3 romantic movies to watch black people shine on screen...
3 romantic movies to watch black people shine on screen...
African American romantic movies
Moonlight
Moonlight, produced by Barry Jenkins was released in 2016. It is an adaptation of the play Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue written by Tarell Alvin McCraney and based on his own life and questioning. It received many awards such as Oscar, Golden Globe or NAACP.
This very poetical movie depicts the life of Chiron, a young homosexual black boy in a poor neighborhood of Miami. We follow his path, how he manages to face obstacles such as his drug addicted mother or being beat up by his classmates. The movie is divided in three parts, Chiron’s childhood, teenage years and adulthood. During almost two hours, we try to understand his calm and his urges through deeply touching scenes filled with emotions.
Barry Jenkins often sheds light on the systemic disadvantage due to the chemical process used to develop celluloid negatives. Indeed, the techniques used during the 20th century were based on white audience expectations, so white people looked better than black people on screen. Today, he decided to magnify his characters who literally glow in his movies.
“In moonlight black boys look blue.”
2. WAVES
Waves is an interesting movie because it portrays teenagers’ life in a very innovative way, merging romance and drama, childish behaviors and grown up trubles. I would say that it is in the line of tv shows such as Euphoria created by Sam Levinson.
Waves is an American drama film written and produced by Trey Edwards Shults. It was released in novembre 2019 in the United States and is currently available on Netflix.
The movie is divided in two parts, the first one is very intense and brutal. It tells the story of Tyler Williams, a teenager in senior year. He loves his girlfriend Alexis Lopez, played by Alexa Demie but when she annonces she is pregnant, everything changes. We discover the life of a reckless couple until the final fight which will bring Tyler to jail.
The second part focuses on Emily, Tyler’s little sister. She faces family damages caused by her brother incarceration. She struggles building a proper relationship with her parents. She feels lonely until she meets Luke who will help her escape her daily issues and anxiety. The last hour of the movie is immersed into love, sweetness and forgiveness.
The frame movement, the soundtrack, the acting and the colors are juste beautiful. It depicts a hard reality in a very poetic way.
I had to watch the movies in two parts to fully appreciate it. The first part was, in my opinion, too heavy but after seeing the second part I understood the purpose of this intensity. Now, I would recommend to watch it in one sitting and to take the time to enjoy it.
3. Queen & Slim
Directed by Melina Matsoukas, this romantic movie was released in 2019. Starring the famous Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, it takes place nowadays, in the United States. The story is about a woman (Queen) and a man (Slim) who meet on Tinder and date for the first time in a restaurant. After dinner, Slim wants to drive Queen home but, on their way, they are pull over by a policeman. And then goes the basic scenario, the policeman is a racist and wants to arrest them, he becomes violent and overwhelmed by a situation he created. When he is about to shoot at Slim, Queen manages to take a gun and kill him.
From here, they start a journey through the United States to escape law enforcement. Step by step, they hide in many black neighborhoods which allows us to have a large perspective on several African American communities. Meanwhile, they get closer and closer to finally fall in love.
Images are very beautiful because of a vintage lens which gives a peculiar temporality and very colorful shots.
In my opinion, the movie was a bit too long because there isn’t a lot actions. Furthermore, the scenario could focus more on the characters’ personalities and there was sometimes too many stereotypes.