One of my favorite bits of storytelling through lighting in Moonlight (2016)
In the first act of the film, Juan tells Chiron the story of a woman who once told him, “Running around, catching up all that light, in moonlight black boys look blue. You blue,” and he unofficially gives that nickname to Chiron. From then on, the color blue represents that little kid inside of him, his queerness, his true self. It’s a hint at the complexity inside of his hard outward character. And once he becomes a drug dealer, mirroring Juan, he goes by Black.
My favorite little detail is in this scene. They’re in the car together driving over to Kevin’s place, and Kevin looks just about ready to eat him alive. And Chiron goes; “What you looking at me like that for?” He gets all flustered and laughs for the first time since we’ve met this adult version of him.
And for a short moment as he’s laughing, a light from the outsides bathes him in blue light, shining directly at us, as if that blue is coming right out of him. It can’t be contained any longer, it’s fighting to break out. It’s a glimpse of Kevin’s view as he’s able to see through the gangster facade and sees the real Chiron, Blue.
