The scene where Chiron takes revenge didn’t read to me like him embracing him true self, it seemed to me like him succumbing to societal expectations of him. Because before that scene the teacher speaking to him implied that if he was truly a man he would’ve fought back, and this movie is primarily about imposed identities including masculinity. Although I completely agree that blue is symbolic I think it may be more symbolic of societal/others expectations as in the scene where blue is first introduced in dialogue it is Juan saying he rejected the nickname of “blue” and saying that others shouldn’t give him a name/shouldn’t define him. This was a great video tho these are just my thoughts
Sticking with the videoçs perspective Juan rejected being called Blue because that wasnt Juan's true self, but in light of what I saw in the video I have to agree that "being blue" is identifying with one's true self.
In the scene where Chiron is about to stand up for himself, I noticed that there is quite a lot of red mixed in with the blue colours inside of the school and thought it possibly meant that the true identity of Chiron was fighting against the expected identity - probably just an overanalyzed thought though haha.
I think that all the actors for Chiron did a really good job picking up where each left off, and the facial expressions shared between the three are spot on
I took a film analysis class my senior year of undergrad and I can confidently say that I never once encountered an analysis this in depth or well thought out. Masterful work, sir. Your passion comes through clearly in your essays and it is a joy to share that with you through this medium. Bravo.
The relationship between these two is so strong and deep. The way these two have played their characters was done so well. I felt the tension , pain and suspense between the two men. This is both the light and dark side of love. I appreciate it more with this in depth review. Great movie and great analysis.
Samar Ansell i think it might mean a loss in personality, or opposite of blue, like I said for the blinking red at the beginning of act 3. I mean throughout that first part of act 3 you see red pop up around Black's life the same way it did in act 1 which are both times in his life where he is basically unaware of who he really is either yet or anymore. So to answer your question it basically means a sense of fake and false identity or disguise. That's just my interpretation though!
Moonlight is beautiful in that not only can it so deeply connect with young black men who grow up not understanding their sexuality or how to come to terms with it in such a harsh environment but also people who feel lost and misunderstood in general by a world that can be so cruel and cold to anyone viewed as different. One of the greatest movies I’ve ever watched
i have been binging your videos and the way you tackle every subject is so clear and brings something new to light that i've never seen before. your videos are fantastic and i can't wait to see more of them
Watching this 3 years later, after my first watching of Moonlight. Was very happy to see that Karsten had a video for it, as he always makes great videos about films. He was so much more quiet in this video oml! I’m so used to him having such a bold personality, it’s kinda sweet to see him like this 😅 I think this is an awesome analysis of the film, and I feel like I can see it under a whole new *light* the next time I watch it c:
IMDb ratings La La Land : 8.2 Moonlight : 7.5 Jay-Z was right, we really are still stuck at how La La Land excites people even more, and all that Oscars victory is still not gonna change people perspective on choosing between the two movies. Thank you Tyler for making Garden Shed, to woke everybody up about the honesty that some people wouldn't open.
This is one of the most beautiful movies I’ve ever watched in every aspect. This is a story told with such care, I don’t know how to explain it but it wasn’t scared to be raw. But it wasn’t out there to be out there, it was human.
Do you have an interpretation on why they start the film with the song “every n is a star”? With the opening logo and then stops right when the final shot starts? Everytime I see that it immediately hooks me into the film but I can’t figure out why they start like that and why it’s so impactful. Unless i’m over analyzing.
I tie the idea of every n being a star to the idea of every black man who has a similar story to Chiron being self-dependent like a star is. Also to the idea that they stand out in different ways such as their skin or their experiences. And in the most basic terms they have the ability to be this figure of beauty within them but they so often hide it with their ideologies of manhood and masculinity so much so that the song is cut short to be similar to it. Finally, stars are only visible at night similar to the moon, which is one of the biggest themes within the movie.
This is a very good video, but I think I have to pause it untill I get to see it. Btw have you seen the film Okja? Just caught it last night on Netflix, really special film I think. Maybe something to analyse in an upcoming video? :)
gotta be honest i cannot believe you're only 2 years older than myself (now it's been a couple years since this video, i'm 18) you have such valuable and great insight and your way of presenting analysis is so straight-forward yet also intensely personal
This has to be one of the most beautiful, well thought out and spoken analysis of this movie I have ever heard or seen. To find out you were 19 at the time... wow. As a 36 year old woman with 3 children, one of them being a part of the lgbtq community, I have held this movie to such high importance for our culture and understanding of a very fragile story. At the age of 14 I finally feel like he's old enough to handle this movie and we plan on watching together. With your analysis in mind I will feel more confident in my understanding of it because you pointed out things I never even noticed. I now see the overwhelming blue in certain scenes and it makes that much more sense. to me now in connection to the point of each scene. I just wanted to compliment you on this and I hope you never stop. Amazing.
Hey dude thank you for making videos. You just gained a subscriber because of your great content. I love movies and i love seeing people who honour them with videos like this.
I always noticed the beautiful display of red and blue in this movie especially with chirons mother and now this all makes sense in how it works thank you Karsten for connecting the dots together for me
Man, your video makes me cry. I've watched it before, but rewatching at the older state makes me appreciate the touching message in your review more. Thank you for your content, will rewatch the film now.
It’s a contradiction if u say blue made chiron stand up for himself in the revenge scene where he gained confidence and then also say that blue made black lose his confidence in the third act unless there is a shift from really embracing himself to a facade
Just watched moonlight for this first time and it brought me to this video. Awesome analysis man. Hope to see you making meaningful and impactful films someday. You’ve clearly got the eye and the talent. Also would love a deconstruction of The Lighthouse!
The cinematography on this movie is obviously influenced by the films of Wong Kar-Wai. If you dont know who Wong is, then watch his films. The director's films are known for their nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, vivid cinematography and its use of bold, saturated colours. 😉😉
Thanks man, I struggled so much to understand the meaning of the colors and what was so great about the movie. I loved it but didn't find it something phenomenal. I guess it's because I don't know much about the art of film. I finally found the answers in your video 😄❤
Ok I just rewatched it and have my own take on the part where Little is floating above the water, and Juan says that he's floating in two world's. When black and Kevin were smoking by the beach, Kevin says that alot of the people go to the water to drown their sorrows and runaway from there problems. I feel like it was kindve metaphorical, both of the scenes I mentioned to foreshadow his last chapter, in which he became a trapper, being lost in the world of gangbanging and drugs. So Chiron was essentially in the midst of both worlds and he chose to be in the water because it's where he was baptized and found himself, and who he could be
I had to watch this movie twice for it to really hit me. That kind of annoys me, that people in my friend group usually watch like 30 min of the movie and give up on it if it's not interesting. Or a single viewing is just set in stone when it shouldn't be like that. Moon light is timeless, I can't even bring myself to watch it again cus I'll be crying like a lil bitc-
i was always very confused about the music decided to be used during the juan and little scene; it’s quivering strings and it is a motif when it pops up at the end when kevin is making his food, sure it is the relationship of being yourself but why such an uncomfortable set of music ?
Love the video man first one here but I found the volume being so inconsistent between you and the movie clips that I struggled to hear or was shocked by a loud outburst might just be me keep it up tho
In the stairwell, Chiron walks in front of that blue lighting right after Kev says something to him about secrets. The way that Chiron looks shocked by this comment lead me to think that at this point they were already hinting about shared secret, but Chiron wasn't sure yet whether he was interpreting Kev wrong or whether there was potentially something there between them
Great video but your sound levels were off here and there. Sometimes characters were talking over you and some parts seem more quiet (muffled?) than others/ I only say this because i like your videos and want to suggest things like that.
cool video. just wanna point out that Kevin hadn't figured out his true identity. it was a facade. the scene you say that over is the one where he's bragging about having sex with a girl (which likely never happened as he's gay). He also punches Chiron soon after. If anything, Chiron was really himself earlier in the film. Later on is when Chiron lost himself. Where as Kevin found himself working as a chef.
"In the moonlight Black boys look blue" has nothing to do with being defined by skin color when he says it even though he's talking about colorism. But he is saying you have to define yourself and not let other people do that for you because obviously the story is not about race but sexuality.
how do you watch this entire film and entire analysis of this film and say that "the story is not about race" the story is every bit about race and sexuality. both intersect in this film. not everyone has a singular identity and it's insulting to erase that from this extremely black film (with a black cast, based on a black play, written by a black writer and with black director adapting it, and set in a historically black city of miami), bc you as a non black person are having problems understanding and relating to that aspect of it.
I guess because I'm black and for black people it's not about race. I am super familiar with my community. When it comes to issues not dealing with white people it's not about race. For white audiences it is but they don't come from our experience so that's what they see. Also I'm a queer person and I know how homophobic many black people can be. That's how I could say that.
Secondly the reason you know it's not about race is because there are no white people in the movie and no one is dealing with issues of systemic racism. They are dealing with issues of gender politics and sexuality. Just because a movie is about black people doesn't' mean race is always the central issue.
This is about race though, it's literally how black people react and handle being gay. There are no white people specifically BECAUSE it's about how a certain race of people interact with this sexuality. It's literally about both, just because it isn't on the topic of systematic racism doesn't mean it isn't about race.
So if it was about white people and their homophobia would it still be about race or a movie about a particular culture? Race is not an issue in this movie. Our lives don't revolve around white people.
He doesn't know who he is, because He didn't know God, and let the world define him. I was like him and God healed me in finding my identity was always in Him.
@@TruthInJesus1985 OR he is something people made up to justify their existence and to control others (for the better mostly) I don't have a problem with religion but lately I have seen a lot of spam comments with the sky wizard and bible quotes. It's just cringe
@@-Scrapper- OK, so why do you adopt patterns of the world and continue to feel like they are your own? What moral compass is there, when there is no needle pointing you in the direction you need to go? People do it out of love, mostly, like if you saw someone driving a car into oncoming traffic... People would do everything to try and get their attention so that they turn around to safety...
@@TruthInJesus1985 Because it's what's good for them. Just because I don't want to get into a heaven doesn't mean I'm going full pillager mode. I balance out what's good and wrong and choose my own morals. Like it doesn't really matter if you steal a dollar from a millionaire and give it to a hungry child. People let the bible be infront of logic when it comes to today's controversial things like abortion and lgbtq stuff
