MOONLIGHT
How is this for timing. Just two days after being announced Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards, Moonlight makes its way to Blu-ray. Barry Jenkins’ follow up to Medicine for Melancholy is an emotional triumph about the story of Chiron (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes), and African-American struggling with his sexuality and identity. While I’ll admit that La La Land was my favorite film of 2016, Moonlight was justly deserving of its Best Picture win. From its opening tracking shot of Juan (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) to its seamless editing as Chiron grows from child to adult, Jenkins’ film is a delicate journey that explores what it means to be a homosexual black man. But the themes explored are universal so it goes beyond the color of one’s skin. In my full review, I acknowledged that Moonlight “is as powerful as it is timeless.” I stand by those words.
Because of the quick release by A24 and Lionsgate Home Entertainment, the Blu-ray contains only a few extras. The longest is Barry Jenkins supplying an audio commentary. Also to be found is three featurettes of the EPK variety (“Ensemble of Emotion: Making Moonlight,” “Poetry Through Collaboration: The Music of Moonlight,” and “Cruel Beauty: Filming in Miami”).
