Saturday 11 February 2017

Moonlight

It is very hot in Sydney and it makes my days lazy and no eventful. My little computer, after a water damage, is being repaired and I am left with the old one that does not function well. It is difficult to sign in and when I manage to do it, the internet connection is spurious. It takes a while to get to it and I manage to achieve  a doubtful success only by repeating the same process over and over. This is just like per the definition of insanity, so no wonder I  feel a bit strange. The cool change is coming though, so maybe things will look up soon. I will perhaps need to buy a new computer, but this is an achievable task. So with a hope for a positive change I gathered enough energy to start a new post. I have a bit of a backlog in my movie reviews, so I will start with the Moonlight, the film that made the biggest impression on me and is the second on my Oscar list after La La Land. I have not seen the Manchester by the Sea yet and this film may change my personal hierarchy. 
Moonlight Movie Poster
Three stages of Chiron's face and life
About the Moonlight then. This is for me a film based on impressions as I hardly understood the dialogue.  African-American slang, used by uneducated people from the circles of drug dealing and using,  is difficult to understand.  I did understand the story though and the moods the film took me through. Beautiful film, showing idealistic emotions and generous actions of people from the society margins. The film is about  Chiron and his life as a child, teenager and then a young man. Beautiful love story shown and experienced by the movie characters as tender and delicate. For me there was more tenderness and respect  in the relationship of the two boys and then men  than there is in most of so called “civilised” heterosexual relationships. No wam bam about it.

The film made me think about that so often we categorise people and situations without knowing much about  it. I am guilty of it quite often, I can see it now.  Dirty, potentially, drug addicts are people I want to isolate myself from. I am afraid of them, judge them as dropouts and move on to my secure, clean, civilised corner, often feeling superior.  The film shows us all another side of the coin. This coin, in fact, has more than two sides, so this may not be the best metaphor. What I want to say is that life is complex for all of us and there are many  facets to a person, good and bad. I know it sound like an obvious truism, but this film helped me  see another dimension of it. Drug dealers may have warmth in themselves  and a need to help others. They may hurt profoundly as well, in fact they do as a part of their dealings, but the film shows that they can do a lot of good on the side as well. This calls for respect.

The film shows a desperate yearning to love and be loved. Again an universal truth,   beautifully and piercingly shown. All together a very moving film which made me to reflect on some life issues and made my understanding of them deeper.

I warmly recommend the film. 

5 comments:

  1. Rightho! Shall heed your advice and see it when it is released here.

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  2. "Drug dealers may have warmth in themselves and a need to help others. They may hurt profoundly as well, in fact they do as a part of their dealings, but the film shows that they can do a lot of good on the side as well. This calls for respect."
    I think the same applies to all evildoers including fighters of Islamic State, but what here for us to do? Follow Jesus' message - "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also;".
    Following drug dealing issues, I recommend to watch a play Działka (in Polish) - will be staged in SYdney on Saturday - 25/2 - details here: http://twojrzut.blogspot.com.au/2017/02/mam-teatr-spektakle-w-sydney.html

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    Replies
    1. Well, this is actually the point of mine and the film's, accept the fact that there is good and bad in all of us even in fighters of Islamic State. Turn the other cheek? Love the terrorists? No, I would not go that far, but I believe that they have some human side as well as the fighting one. I do not have answers to the issue but I was prompted not to expect perfection from anyone, including myself (how sad and surprising!! lol)as well as not to dismiss people because they are different to me. Definitely their colour or religion does not matter to me, actually never did.
      Thank you for the info about the theatre, unfortunately Ashfield is a bit far for a person without a car. I do tego wieczorową porą. Pozdrowienia

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  3. In the last comment there should be a BIG question mark after a quote of Jesus' words.

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  4. http://rummuser.com/moonlight/

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