Moonlight Film Analysis Essay Example

Moonlight, a film by Barry Jenkins, is about a young black man named Chiron who lives and grows up in Miami, Florida. It gives the viewers an insight into his life in three chapters on his journey to becoming a man and the community that surrounds and helps him become the man he was meant to be. This film is significant for quite a few reasons, from its representation of LGBTQ characters and their experiences to its beautiful and deep symbolism throughout the film. The scene I chose to focus on for this paper takes place from 1:11:32 to 1:16:28. This scene is significant for its wonderful use of symbolism in various ways and is so crucial for deepening our understanding of this amazing film.

One symbol, that is used throughout the entirety of the film, is the color blue. This specific scene does not have as much blue as quite a few other scenes, but the color is still so important to the scene and symbolizes a few different things. During the phone call, there is a cyan light shining on Kevin the entire time. To me, this symbolizes the tranquility and peace that Kevin feels now that he has found a place and job, as a cook, where he feels like he truly belongs and is meant to be. The blue light can also represent the inner growth that Kevin has gone through and that he is finding who he truly is inside, by discovering his love for cooking and getting the courage to call Chiron and put the past behind and try to start anew. Kevin now has a job that he loves and is taking charge of things compared to early in the film when he was more of a follower, to the point where he beat up his friend Chiron in order to fit in, which shows some real growth inside of him. Chiron has blue walls in his bedroom which to me symbolizes the sadness that is surrounding his mind and his life. The reason that his sadness exists inside Chiron is that he did not follow his feelings for Kevin, who now has a whole new life without Chiron, and he regrets this deeply as he has never loved anyone else as much as Kevin and he does not have a life that he wants or dreams about. Chiron is even wearing blue underwear at the end of this scene, which shows just how attached to him this sadness is and how it is almost a part of him at this point. But it also shows inner growth inside of Chiron as, after the phone call, he has realized that he needs to follow his true feelings and accept who he is by going to visit Kevin and telling Kevin about his feelings towards him.

Sometimes silence speaks louder than words and in this scene of Moonlight, that could not be more true. The silence that can be both heard and felt in this scene symbolizes the longing within Chiron. the longing for a life that he wants and dreams about like Kevin now has obtained. The silence also represents his longing to be with Kevin, a longing that he has repressed along with his feelings for Kevin, due to being bullied by Terrell and others due to their homophobic beliefs and their assumptions about Chiron. But Chiron feels this longing in the silence over the phone, this silence with Kevin gives him the space he needs to realize that he needs to follow his feelings and go meet up with Kevin.

Chiron has what I can only assume to be a dream based on the next shots focusing on Kevin which have, to me, a very dreamlike quality. The dream itself is another symbol of Chiron’s longing to be with Kevin and to be able to be himself and follow his feelings. But within the dream, there is another distinct symbol, the cigarette that Kevin is smoking. The cigarette symbolizes Chiron’s almost addiction to Kevin. Chiron is somewhat obsessed with Kevin, and his feelings for Kevin are addictive to him. He can not stop thinking about Kevin and is unable to quit him. Like someone trying to quit a drug, he keeps thinking and dreaming about Kevin and what life would be like with him and he also has this need to be with and around him. The cigarette also symbolizes that Chiron views Kevin as a drug. Chiron has been told and taught that his feelings are wrong, and has even been bullied for who he is. He now believes that his homosexuality is wrong. Therefore, he views his feelings toward Kevin as bad, like a drug. The cigarette is also a phallic symbol, symbolizing male domination and power which somewhat goes along with one last thing about the dream that is huge in symbolizing both the longing Chiron has for Kevin and how he feels about Kevin as well as the phallic and underlying sexual nature of the dream, this being what he realizes after he has woken up from the dream, which is that he has had a wet dream.

While only mentioned once, by Kevin during the phone call with Chiron, and never actually seen, I still feel that the jukebox holds powerful symbolism in this scene. The jukebox, while being only minimal to the plot of the film when looked at only on the surface level, is a powerful symbol of the friendship that Kevin and Chiron share. The jukebox is a symbol of the fun that Kevin and Chiron shared and used to have with each other before they had a fight and parted ways. This jukebox is also a symbol of reconnection. The jukebox, and playing a song for Chiron, is the last thing that Kevin talks about and Kevin even goes on to state that the jukebox reminded him about Chiron. This is, presumably, a big reason why he called Chiron to talk that night and invited him to come to visit. The camera also focuses on Chiron’s expressions as Kevin is telling him this and, to me, it seems as though the mere mention of the jukebox, and Kevin playing a song on the jukebox for him, convinces Chiron that he needs to go visit Kevin. I feel that without the mention of the jukebox, most of chapter three of the film might not have been able to happen.

This scene is significant for its well-done and wide use of symbolism which is imperative for deepening the viewer's understanding of the film. The color blue symbolizes tranquility, sadness, inner growth, and finding yourself. The silence symbolizes Chiron’s longing for both Kevin and the life that he dreams of having. Chiron’s dream symbolizes his longing for Kevin and to be able to be himself and follow his feelings. Finally, Jukebox is a symbol of the friendship that is shared between Kevin and Chiron and the fun times they shared as kids, as well as a symbol of their reconnection. These are important because it shows the deep attention to detail that goes into all aspects of making a film. The blue, the cigarette, and the jukebox are worked in as part of the mise-en-scene of the film. The silence is part of the sound of the film and the nature of the dream is only understandable due to the cinematography of the film.