moonlight swimming scene analysis

Moonlight tells the captivating story of a young man’s journey into manhood and the cultivation of his self-awareness, and with its evocative visual design, the swimming scene reinforces the film’s key themes of intimacy, masculinity, and self-discovery. The inclusion of the pair swimming and particularly Juan holding Chiron in the way he does in the narrative is to mimic a baby’s baptism. Little said, "you don’t even know." "Moonlight" director and Oscar nominee Barry Jenkins deconstructs the Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert swimming lesson scene from his film. Themes and analysis. In one scene, which drew inspiration from classic Hollywood filmmaker Busby Berkeley and his swimming pool musicals, the characters fall into a Los Angeles pool during a nighttime party. Links Roundup: Moonlight, reviews and analysis and interviews. In the film, there is a short flash, before the drama builds, in which we see a young Chiron innocently and unconsciously playing with his hands in the water. Moonlight is I think my favourite film of the past decade. 6 Scenes from 'Moonlight' That I Still Dream About. For me, it’s a film about identity and how that malleable construct shifts as a reaction to the world around us and the people in our lives. The scene where he hits the bully with a chair is the beginning of a downward spiral for Chiron, I think. These will set you up with a useful vocabulary for how to analyze film in formal… Moonlight (2016) Commentator: Barry Jenkins (writer/director) 1. The progress is made in slow, choppy fashion, with tons of interruption and heartache. I don’t even like to say that I orchestrate them. She is very drunk at this point and has dressed up in an evening gown and is addressing a group of imaginary admirers. A small but memorable illustration of Laxton’s theory occurred during the same swimming scene mentioned above. From the opening of the scene, as Chiron approaches the diner, lighting is at play. This is a far cry to the usual slick and smooth camera movement present for the rest of the film. The opening scene of "Moonlight" paints a grim picture. I had mentioned in a previous post that I was challenged to create my own version of the one second… © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Juan responds with nothing but love for his quasi adopted son, even relishing and enjoying the experience of teaching him to swim. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Email Address Subscribe. A man teaching a boy how to swim turns into a powerful moment of communion in this scene from “Moonlight,” directed by Barry Jenkins.The film explores a … By the end of the film, all of the characters have made positive progress in their life, but they do so in a very real way. Juan is in and of the water, literally, he's in a sense become the mother for the boy. There is an obvious rebirth metaphor where Ryan gets into an airlock and curls into the fetal position while the parachute chord floats near her. You’re blue!” You’re blue!” The progress is made in slow, choppy fashion, with tons of interruption and heartache. I don't know much about Brry Jenkins but I can't help think this must have been intentional, especially as he has mentioned a spiritual tranferrence as part of the scene. Moonlight (Film) essays are academic essays for citation. There might not be a better film to explore these multiple elements than Oscar-winning drama, Moonlight. ... all of which describe the swimming scene. Moonlight is a coming-of-age drama that follows the three stages of an African-American male's life by the name of Chiron: Chapter i. Little- the character is a child; Chapter ii. Inside, much of the lighting is practical and natural, coming from golden, warm hanging lamps and overhead lighting. Film Analysis: Moonlight. Analysis of Moonlight's swimming scene. “I felt like there needed to be this moment of spiritual transference between the character Juan, played by Mahershala Ali, and the character Little, played by Alex Hibbert,” Jenkins explained. First, a few practical things: Before you watch the film, make sure to watch the three clips from the “How to Speak Movie” series on YouTube: The Camera, Mise en Scène, and Editing. He said, "you don’t even know." Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, tells the story of a Chiron, played by Alex R. Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes, who is a homosexual black male struggling to live in his rough neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Posted on February 6, 2018 by shannonnicoleblogs. Posted on November 27, 2016 August 13, 2018 by Noah McKenzie. I wanted the audience to get that sensation that Tarell and I had growing up.”. “Moonlight” A24 “It became a concept we employed throughout the film. Moonlight- Swimming Scene (‘The Middle of the World’) During the ‘Middle of the World’ scene, Chiron and Juan… Read more Five Minute Analysis. In the film, Moonlight, there is a strong motif of water that flows throughout the three acts. Others have interpreted this as a strong nod to2001: A Space Odyssey's "starchild" scene. One of a torn down community filled with poverty, drugs and heartache. Moonlight (2016) Analysis: This Film will make you a better person. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Sometimes you can even smell it, despite the fact that it might be two miles away. Hi everyone, Here’s a thread for our film text, Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight. Watching Moonlight is a deeply personal experience. Moonlight is a 2016 American coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished semi-autobiographical play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.It stars Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Jharrel Jerome, Naomie Harris, and Mahershala Ali. But it is Juan who protects him from the water, holding him and making sure he is never in danger. Is nurtuting and caregiving solely the preserve of women? An important part of any great film is the soundtrack. I'm not usually one for deep symbolism, however, the way that Juan holds Chiron in the scene did remind me of a baptism. Next, Juan teaches Little how to swim, a scene that resembles a baptism and rebirth. This scene is of course the learning to swim scene, where Mahershala Ali’s character Juan teaches a young Chiron to swim at an overcast Miami beach. As the scene opens the lighting appears to be moonlight shining on the leaf but nowhere else, hence the completely blackened background, and when the fish are introduced they are illuminated by a strobe of flashing light on all three occasions, each time separated with a lapse of complete darkness. Black- the character becomes a man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6BPluP8t1I. The first and most major incorporation of this is when Juan teaches Chiron to swim in what is known as the “middle of the world” scene. TITANIA What, jealous Oberon! Alexander Pope. But once they’re there, I think the beauty of making this film was the cast, the crew, all these elements come together to capture what the world is presenting us.”, Updated December 06, 2016 at 09:26 PM EST, Credit: In Moonlight, director Barry Jenkins weaves a tender but powerful coming-of-age story, chronicling the life of a Miami boy named Chiron over the course of three acts. October 21, 2018. This scene could have been its own short film. This is "Moonlight Swimming Scene" by mary muszynski on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. As the headline indicates, this post contains spoilers about “Moonlight.” “Moonlight” ends with a flicker of hope. The opening scene of "Moonlight" paints a grim picture. Outside the diner, the bulbs were changed to give a more blue hue. He was little again, and blue in the moonlight. I think that is the richness of ‘Moonlight’ for me. “That scene, in particular, growing up in Miami, the ocean has this sort of charge, this energy,” Jenkins said. By Arianna Lewis • U Mass Amherst Contributor March 28, 2017 at 9:00am "Moonlight" is altogether an absolutely brilliant movie, and the recognition it got was extremely well-deserved. Moonlight is a coming-of-age drama that follows the three stages of an African-American male's life by the name of Chiron: Chapter i. Little- the character is a child; ... (Little) bond at the beach while gazing onto the sea. Laxton placed lights within a tree to cast dappled shadows on the character as he walked beneath, creating entirely new visual interest from the very first second. In this very scene, where Juan teaches Little to swim and talks to him about identity and survival, we see both man and child under the moonlight for ourselves. “So for the first 15 minutes of the film, these two characters are still strangers. Barry Jenkins 2017’s best picture winner Moonlight has been broadly praised for its cinematography, with one critic claiming ‘every shot is seared into my brain.’. Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady He lives the next decade suppressing his true self and his sexuality, and instead, adopts the superficial attributes of strength and masculinity that he's been taught. With Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert. Every facial expression, sound, and camera angle (à la Spike Lee) is used purposefully. Jenkins added that although he made specific camera choices as the director to make the swimming sequence as powerful as possible, unexpected circumstances on the day they shot the scene added another layer. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. Moonlight is a film about masculinity, the wounds and crises of which are the same for all sexualities, but conditioned by the background weather of race and class. Thanks! A wood near Athens. Black said, "you don’t even know." I'm thinking also what the sea symbolises in in psychoanalytic / symbolic terms - the maternal...this sets up a further line of inquiry about how the movie problematises clearly assumed gender roles. And I knew there needed to be this moment where they intimately bonded, and this idea of a swimming lesson was sort of where I landed.”. Through the use of framing and subtle yet effective camera angles we understand so much about the dynamic between these two, and emphasises the importance of this moment in our main character’s life. Nice analysis. “We placed the camera on the horizon,” he said. Show More. The scene is shot late at night, which makes the scene even eerier because in the low angle POV shots, chrissie is lit up by the moonlight making her look almost majestic which wildly contrast her being violently thrashed around by the shark. The waves wash over the spectator to make it seem as if they are a part of the scene, and aid them in comprehending Chiron’s feelings. The lightest colors were the pale grey clouds in the sky, with the darkest being that of Juan and Chiron’s skin. It became this really beautiful sort of moment for me personally as a filmmaker, because this storm was coming in, and all these plans that I had for what the scene was supposed to be went out of the water. The cinematography also emphasises the intimacy of this moment, using a low angle, and again water splashing on the lens, to make the camera seem almost hidden in a way. I think that's interesting as baptisms of course imply being reborn or becoming a man and its interesting that Juan is the person who baptises him. The three sections are called Little, Chiron and Black. A man teaching a boy how to swim turns into a powerful moment of communion in this scene from “Moonlight,” directed by Barry Jenkins. Get today's most accurate Moonlight State Beach surf report with multiple live HD surf cams for current swell, wind, and wave conditions. In short, Moonlight demands to be seen, ... During his swimming lesson, Juan relays a memory of an old woman seeing him on the beach at night and saying, “In the moonlight… A wood near Athens. “It’s something you can always feel. The same weakness is shown to immobilize Chiron, however, his ability to remain static throughout the situation represents some degree of mental toughness that was unseen before this scene. As a result, the intimacy of the scene is dialled up to 11, we perfectly understand how close these two characters are in this moment, and while not being a part of their dynamic, the cinematography helps us feel their dynamic. In the film, Moonlight, there is a strong motif of water that flows throughout the three acts. 1688–1744 441. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. 1919. Moonlight (2016) Commentator: Barry Jenkins (writer/director) 1. Moonlight Reflection and Analysis. Water engulfs the characters and the viewers in the film’s most powerful scene, in which Juan (Mahershala Ali) teaches Little (Alex Hibbert) to swim. Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait Moonlight’s cinematography is the most important in establishing not only the characters and the environment but the relation between the two and their importance to the main theme of the film. As you mention, Chiron becomes more like Juan over the course of the film and in a way teaches him what it means to be a man. Moonlight- Scene Analysis Lighting Colours quite blue world turns dim and blue after being taken by police White, blue and red Wears full blue Red blood on face Moonlight- and my Scene Music and Sound Effects Symbols 2016 coming-of-age drama Three stages of a poor black boy's One of a torn down community filled with poverty, drugs and heartache. How do camera placement, lighting, and eyeline all cooperate to create emotion in a movie? The scene is superb visually because it perfectly encapsulates the … The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. 1SE Evaluation. For “Moonlight,” which is told in three distinct chapters, the decision was made that each chapter would emulate a different film stock, giving each its own look. March 11, ... and he must learn to accept and give love as well. SCENE I. For one, this scene accomplishes this visual confirmation of the weakness that Kevin holds due to his closeted insecurities. whither wander you? This is simply the most exquisite scene in film--not the most exquisite scene in this film, but in the medium of film. This was not a planned moment. Chiron- the character is a young adult; and Chapter iii. This was not a planned moment. Sometimes in a whole film it can be one scene that changes the destiny of a movie. “The same way Little the character is bobbing in and out of the water, the audience is bobbing in and out of the water. Far From Heaven focuses on several controversial issues of the mid-twentieth century, including racism, miscegenation, as well as views on homosexuality, and the stigma of escapism during that time period, presenting these issues through the mise-en-scène and cinematographic conventions of a 1950s style melodrama. The focus on the Main Character Throughline, the cinematography, the editing—everything brings you in close and whispers Chiron's journey of self-actualization.But what really makes the film such an intimate portrayal is the clever omission of a key element of story structure.. A small but memorable illustration of Laxton’s theory occurred during the same swimming scene mentioned above. 'It became this really beautiful moment for me personally as a filmmaker'. Like it, you write very well with a refreshing style. The first and most major incorporation of this is when Juan teaches Chiron to swim in what is known as the “middle of the world” scene. The setting takes place in Liberty City Miami during a time of the heightened drug epidemic. Nice analysis. Moonlight Film Analysis 1419 Words | 6 Pages. David Bornfriend, Barry Jenkins deconstructs the swimming lesson scene from 'Moonlight'. And Alex Hibbert the actor does not know how to swim, so you’re actually watching Mahershala Ali teach this kid how to swim in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as a storm is rolling in. This hidden dimension of the camera makes us feel almost unwelcome in a way, like this is a private moment between the two characters that we shouldn’t be seeing as we are not part of their dynamic, this only concerns them. 934 Words 4 Pages. During his swimming lesson, Juan relays a memory of an old woman seeing him on the beach at night and saying, “In the moonlight, black boys look blue! (Moonlight’s editors, Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders, were schoolmates, as was one of the its producers, Adele Romanski, to whom Laxton is now … [Enter, from opposite sides, a Fairy, and PUCK] Puck. Not much dialogue, which is consistent with the way this coming-of-age love story is told. What the Swimming Scene in 'Moonlight' Means to Me As a Black Girl. Things like that, I can’t plan for. By the end of the film, all of the characters have made positive progress in their life, but they do so in a very real way. Film Analysis: Moonlight. How now, spirit! Moonlight traces the path from childhood to young adulthood of a black gay man named Chiron growing up in a poor part of Miami. EW sat down with Jenkins to break down the scene and talk about why it was so important to get this moment just right. This is an article on the symbolism and themes in Gravity. Moonlight, directed by Barry Jenkins, is the story of an African American man named Chiron told in three parts. In the film, there is a short flash, before the drama builds, in which we see a young Chiron innocently and unconsciously playing with his hands in the water. Chiron must rely on him, and must open himself up, revealing all his vulnerabilities to him. Yeah there’s definitely a lot that can be unpacked from the baptism symbolism, Press J to jump to the feed. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Moonlight (Film) by Barry Jenkins. So what you’re watching when you watch the [swimming] scene is me describing to Ali what the scene was about—which is a baptism—and this kid was being taught a lesson how to … The coming-of-age drama “Moonlight” is nominated for eight Academy Awards.It tells the story of a gay African-American boy growing up in the impoverished Liberty City neighborhood of Miami. Offers may be subject to change without notice. After coursing through three disillusioned chapters in the life of our young main character, Chiron, the movie poses a question: Will he embrace the truth of his sexuality, or will the homophobia that taunts him continue to dictate his well-being? His father, Frederick Fitch Hassam (1825–1880), was a moderately successful cutlery businessman with a large collection of art and antiques. Moonlight Scene Analysis ; Black Identity: The Struggle between Virility and Vulnerability; Color, Lighting, and Powerful Motifs: The Evocative Visual Design in Moonlight These labels refer to the name that Chiron is known by during the section. The long camera take at the early part of the scene, which incorporates wide, slow pa… A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood. The framing that is used throughout the whole scene helps us view the world in the way Chiron does, and that is with utter vulnerability. As the camera transports us into Chiron's shoes, we strongly feel this vulnerability, and Juan’s reassurance is that much more powerful. Enter, ... Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania. Moonlight, the 2017 independent film directed by Barry Jenkins, utilized lighting, contrast, and colors to tell an insightful story exploring themes including race, sexual identity, and drug abuse, among others through the metamorphosis of its central character, Chiron. Fairy. Hassam was known to all as "Childe" (pronounced like child), a name taken from an uncle. Show More. The swimming scene definitely stood out to me, almost like a marker within the entire narrative that kind of stuck with you, as these important moments do. The film is packed with breathtaking sequences and emotional moments in Chiron’s life, but one of Moonlight‘s most gorgeous and memorable scenes comes in the first act, as drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) teaches the young Chiron (known then as “Little” and played by Alex Hibbert) how to swim. One of the most important scenes in the film comes when Juan teaches Chiron how to swim. The low contrast highlights their skin-tone, an aspect the film embraces and enhances. effects in this scene are uncomplicated. Moonlight’s camera work and mise-en-scene, specifically the lightning, is one of the film’s most important parts of its cinematography. Spread the love with EW's Valentine's Day gift guide. Moonlight Film Analysis 770 Words | 4 Pages. The water constantly splashes up against the lens, but it never fully takes over the whole screen, this creates a visual conflict, as if we are fighting against the waves and are just about managing to stay above the surface. The cinematography here reminded me of some kind of nature documentary about sea life, where the camera has been attached to some kind of floatation device and let loose into the ocean to capture the natural behaviour of animals. Related. Moonlight is moving and mysterious: a dance to the music of time, in its way. The fact that the Oscar went to a film that was both unapologetically black and unapologetically queer was groundbreaking and incredible. Hassam was born in the family home on Olney Street on Meeting House Hill in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, on October 17, 1859. This is much like Chiron, who is also fighting to keep his head above the water, in this moment he is truly and completely vulnerable, which we resonate due to the framing. Moonlight (Film) Moonlight Scene Analysis Anonymous 11th Grade. Directed by Barry Jenkins. A new montage highlights the film’s varied use of popular music styles. Original Misgivings. Juan tells the story of an old woman in Cuba, his home, describing the iridescent quality of black skin in moonlight. Not only is the result an emotional sequence that serves the narrative, but it also holds a personal significance for Jenkins and his co-writer Tarell Alvin McCraney. Barry Jenkins 2017’s best picture winner Moonlight has been broadly praised for its cinematography, with one critic claiming ‘every shot is seared into my brain.’ One scene in particular stood out to me, a scene that uses the cinematography as the main weapon on it’s toolbelt, perfectly encapsulating a relationship without any words, just two actors and a camera. Previous scene: Play menu: Next scene Act II, Scene 1. Barry Jenkins's 2016 drama Moonlight depicts a young African-American boy, Chiron, struggling with his sexuality through three stages in his life, early childhood, his teenage period and finally in his adult life, showing how he develops as a person. The film explores a … this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines. As Juan teaches Chiron swimming techniques and eventually lets him try on his own, he also learns to take care of himself. Barry Jenkins deconstructs the swimming lesson scene from 'Moonlight' Barry Jenkins deconstructs the swimming lesson scene from 'Moonlight' 'It … Chiron said, "you don’t even know." Cody Charles. This scene was ultimately made to showcase a number of things for a number of characters. Raoul Peck on why this scene from ‘Moonlight’ is one of the best he’s seen in film ... our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
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