Moonlight

Genre: personal drama

With: Mahershala Ali (Juan), Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes (Chiron as a boy, teenager and adult respectively), Naomie Harris (Paula, Chiron’s mother), Janelle Monáe (Teresa, Juan’s girlfriend), Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome and André Holland (Kevin at age 9, as a teenager and as an adult respectively), Patrick Decile (Terrel), Shariff Earp (Terrence), Duan Sanderson (Azu)

Director: Barry Jenkins

Screenplay: Barry Jenkins (from a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney)

Release: 2016

Studio: Elevation Pictures, A24, Pastel, Plan B Entertainment

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.6/10

  

‟I'm me man. Ain't trying to be nothing else.” 

 

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Story-line: Miami in the 1970s. While cruising around to meet his associates, drug trafficker Juan sees a boy being pursued by mean-spirited schoolmates. He follows along, finds the frightened boy hiding inside an abandoned apartment and tries to connect with him. When he realizes that the odds of life are stacked against the boy – named Chiron but often called ‟Little” –, Juan decides to take him under his wing with the help of his pretty lady Teresa.   

Pluses: terrific acting by Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes as Chiron the sad young man, an impressive Mahershala Ali (Juan the gentle giant), a very strong Naomie Harris (as Chiron’s intimidating mother), Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome and André Holland (as Chiron’s only friend) and all underage actors involved, impeccable and thoughtful direction, a serious and realistic screenplay featuring pungent dialogues, memorable scenes and moments of welcome introspection, high-quality production values, sharp cinematography, a beaty, soulful and always fabulous soundtrack (especially Hello Stranger by Barbara Lewis) and a bittersweet ending that leaves you speechless.

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: the moving and worthy MOONLIGHT follows Chiron, the introverted son of a dysfunctional family, from childhood to adulthood, focusing on the abuses he had to withstand, his difficult adaptation to a brutal, careless world and the pains he will carry all his life. Nominated 8 times at the 2017 Academy Awards ceremony, Barry Jenkins’ work garnered Oscars for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor. Need I say more? 

 

MBiS 

© 2024 – All rights reserved

High Noon

Genre: western (in black and white)

Also known as: Train sifflera trois fois (le)

With: Gary Cooper (Marshal Will Kane), Thomas Mitchell (Jonas Henderson, the Mayor), Lloyd Bridges (Harvey Pell, Will’s Deputy), Katy Jurado (Helen Ramirez), Grace Kelly (Amy Fowler Kane), Otto Kruger (Judge Percy Mettrick), Lon Chaney Jr. (Martin Howe), Harry Morgan (Sam Fuller), Ian MacDonald (Frank Miller)

Director: Fred Zinnemann

Screenplay: Carl Foreman (based on a story by John W. Cunningham)

Release: 1952

Studio: Stanley Kramer Productions

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.7/10 

 

I’m not afraid of death

But, oh, what will I do

If you leave me?* 

 

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Story-line: as soon as Miller, Colby and Pierce ride into Hadleyville, their presence inspires fear among the locals, even more so when news breaks out that Miller’s brother has been released from jail and is arriving on the noontime train. Simply put, those ne’er-do-wells are looking to take revenge on Will Kane, the outgoing lawman… and they don’t care if it’s Kane’s wedding day. Lovely Amy will be a widow before the day is done.

Pluses: a tone-perfect turn by Gary Cooper (in an Oscar-winning role), fine support from a radiant Grace Kelly, a solid Lloyd Bridges and Katy Jurado (as the enigmatic Helen), steady direction by a distinguished helmer, a rich and perceptive screenplay remarkable for its tightness, tension and complex character study, superb cinematography illustrating daily life in a frontier town, breathless editing, modest but pertinent production values and Tex Ritter’s poignant, Oscar-winning song.

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: in Fred Zinnemann’s tragic Western, the tall and slim Gary Cooper embodies a prototypical quiet hero faced with an impossible crisis. More than a simple shoot-’em-up, HIGH NOON is a disheartening tale about hatred, cowardice, duty and ungratefulness, a true classic as defined in my old Canadian Oxford Dictionary (‟a work… of lasting value”). The clock is ticking, Will’s efforts are fruitless and that damned train is due any minute now… 

 

MBiS 

© 2024 – All rights reserved 

*High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me), written by Ned Washington and Dimitri Tiomkin.