I just watched this first major film of Barry Jenkins, which was very different from his other films, Moonlight (2016) and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). The color tones of this film were muted so it wasn't completely in black-and-white which fit with the overall tenor of the movie which made it interesting. The plot is simple: it chronicles the short romance of Micah (played by Wyatt Cenac) and Jo (played by Tracey Heggins), two Black people in their 20s in San Fransisco, taking place across one day apparently but it seems like 2-3 days. Not only do they both discuss relationship of Black people (7% of San Fransisco) to White people in the city, specifically "hipster" people, but differences in class. Micah works to install aquariums while Jo has no job but only makes shirts with female artists emblazoned on them, depending on her White boyfriend, a curator in London, whom is always distant.
There are some other important elements of this film. For one there is very little dialogue and Jenkins attempts to make it look like you are right there with the actors. The colors seem to raise and deepen when Micah and Jo are happy, ending with full color at the end. According to the director certain scenes in the film have more color when characters are not thinking about housing or race issues, which is interesting. In some way both characters are relatively intellectual, going to varying museums, one for MLK and another for Black art. I also liked the elements that look dated now such as the cell phones of a certain type and Micah literally searching for Jo on Myspace, when people would now just search on Facebook for instance. Some elements of the film could seem out of place, like the 5-10 minute scene of a community meeting about gentrification in San Francisco but it completely fits and is important to have in the film.
In a profound way, the film is melancholy but that is the point. Jo is pulled to the White world by her boyfriend, museums, and their curators but then to the Black world by her fling with Micah. It reminds me a bit of the division of Starr between the White and Black world in The Hate U Give, which came out last year. Micah and Jo were both strong-willed characters, each in their own way. It is a sweet and intimate with Micah as pushy as she thinks that the division between the White and Black world is not as hard and fast as Micah makes it. This is also interesting because Jenkins is somewhat at the top the Hollyweird heap now but wasn't then. This film really throws you into the culture of San Francisco more than Sorry to Bother You does for Oakland I'd argue. This film also covers the idea of identity with Micah seeing himself as Black more than a man while Jo doesn't want to be so limiting, refusing to do the same, in a sense assimilating into White culture you could say.
With that I'm ending this review by saying this film is powerful and unlike other films I have seen, fully deserving of a rating of 10 out of 10.
There are some other important elements of this film. For one there is very little dialogue and Jenkins attempts to make it look like you are right there with the actors. The colors seem to raise and deepen when Micah and Jo are happy, ending with full color at the end. According to the director certain scenes in the film have more color when characters are not thinking about housing or race issues, which is interesting. In some way both characters are relatively intellectual, going to varying museums, one for MLK and another for Black art. I also liked the elements that look dated now such as the cell phones of a certain type and Micah literally searching for Jo on Myspace, when people would now just search on Facebook for instance. Some elements of the film could seem out of place, like the 5-10 minute scene of a community meeting about gentrification in San Francisco but it completely fits and is important to have in the film.
In a profound way, the film is melancholy but that is the point. Jo is pulled to the White world by her boyfriend, museums, and their curators but then to the Black world by her fling with Micah. It reminds me a bit of the division of Starr between the White and Black world in The Hate U Give, which came out last year. Micah and Jo were both strong-willed characters, each in their own way. It is a sweet and intimate with Micah as pushy as she thinks that the division between the White and Black world is not as hard and fast as Micah makes it. This is also interesting because Jenkins is somewhat at the top the Hollyweird heap now but wasn't then. This film really throws you into the culture of San Francisco more than Sorry to Bother You does for Oakland I'd argue. This film also covers the idea of identity with Micah seeing himself as Black more than a man while Jo doesn't want to be so limiting, refusing to do the same, in a sense assimilating into White culture you could say.
With that I'm ending this review by saying this film is powerful and unlike other films I have seen, fully deserving of a rating of 10 out of 10.