{"id":872,"date":"2018-10-04T14:20:15","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T19:20:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/?p=872"},"modified":"2018-10-04T14:20:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-04T19:20:15","slug":"preview-moonlight-2016-dir-barry-jenkins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/preview-moonlight-2016-dir-barry-jenkins\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: Moonlight (2016, dir. Barry Jenkins)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing our<a href=\"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/2018-winona-state-film-series-resilience\/\"> Film Series based on the WSU Theme: Resilience<\/a>, we will be showcasing the 2016 Best Picture winning film\u00a0<em>Moonlight, <\/em>Tuesday Oct. 9 in Miller Auditorium (Stark 103).\u00a0 The film is rated R, and admission is free and open to the public.<em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9NJj12tJzqc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Florida State film school alumnus Barry Jenkins is the creative mind behind the film, co-writing and directing.\u00a0 The film is based off the Tarrell Alvin McCraney semi-autobiographical stage play &#8220;In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.&#8221;\u00a0 McCraney co-wrote the screenplay with Jenkins, and both were distinguished for their work at the 2017 Academy Awards with a win for Best Adapted Screenplay.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_896\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-896\" class=\"wp-image-896 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/130217moonlight.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/130217moonlight.jpg 630w, https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/130217moonlight-300x190.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-896\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The &#8220;triptych&#8221; story structure is captured in the films poster image<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The plot of <em>Moonlight <\/em>is set\u00a0in an urban neighborhood in Miami, FL.\u00a0 It follows Chiron in a triptych narrative structure, with three separate acts of the film each focusing on a different stage in his life. The first chapter is titled &#8220;Little,&#8221; and follows Chiron as a young boy struggling to evade bullies at school and deal with his abusive mother at home.\u00a0 The second chapter is titled &#8220;Chiron,&#8221; and shows his struggles as a high school student still dealing with his toxic stress at home, and challenges of sexual identity and masculinity both from external and internal forces.\u00a0 The third chapter is titled &#8220;Black,&#8221; and shows the evolution of Chiron into a young adult who has adapted to his environment physically but still is complicated internally.<\/p>\n<p>The performances from Alex Hibbert (Little), Ashton Sanders (Chiron), and Trevante Rhodes (Black) provide a unique take on the protagonist at different stages in his development, while also providing the appropriate coherence for the overall arc.\u00a0 But these are not the only performances worth commenting on: those from its professional and non-professional actors alike make <em>Moonlight<\/em> one of the most viscerally acted films of the decade, highlighted by the supporting work of Mahershala Ali, Naomi Harris, Andre Holland, and Janelle Monae.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_897\" style=\"width: 1290px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-897\" class=\"wp-image-897 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/tumblr_ojutmoQFl31rtgq66o1_r1_1280.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/tumblr_ojutmoQFl31rtgq66o1_r1_1280.png 1280w, https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/tumblr_ojutmoQFl31rtgq66o1_r1_1280-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/tumblr_ojutmoQFl31rtgq66o1_r1_1280-768x328.png 768w, https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/tumblr_ojutmoQFl31rtgq66o1_r1_1280-1024x437.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Moonlight creates some breathtaking images with creative use of light and color<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Moonlight<\/em> is an exceptionally well-crafted film, with a visual aesthetic using a hypnotic camera to draw the audience in and place them in sequences alternating between turmoil and serenity.\u00a0 Cinematographer James Laxton uses color, framing, deep focus, and movement to lead into the film&#8217;s editing while working with a precise sound design, which often is character-centric and complementary to the mood of the scene.\u00a0 The musical score by Nicholas Britell offers a musical accompaniment to sway emotion, ranging from old-school R&amp;B to modern hip-hop and classical music &#8220;chopped-and-screwed&#8221; for impact.\u00a0 Sometimes lost in the kerfuffle over its Academy Award win over <em>La La Land<\/em> was the fact that Moonlight was as sumptuously shot, effectively edited, and superbly scored a film as any in recent memory.<\/p>\n<p>The film is historically important too.\u00a0 To start with are its Academy Awards: it&#8217;s the\u00a0first film with an all-black cast <em>and\u00a0<\/em>the first LGBTQ film to win Best Picture.\u00a0 Ali is the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar and its editor, Joi McMIllon, the first black woman to win an editing Oscar.\u00a0 Following the #OscarSoWhite campaigns, Moonlight&#8217;s successes were meaningful ones.\u00a0 In an industry dominated by white males as writers, directors, and stars and where films predominantly feature straight white males as protagonist, <em>Moonlight<\/em> gives voice to those not frequently represented on screen, and does so with a distinct and compelling cinematic voice.<\/p>\n<p>Barry Jenkins&#8217; <em>Moonlight<\/em> represents a fantastic feature-film representation of the resilience required to overcome adversity.\u00a0 As you watch, give some thought to the adversity of childhood experiences young Chiron faces, first as &#8220;Little&#8221; and later as &#8220;Black,&#8221; and you&#8217;ll understand why this film was one of the very first we wanted to select for our series on Resilience.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/events\/247064702595534\/\">Please join us<\/a> for this remarkable film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Continuing our Film Series based on the WSU Theme: Resilience, we will be showcasing the 2016 Best Picture winning film\u00a0Moonlight, Tuesday Oct. 9 in Miller Auditorium (Stark 103).\u00a0 The film is rated R, and admission is free and open to the public. Florida State film school alumnus Barry Jenkins is the creative mind behind the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[54,6],"class_list":["post-872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates","tag-resilience","tag-seth-lamey"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":904,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872\/revisions\/904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}