Moonlight

Night

Published on April 5, 2018April 5, 2018 by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

Oh, I cannot help that night has loved me

More so than any reality day brought;

For night has soothed my dreams and set me free

Of the insanity that life has sought.

The loneliness people gave is day born;

None of the hours of night has whipped my soul;

While day has taught me anguish and scorn,

Night vents sorrow and resurrects me whole.

Sunlight reflects all the wrong in this life,

I doubt not it has taught me well to learn;

But starlight held my futile dreams through strife,

And it taught me to soothe: I do not burn.

I give my love through night, to night I turn;

Through day I may pass, for night I yet yearn.

Being Politically Correct

Published on March 6, 2018July 18, 2024 by Harpreet Chhachhia1 Comment

I was just having a conversation with a friend on WhatsApp and he asked me, knowing how much I love the movies, how I liked the Oscars, this year. Honestly speaking, I was a little irritated by all the political correctness. Sometimes I feel the hosts of the show get a lot more leeway – let me correct myself, all of the leeway – at making astute jokes at the hypocrisy of the attitude behind most people’s motives.

I think everyone who should be given their due should be given it immediately. For example, I wish James Ivory was felicitated when Merchant was alive, when they brought out the phenomenal (and of flawed, too, in places, as any art can be – Maurice, for example, was dark haired, not a blond as shown in the movie – a tiny detail that irked me to no end) retelling of the E. M. Forster novel, Maurice. It just won an award for Best Costume Design in 1988. I mean, really? That’s all people got from such a ground-breaking movie? Clothes? I mean, fashion and being gay, what a cliché!

In my humble opinion, The Shape of Water was a brilliant movie but when shown in comparison to Call Me By Your Name or Three Billboards In Ebbing, Missourie, it pales a little. But of course, the Academy must be politically correct, it had a girl who couldn’t speak, a fish (god) out of water, a cruel white man with a love for guns, a black compatriot and a gay side-kick. Everything that probably Donald Trump would hate, and I would love.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the nominees, but the selection process must be based on the movies themselves, and of course, the message that they bring is important, but we have to weigh the ‘collateral beauty’ of art when talking about the Oscars.

I resent that Greta Gerwig was made a nominee just because Natalie Portman happened to jokingly mention the line-up of all male directors at the Golden Globes for best director. Lady Bird is brilliant, the leads did a fantastic job of assaying the roles and it hit all the right spots of teenage angst. But bring Greta in for that, not just for the fact that she is woman. You have to look above and beyond this natural phenomenon – and if she was awesome, put her in the line-up of all the award ceremonies. I felt like jumping out of a moving car, too.

If everyone declares Time’s Up, and protest by wearing black, make it a fait accompli and wear black for all the award functions. Wearing black for one award function proves what exactly? In that case, Meher Tatna, Blanca Blanco and Barbara Meier had it right: it’s not what you wear that makes a difference, it’s how you think and what you believe in your heart. It would have been so cool if all the women wore black for all the award ceremonies this year. That would have been a adequate statement.

“Oh, I can’t wear this brilliant piece for the Globes, but, let’s just wait for the Oscars, that’s the main event anyway.” Rolling eyes now.

Personally speaking, because this is all a personal opinion anyway, I don’t get how The Black Panther and Get Out are getting all these accolades. They are good movies, one is fantasy fiction and the other is a dark satire, no doubt that they are worthy of spending your time and money on, but why the hoopla? But against Lilies of the Field, To Sir With Love, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Color Purple, Hotel Rwanda, Invictus, Fences, Hidden Figures and Moonlight there is absolutely no comparison.

I was surprised when Remember Me won Best Song, I mean, in the current state of affairs, This Is Me should have won – it works for the politically correct theme being set up.

The Oscars got it right with Best Adapted Screenplay, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Gary Oldman. Thankfully.

It is sad to note, but maybe this has always been a sign of the times, that being politically correct and not speaking the truth for fear of chastisement is now become the norm of our Age. We all live in fear of being branded Right or Left, Capitalist or Communist, Right or Wrong that we fail to appreciate the beautiful, even if we do not agree with it.

So, in conclusion then, setting a paradox for this entire blog entry, I’d say I do not agree with many of the wins at the Oscars, but if other people consider them deservingly beautiful, and not to make their choice politically correct, then they rightfully won.

Published on January 27, 2017March 30, 2018 by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

In moonlight, black boys look blue. The moon and being blue, surreal and vibrant. I watched the movie with trepidation, I thought like most movies dealing with homosexuality, the end would be tragic. But it’s actually beautiful. Breath-taking almost.

My favoured colour tones permeate the tone of the movie. Blue, white and black. The movie divides into three.

i. Little – the hounding of a boy thought to be different. The lack of a father figure, and soon, the lack of maternal love. The bullying of other children, because children are instinctual, they sense differences, but most are also doubly cruel because they can. No love forthcoming from the mother who also cannot face with the conclusion she has drawn about her son’s sexuality. She plunges into drugs – and the only consolation Little derives is from, ironically, a drug dealer and his partner.

ii. Chiron – teen years, filled with angst, because the bullying has only got worse. In a world filled with hypermasculinity, Chiron has no recourse but to hide away. The one who should be protecting him, has thrown him into the wild, bereft and alone. The night he spends haunting the metro and the beach because he cannot return home is so tragic that it makes your heart crumple inward. The only hope he receives is from his childhood friend, Kevin. That hope is short-lived and ends in disaster.

iii. Black – a grown man now, embodying that same masculinity that he used to run away from. The sensitivity of Little and Chiron finds its way in nuances of Black. The character has evolved and yet the silver on the teeth is just a façade.

The movie touches each theme so delicately, it’s almost as though it was moonlight itself. Silvery and effervescent. The starkness of reality hits you with such force like the sun shooting directly into your eyes, before the dark envelopes you again. The night provides a respite, whenever we see the character go through the experiences that make him better, we see them happen at night. It is only under moonlight that we see the beauty.

Ashton Sanders is spectacular, as is Naomie Harris. James Laxton has done a wonderful job with cinematography, you feel the emotions through the camera almost as much through the actors.

The world is of a black boy, a black teenager and a black man – but the themes of drug abuse, neglect, imprisonment, poverty, abandonment and bullying are so prevalent that the movie can speak to its audience on any level. The cinematography is brilliant, the dept of fields used create a singular focus on the character presented – the world is myopic and seen through each individual lens. It brings down the larger vision to the inevitability of fate. But pathos is presented in such a fantastic aura of dappled light that makes you understand how poetry is created. Even the ice water used as a cold transition cannot truly wash away the goodness within Chiron. And that is what makes you root for him.