Every time I go to the cinema to watch those movies that are on the cusp of public opinion, I will have a very complicated and slightly excited mood in my heart, because in the next 120 minutes, the answer will be revealed, and who will stand in the final line is even more confusing. The future self is full of anticipation and curiosity. A few days ago, I watched the late Cannes Jury Prize film "Just the End of the World" in the cinema. A few days ago, I finally saw the "Moonlight Boy" at the Toronto International Film Festival in the cinema. It left a different impression and a deep impression.
Due to the introduction of the popular "Birth of a Nation" at the beginning of the year, this small group of flames that should have been popular in the awards season at the end of the year was extinguished by the scandal and public opinion. Brad Pitt PLAN B Company participated in the production of the film " "Moonlight Boy" immediately took over the topic of the black hit film, and received word-of-mouth praise at the North American Film Festival all the way, and it was added to the media field during the Toronto International Film Festival. A few days ago, the film also held its audience premiere in Toronto. There were a lot of exhibition stands and posters. Not only was it extravagant, but it also took up Cinema 1, the largest theater in the theater. The film will be arranged in the two weeks from October 28th to November 10th. Intensive, at most, the two halls will alternately show 10 shows on the same day, constantly revealing the generous atmosphere of the film party.
International Film Festival where "Moonlight" begins in September
Not much to say about the gimmicks, after 110 minutes of watching the movie, you can completely understand why "The Birth of a Nation" has become a bit stereotyped and the main theme compared to it. "Moonlight" draws out enchantingly from those politically correct themed films in a relaxed literary tone. If you want to feel the tone of this film for the first time, I recommend that you go to see the director and screenwriter of the film: Barry Jenkins' first feature-length work "The Antidote for Melancholy", this 2008 work is also the same It received a lot of praise and praise at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival that year.
The Antidote to Melancholy, which was exhibited at the International Film Festival in 2008, tells the story of a young couple who wake up early in the morning, but they can't remember how they had a relationship last night. Knowing each other's names, they had an embarrassing breakfast together, and took a taxi to say goodbye to each other. The girl, Joe, who was in a hurry to leave, left her wallet in the taxi, and Micah, who was still in a hurry, had to go to Joe's house to return the wallet to her, and the relationship between the two became closer. The film has a minimalist storyline of a literary film, which is a day of two young African-Americans hanging out in San Francisco. From morning to night, from indoor to outdoor, the shaking hand-held lens, the sometimes out-of-focus picture, the natural follow-up, the actor's talkative and pleasant performance, the gray color of the lens is processed, and it is not until the last picture. A city street scene with normal contrast outside the window on a bright morning the next day.
(The two actors in the film are full of literary style) The slow rhythm of the film is loose and coherent, full of melodious soundtracks, and the young people's dialogues continue to express the American love-hate complex for the city of San Francisco. Like Love Before Dawn, this movie will make you fall in love with a city, fall in love with a young couple, and fall in love again. Although the male and female protagonists in "The Antidote for Melancholy" are African-Americans, they are ordinary young Americans. The two actors also have mixed-race appearances. They shuttled through the city, surrounded by natural ambient sounds, talking about music, Talking about art, riding a bike, dancing, discussing love, the whole film is simply a drug of literature and art, which is poisonous.
(The cost of the film is at least amazing.) So, when the self-written and directed independent director: Barry Jenkins, handed over the third work "Moonlight", those loose and shaking shots in it, right The presentation of the southern city of Miami, the incoherent narrative, and the heavy color and psychedelic soundtrack, is not surprising at all, and it is constantly reminiscent of Wong Kar Wai, because the director himself is a Wong Kar Wai fan. He also admitted that the structure of the film was also influenced by Hou Hsiao-hsien's "The Best of Times". It can only be said that Barry Jenkins is really a young director with a taste full of oriental literature and art.
Under the director's changes, the three-part storyline of Melancholy Blues has changed from the common growth experience of him and the screenwriter in Miami to three life stages that can be divided independently, with three different actors playing the same role. primary, secondary and adult stages. At the director's insistence, the three actors did not meet each other before the performance, and did not deliberately imitate each other. Instead, through repetitive behaviors given by the director, such as washing their faces in the same way in the bathroom, looking in the mirror, etc., Subtle personal habits, showing the audience the feeling that this is the same character.
And in each stage, there is no complete story of the beginning and the turning point. From the weak Little, to the thin and tall Chiron, to the strong Black, at each stage he experienced the approach and betrayal of family and friends. And the male lead: Chiron always closes himself and has nowhere to vent. In the film, his mother's influence and pressure on him are extremely artistic and in place. There are direct quarrels, as well as illusory colors and slow-moving shots.
It is reminiscent of Dolan's use of Wong Kar Wai's audition at the end of I Killed My Mom. And the director: Barry Jenkins chose to use the same shot twice more completely, one was silenced, and the other was a nightmare of a mother's roar, so that the audience can empathize with the journey from the little boy Little to the big boy Black. The weight of his mother has never eased for him. People say that time will dilute everything. Unfortunately, some marks will only get heavier, and some gaps will only deepen. Sometimes the cracks between relatives are like this. The male protagonist went from being called Little by others to experiencing resistance in middle school, and finally turned into a disguised Black, and the most important change in his life and his truest self are in the story of his real name, Chiron. It happened, he met his first love and saw his angry self.
The blue boy in the moonlight remained silent until Chiron became an adult and became strong and powerful, leaving the city where he grew up and fleeing from his mother. It wasn't until a phone call from his first love that he pulled him back to his old place and let him find himself. Also let the story at the end of the third paragraph, and finally formed a closed-loop echo with the first paragraph. Little stood on the beach where he learned to swim when he was young. He felt the freedom of being in the water at the center of the world. Under the moonlight, he turned into a blue boy and looked back at his adult self, who was also an adult. Chiron's recognition and recognition of himself when he was young.
This imaginary ending adds a bit of romance to this literary film. In the night scene of the film, the use of lighting and the control of color tone are no thinner than indoors. The car lights, street scenes, and moonlight are all colored, constantly showing rich colors of blue and red, as if Chiron's deep emotions are constantly floating in the air. The soundtrack of the film is in charge of Nicholas Britell, whose previous works include last year's hit "The Big Short", this year's "Jones' Free Country", and 2014's "Boom Drummer", etc., with the director's footage and atmosphere. Very full.
The theme of the film about the city and the mother is not heavy, but the ties of broken family, friendship and love that every young person will experience to some extent. The sunny, bright scenery of Miami in the shot further accentuates Chiron's hesitation and loneliness, as well as his aloofness. These are not only from his different sexual orientation, but also from his mother's low self-esteem and sadness for taking drugs. In his childhood, Juan, who tried to help him, was a drug dealer himself, which had a great influence on him, but also made him see the two sides of the world. In the third section of the film, when he became the same businessman, the car he drove, the decorations in the car and the music played were all very similar to Juan in those days, and the profound influence on him can be seen in every bit.
In middle school, in addition to his mother's growing drug addiction, a friend who gave him his first same-sex experience threw a fist at him the next day. These sad memories of growing up have more or less become the imprint on each of us. An adult Black, with silver braces and a strong body, seems to have changed a person, living in another city, having new friends, as if forgetting all the past, living alone. Under the urging of his mother, when he confessed to his mother's request and wrong in the drug rehabilitation nursing home, he still cried and said, "I hate you." I believe this sentence is also from his heart, true and cruel. The director said that both he and the screenwriter had the experience of his mother taking drugs when he was a child. The film did not talk about those big truths, nor did it rudely present racial discrimination in a broad sense in society. The living conditions of young people are accompanied by the hardships of the blood and tears of the bottom society.
Surrounding and Shaking of the Camera The director used a smooth hand-held camera language in "An Antidote to Melancholy". This time, in the opening chapter of "Moonlight Boy", he used a wrap-around 360-degree slow rotation to shoot the characters and Show your surroundings. Compared with the 180-degree surround in "The Antidote to Melancholy", the shots in "Moonlight Boy" are more regular and natural, smooth and stable, giving people a very comfortable visual sense. With the song "Waterfall/Cucurrucucu Paloma", it uses the same original soundtrack as Wong Kar-wai's "Breakthrough" and Almodovar's "Talk to Her", which keeps the tonality of the film higher.
The small experiences in the hero's life in the story, including pain and sadness, are full of chemical effects, focusing on expressing the emotional expression of the characters, making people feel that time is fermenting in the air. People need each other like this, but they are difficult to get along with. They are all relatives and friends. In the end, all emotions are resolved in the memories of their past. Fortunately, the director gave the audience a beautiful imagination at the end. I believe that this different same-sex black film will definitely be mentioned and rewarded continuously in the awards season at the end of the year, thus opening up a way to avoid the main theme and different types of black feature films.
"Waterfall / Cucurrucucú Paloma" They said that when night fell, that man would cry bitterly. They said that he didn't eat anything and always left alone drunk. When he heard his cry, even the sky moved and he kept crying. That girl's name until he dies ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah... A sad white dove wakes up early in the morning and sings to the open door beside a lonely hut They believe this dove has his unwavering soul in him He still expects the girl to come back and coo... Dove Ah gu gu gu gu... Don't cry, pigeon, how can Shishi know what love is? Don't cry for her anymore ————————
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