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The Greatest Food Film Ever Made
A red blend gushes into a yellowing pebbled cafeteria cup. Dominating sweet aromas of ripe berries, stone fruit and bitter plum splash and swim into the atmosphere. The sounds of a spatula scraping a flat-top serenade the smell of flattened and blackened pollo, soapy cilantro, sweet steamed rice & sugary caramelized onion. In the 2017 Academy Award winning motion picture Moonlight, the three character phases of the evolving protagonist: Little, Chiron and Black’s life is shaped by nurturers from unusual places. These nurturers shape Chiron in dramatic fashion in difficult places and they often do so at a table adorned with steaming helpings of chicken & rice. Food is found in more scenes in Moonlight than some of the major characters, but it is often overlooked as just a prop. In a powerful scene where Chiron learns that his paternal mentor supplies drugs to his mother, a glass of Sunny-D sits beading on the table and adds an additional layer of tension. Often the dish, with no serious food stylist or Instagram food-porn-style photography becomes an afterthought to the casual viewer. This is a major mistake because the food plays as much of a part in the film as any of the characters do. This is the cause of much despair to the food fanatic film fans that are investing their valuable viewing hours into the Netflix-spawned golden age of food film. Chang’s Ugly Delicious, Boardwalk Picture’s Chef’s Table &…
