The movie that has everyone talking at this year’s Oscars and has cleaned up at all the other awards ceremonies so far is La La Land.
With a whopping 14 nominations for Oscar awards, La La Land is bound to win big, and will likely make Oscars history for the most wins of all time. The record is currently held by Titanic, Ben Hur and Lord of the Rings: Return Of The King, which all won 11 Oscars.
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However when it comes to Best Picture, La La Land should not take away the prize. Of the nominations, it’s dazzling, got a wonderful soundtrack and is beautifully acted, but it is not the best picture.
The clear winner by a mile should be Moonlight. And here’s why.
We’ve Never Seen Anything Like It Before
This movie is semi-autobiographical for director Barry Jenkins and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, and this brings the characters to life. Telling the story of a black man growing up in a Miami neighbourhood fraught with drug abuse and violence, we are drawn into a world where black characters are not idealised or stereotyped by Hollywood – these are real, flawed characters. We follow Chiron through his childhood, teenage years and adulthood, and his discovery that he is sexually attracted to men.
There is not a single white actor in the whole film, and while surely revolutionary, this is also important to the setting. It’s a self-operating black community where Chiron can peer into his future through his mother, who is a drug-user, and his father-figure mentor, Juan (played beautifully by Mahershala Ali), who is a drug dealer.
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It’s Beautifully Shot, And Acted
There is some incredible camera work in this film – from the way the camera gently bobbed along the water when Juan was teaching Chiron to swim, to the way it swings around Juan during the first drug dealer scene, always wary of danger.
The actors for each stage of Chiron’s life were also perfectly chosen for the role. Alex R. Hibbert’s portrayal of Chiron as a child will break your heart as he navigates life with his cocaine addicted mother and escapes his childhood bullies. Ashton Sanders as teenage Chiron creates emotion with the camera at every glance. And Trevante Rhodes shows the devastating path his character has taken with mastery.
The Critics Are Picking It To Be The Winner
This film is important. It’s revolutionary in the way that black stories have been told, and it deserves to be acknowledged as such. Critics from The New Yorker, The Guardian, and Business Insider have tipped it to be the winner, and we whole-heartedly agree. If La La Land wins, it will prove Hollywood is just as narcissistic as it is stereotyped to be, celebrating a movie about the industry rather than a movie that will change the way stories are told in the future.
Best of luck, Moonlight!
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