Moonlight (2016, Barry Jenkins)
14/11/2023
Moonlight is a 2016 film written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney.
The film was positively criticized and won numerous awards, including the Best Film Award from the National Society of Film Critics, the Golden Globe for Best Drama and three Oscars for Best supporting actor, for best non-original screenplay and for best film: it is the first LGBT-themed film to obtain this recognition (after Philadelphia), as well as the first with a cast entirely made up of African Americans, and the second for the highest grossing low (behind The Hurt Locker which won in 2010).
Chiron is an African-American child originally from Liberty City, called "Little" by everyone. He and his mother live together in a Miami neighborhood marked by drugs and violence.
As an adult Chiron becomes a drug dealer in a bad neighborhood of Atlanta and there he tries to live on his own, armed with his faithful revolver.
In 2003, Tarell Alvin McCraney wrote a semi-autobiographical play, In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, partly to deal with the death of his AIDS-stricken mother.
After the release of his first film, Medicine for Melancholy in 2008, Barry Jenkins wrote several screenplays, none of which went into production. He and producer Romanski began brainstorming sessions via video chat twice a month about his projects, and shortly thereafter Jenkins began work on the script for McCraney, which he learned about through Borscht's Miami arts collective. After consulting with McCraney, Jenkins wrote the first draft of the film during a month-long stay in Brussels.
Jenkins sought financing for the film throughout 2013, finding success after sharing the script with Plan B Entertainment executives at that year's Telluride Film Festival. Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner became producers of the film, while A24 undertook to finance it and handle worldwide distribution, which also marked the company's first production.
The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival and subsequently at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, and at the New York Film Festival in October.
The film was chosen as the opening film of the 2016 Rome Film Festival. Its first television appearance took place on 4 March 2018 on Sky Cinema with the title Moonlight - Tre storie di una vita.
On the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film receives 98% of positive professional reviews with an average rating of 9.00 out of 10 based on 384 critics, while on Metacritic it obtains a score of 99 out of 100 based on 53 criticism.
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James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. Over his career, he has received three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. He was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009 and the Honorary Academy Award in 2011.
Suffering from a stutter in childhood, Jones has said that poetry and acting helped him overcome the disability. A pre-med major in college, he served in the United States Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting. Since his Broadway debut in 1957, he has performed in several Shakespeare plays including Othello, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and King Lear. Jones worked steadily in theater winning his first Tony Award in 1968 for his role in The Great White Hope, which he reprised in the 1970 film adaptation earning him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.
Jones won his second Tony Award in 1987 for his role in August Wilson's Fences. He was further Tony nominated for his roles in On Golden Pond (2005), and The Best Man (2012). Other Broadway performances include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010–2011), You Can't Take It with You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015–2016). He received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.
Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964). He received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Claudine (1974). Jones gained international fame for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, beginning with the original 1977 film. Jones' other notable roles include in Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), The Sandlot (1993), and The Lion King (1994). Jones has reprised his roles in Star Wars media, The Lion King (2019), and Coming 2 America (2021).
Source: African Archives
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The Night Manager will be returning for two more seasons with Tom Hiddleston at the helm once again, it has been reported.
The renewal of the hit adaptation of John le Carré’s 1993 novel, which aired to great fanfare eight years ago, has been greenlit by Amazon Prime and the BBC, according to Deadline.
It is understood that the new seasons about the hotel-manager-turned-spy will be filmed later this year in London and South America.
According to reports, David Farr – who wrote the original series – has been brought back to write season two.
The first series, which won two Emmys and three Golden Globes, featured an impressive cast including Olivia Colman, Elizabeth Debicki, Tom Hollander and David Harewood.
It followed Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine, the former British soldier who is recruited by the manager of a Foreign Office taskforce to infiltrate an arms dealer’s inner circle while he is the night manager of a luxury Cairo hotel.
The series quickly became one of the top-rated UK dramas of 2016 and spawned a number of subsequent le Carré adaptations from The Ink Factory, the production company run by le Carré’s sons Simon and Stephen Cornwell.
The new adaptation will be set in the present day, according to Deadline, and will follow Hiddleston’s Pine facing a new and more deadly challenge after being informed that arms dealer Richard Roper – played by Hugh Laurie – is dead.
Laurie, Colman and Hiddleston all won Golden Globes for their performances in the 2016 spy thriller, which became an international success and even led to rumours at the time that Hiddleston, 43, could be the next James Bond.
While the Bond rumours may have been put to bed, it remains to be seen where the plot may take Pine, seeing as Le Carré‘s novel has no sequel.
When Laurie was asked in 2016 whether the series would return, he said: “It’s based on a novel, we’ve got to the end of the novel and John le Carré has yet to write another novel. So in cold practical terms, no, we’re done.”
Le Carré, who died in 2020, took a very hands-off approach to the first series, but was said to be pleasantly surprised by the alterations Farr made to his novel for the script.
Charlotte Moore, the BBC TV chief, told The Telegraph in 2017 that “Le Carré is very involved” in discussions about the next series, saying: “We wouldn’t be talking with them if he didn’t think it was a good idea.”
Announcing the new series, Ms Moore said: “After years of fervent speculation I’m incredibly excited to confirm that The Night Manager is returning to the BBC for two more series.”
“Of course he wants to take part in it, it’s his work. He will definitely be involved in what we do next,” she added.
The Telegraph has contacted Le Carré’s estate for comment on the announcement of the new seasons.
Previously, Susanne Bier, who won an Emmy for directing the first series, revealed that scripts for a second instalment were “slowly being developed”, but she said writers were wary about being able to create the same hit again.
Elizabeth Debicki, Tom Hiddleston, Susanne Bier and Hugh Laurie at the premiere of the first season
Elizabeth Debicki, Tom Hiddleston, Susanne Bier and Hugh Laurie at the premiere of the first season Credit: Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Farr agreed with this sentiment at the time, telling Variety in 2016 that he was “not keen” to do a second series, adding: “I liked the fact that the story ended where the story ended.
“But that’s entirely personal. Given the characters, there is a potential for something more to happen, and I’m sure someone could find the right idea. But for me it’s done. My simple feeling is that I wouldn’t be able to make the next one as good.”
Hiddleston, 43, will be returning to executive produce the new seasons as well as play Pine.
The British actor said: “The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on. The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect.”
Simon and Stephen Cornwell said season one proved “a landmark moment for the golden era of television – uniting on-screen and behind-the-camera talent at the top of their game – and an audience reception which was beyond our wildest imagining”.
“Revisiting the story of Pine also means going beyond the events of John le Carré’s original work: that is a decision we have not taken lightly, but his compelling characters and the vision David [Farr] has for their next chapter were irresistible,” they added.
Vernon Sanders, the Amazon MGM Studios head of television, added: “We are elated to bring additional seasons of The Night Manager to our Prime Video customers.
“The combination of terrific source material, the wonderful team at The Ink Factory, a great writer in David Farr, an award-winning director in Georgi Banks-Davies, as well as the talented cast truly make the series the full package.”
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