of emotional expression, therefore, the music plays a very good role in the inner activities of the characters. For example, in the second chapter Chiron decides to take revenge on the local snake, the noise of a piece of music has a strong sense of presence, which almost affects people's mood, which just shows the tension of Chiron's inner activities and emotions, and in the third chapter Chiron parks in Kevin The music in the section overlooking the beach shows some complicated feelings in his nostalgia.
All in all, this movie has the characteristics of a great art film, and it will be a bit boring overall. But the content of the film itself is profound at the same time expressive and beautiful.
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