Cinematography in Real Women
Compare and contrast the Cinematography in Real Women Have Curves Links to an external site. (dir. Patricia Cardoso, 2002 – find it on Swank.) and Moonlight Links to an external site. (dir. Barry Jenkins, 2016 – find it on Swank.) Both films are presenting “portraits” of their main character (“Little/Chiron/Black” in Moonlight, and “Ana” in Real Women Have Curves). In doing so, they invite viewers to become immersed in the intimacies of identity.
“Who is you?” is a line from Moonlight—one posed to “Black” from his friend, Kevin. As viewers of this film, we are shown who this man is, and how key moments from his childhood shaped his identity—and this is all shown to us, through the film’s strategic, deliberate cinematography. Similarly in Real Women Have Curves, we are shown some key moments in Ana\’s emerging adulthood where she is most vulnerable, broken, strong, and determined. These intimate, visual expressions of identity are painful to watch at points, though transformative for the viewer, hopefully.
How do directors Patricia Cardoso (Real Women Have Curves) and Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) use the various elements of cinematography to foster viewers’ identification with and empathy for their main character? What is similar about their visual approaches; what is different? In your response, cite at least two specific examples from each film as they pertain to specific cinematographic elements in each film (camera angles, shot types/proxemics, shot length, point of view, lighting, camera movement, color and/or tonal range, and/or composition).
In the final paragraph or sentence of your exercise, tell me in one word or short phrase who you think these characters are based on your experience of “inhabiting” their identity over the course of each film. This is your chance to describe or “diagnose” these characters; likely, your word or short phrase will be/will include an adjective.
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