Everyone is a lonely sail in the torrent of life, seeking to rely on and seek themselves in the midst of unease. "Moonlight," directed by Barry Jenkins, discusses how a person should face life and what love is all about through the twists and turns of a black boy's life.
This film adopts a rare chapter style, dividing the life of the protagonist Shiron into three parts to tell separately. The beginning of each story is long after the previous one, and as the story progresses little by little, the life of the protagonist is revealed little by little. For example, in the second chapter "Shiron", Teresa said at the beginning, "You and Juan are just like" and her mother Paula said "I haven't seen Teresa after the funeral", which left the audience with suspense. It lays the groundwork for the next account of Juan's death. When the little gangster tells the fact that Juan is dead, the characters in the play already know, the audience will have a sense of sadness. But the film does not tell us how Juan died, and this kind of blank space also gives the audience more room for imagination, which is memorable. This kind of storytelling method that unfolds little by little and the method of leaving blank space can make it easier for the audience to accept the various information in the film than to reveal the background information at the beginning, and it will also make the audience feel more embarrassed. .
The skillful use of color makes the character relationship in this film more profound. At the beginning, when Juan and Shiron first met, the picture was mainly composed of black and white contrasting colors, which reflected the relationship between the two at that time. Shiron was reluctant to communicate with Juan because of fear. Later, trust was gradually established between the two, and the relationship softened. When Juan taught Shiron to swim, the picture composed of the blue of the sea and the black of the skin was very harmonious. Shiron regarded Juan as a support in his wandering life. In the second chapter, the dazzling red door frame appeared in the white canteen, and the danger came as expected. Sure enough, Kevin beat Shiron reluctantly. This incident caused irreparable damage to the hearts of both of them. The colors in the film also play a big role in the expression of the characters' emotions. Shiron walked out of the door of the school, the boy in red threatened him provocatively, and the cowardly Shiron took a few steps back unconsciously. Wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans, he almost blended into the blue and white of the wall. This is like a chameleon's stress response when it encounters danger. Shiron also wants to be like a chameleon at this time. hide yourself. Juan once said "Black boys in the moonlight are blue". Later, Shiron, dressed in a blue T-shirt, raised his chair and smashed his bully. Although he was taken away by the police because of this, it was also his most determined and brave moment. Throughout the film, the colors of the characters' clothing (except for the boy in red) are very harmonious with the colors of the environment and are not obtrusive. This also gives the film a quieter beauty.
There are many ways to love, but there is only one true meaning of love. The film talks to us about what love really is by telling the story of Shiron and Kevin's hazy same-sex love. When Shiron was a child, his father for some reason left him and his mother, who was a drug-addicted and irresponsible mother. This family background and experience of being often bullied at school made Shiron a very insecure person. At this time two people appeared in his life - Juan and Kevin. Juan is more like a father to him, a support for him, because he can get a long-lost sense of security from Juan. Shiron is often bullied by other people and is called "Little Budian" and "Soft Egg", and everyone is reluctant to play with him. But Kevin, who has a completely different personality, came up to him and told him "I know you're not a softie, but you have to let them know too". Rather than saying that the two have established a deep friendship, it is better to say that Shiron has also found his own support among his peers. This dependence became a dependence after Juan's death. On the beach at night, the ignorant Shiron regarded this dependence as love, and Kevin also accepted this love. Later, Kevin hit Shiron, he told Shiron to lie on the ground and not move, but Shiron got up from the ground every time, and looked at Kevin arrogantly, as if saying, "I love you, I won't fight back. , as long as you love me too, I am willing to accept your blow." In "Farewell My Concubine", the brother stabs Xiaodouzi in the mouth with a pipe. It was also similar violence in childhood that changed Xiaodouzi's character and made him a homosexual. The protagonists of these two films failed to be with their beloved in the end, but at the end of "Moonlight", Kevin still held Shiron in his arms and continued to rely on him. For Shiron, security may be love.
In the endless ocean of life, the soft moonlight that illuminates us may be the most stable support.
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