{"id":10003,"date":"2014-11-16T16:59:29","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T00:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviesharkdeblore.com\/site\/?p=10003"},"modified":"2014-11-16T17:06:47","modified_gmt":"2014-11-17T01:06:47","slug":"beyond-the-lights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/beyond-the-lights\/","title":{"rendered":"BEYOND THE LIGHTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leave it to writer\/director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the driving force behind the award-winning \u201cLove & Basketball\u201d and \u201cThe Secret Life of Bees\u201d, to jump into the callous coldness of the music industry as her newest playground with \u201cBeyond the Lights\u201d.\u00a0 An emotionally powerful film that digs deep behind and beyond the lights, \u201cBeyond the Lights” is, in many respects, a cautionary tale not only about “the business” but about the relationship between parents and children; fathers and sons\/mothers and daughters and the desires and pressures on both sides of every relationship, all told through the eyes of Noni, a true talent coming into her own as a woman, trying to find her own voice and not her mother’s,\u00a0 and make it be heard in the world.<\/p>\n

\"Minnie<\/a>
Minnie Driver and Gugu Mbatha-Raw<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We first meet Macy Jean and her 10-year old daughter Noni in 1998 London where Macy Jean is doing more than a \u201cMama Rose\u201d head game on Noni.\u00a0 Noni, a bespectacled shy girl with uncooperative unruly natty hair, clearly loves to sing, although she may not love to perform.\u00a0 Pushing and driving Noni to win a local talent contest, one is immediately swept into the frustrated stage mother syndrome as Noni, coifed, dressed and posed to Macy\u2019s specifications, comes in second despite a through-the-roof acapella performance of Nina Simone\u2019s \u201cBlackbird\u201d.\u00a0 While Noni is thrilled to have won a trophy, same can\u2019t be said for Macy Jean who manhandles the child, ragging her from the contest, hauls her out into the parking lot, chastising and lecturing in the same breath, \u201cYou wanna be a runner-up? Or do you wanna be a winner?\u2019\u00a0 Due either to fear of her mother or an inner desire to truly be a winner, Noni smashes her trophy onto the ground.<\/p>\n

\"beyond<\/a>
India Jean-Jacques<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fast forward to present day and Macy Jean is in high-powered manager mode, having led Noni to stardom thanks to triple recordings and a beyond sexually suggestive music video with the hottest superstar of the day, a white rapper named Kid Culprit.\u00a0 No longer the adorable little girl singing \u201cBlackbird\u201d, Noni is now tricked out with weaves and chains and barely-here-clothes with an offensively arrogant attitude to match, as she writhes on stage with the hottest platinum selling rapper of the day, Kid Culprit, at the Billboard Awards.\u00a0 But something doesn\u2019t feel right, particularly as you watch Noni and Macy Jean on what should be on the happiest nights of their lives given the awards Noni and Kid just racked up.<\/p>\n

Back in her hotel, instead of resting, Noni attempts a swan dive off the upper level balcony of her hotel, only to be rescued at the last second by off-duty LAPD officer, Kaz Nicol, doing extra duty as a bodyguard.\u00a0 While Macy goes into spin mode for the press, dismissing the incident as a \u201ctrip and almost fall\u201d due to too much celebrating, and while Kaz is being hailed as hero, something else is playing out \u201cbeyond the lights.\u201d\u00a0 While paparazzi are digging deeper believing there\u2019s more to the \u2018accident\u201d than Macy is saying, Kaz \u201csees\u201d Noni for who she really is, something that intrigues Noni.<\/p>\n

\"Gugu<\/a>
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a relationship begins to blossom between the two, we begin to understand how much alike they are.\u00a0 We see how Macy operates and thinks, with Noni nothing more than a commodity.\u00a0 But we also start to learn about Kaz\u2019 life as the son of a single father, himself a respected police captain who is also strategizing his son\u2019s career for political office, just as Macy has been doing all these years with Noni.<\/p>\n

The closer Noni and Kaz get, the more each starts to think for themselves and try to make a move from under their parents\u2019 respective thumbs.\u00a0 And while neither parent thinks their child is good enough for the other, the one thing they agree upon is that they must keep the kids apart.\u00a0 With the record label threatening to drop Noni and political backers threatening to withdraw support of Kaz, can Noni and Kaz find their voices or will their parents drown them out.<\/p>\n

\"Gugu<\/a>
Gugu Mbatha-Raw<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gugu Mbatha-Raw is luminous.\u00a0 And talk about chameleonic!\u00a0 Kudos to hair and make-up for the slutty star persona look they achieve in transforming her as Noni, but there\u2019s not enough applause possible for Mbatha-Raw herself for delivering an emotional performance that is not only powerful, but emotionally and physically freeing.\u00a0 Particularly inspiring and illuminating is an outdoor concert scene that allows Noni\u2019s true personality, warmth and pure ebullient peace and joy radiate on screen.\u00a0 A magical moment.\u00a0 Mbatha-Raw is so emotionally pure and visceral, you can almost feel the weight of the burdens of life lifted not only from the character but from yourself sitting and watching.<\/p>\n

As co-star Tyler Christopher, who plays record executive Liam King, describes Minnie Driver, \u201cShe scared the hell out of me!!\u201d in not only one of their scenes together, but in a climactic kitchen scene between Driver and Mbatha-Raw, he\u2019s right on the money with that assessment.\u00a0\u00a0 Minnie Driver is riveting as Macy Jean.\u00a0 She is pure perfection as the driving, calculating, demanding “stage mother\/manager from hell”.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perhaps the most pivotal and powerful scene in the film – and one of Minnie Driver’s ultimate best single scenes over the course of her career to date\u00a0 – is the Noni-Macy “come to Jesus moment” kitchen scene or, as I like to call it, \u201cthe slap heard round the world\u201d moment.\u00a0\u00a0 Did Driver even take a breath?\u00a0 And a slap to her child with such a fluid forceful arm movement.\u00a0 It shocks you to the core just watching.\u00a0 Beautifully done on both parts with the calm confidence that Mbatha-Raw gives Noni in that scene and the ice cold rage that Driver brings in retaliation and reaction to Noni’s defiance to Macy’s iron fist.\u00a0 And it\u2019s this dynamic that gloriously fuels the mother-daughter relationship.<\/p>\n

\"Minnie<\/a>
Minnie Driver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Driver, for the kitchen confrontation and similar scenes to work, \u201c[I]t has to begin in a really familiar place that is honest and truthful, and you can\u2019t be sending messages about what\u2019s coming. . .You\u2019re either going to get there or you\u2019re not going to get there.\u00a0 There\u2019s no, \u2018Well, we\u2019ll cut and we\u2019ll come back in and pick it up.\u00a0 They\u2019ll blow tear sticks in your eyes and you can get all\u2026\u2019.\u00a0 It\u2019s like, \u2018No, you\u2019ve got to get there.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t get there, then we\u2019ll do it again until you do.\u2019\u00a0 But that\u2019s the best kind of scene if you\u2019re interested in acting, because they\u2019re the hardest ones to do where you really have to start 180 degrees away from where you end up.\u00a0 You have to find that journey.\u00a0 And that\u2019s playing; that\u2019s doing.\u00a0 For me, that\u2019s what I get paid for.\u00a0 That\u2019s the piece that I love the most. . . And you have to do it with somebody really good and have a really good director that will let you do that.\u201d\u00a0 As producer Stephanie Allain notes, \u201cBeing on set that day was very, very powerful.\u00a0 We were all literally crying.\u00a0 It was just a really impactful scene.\u201d\u00a0 Interesting is that while Driver makes the scene and the physicality of the \u201cslap heard round the world\u201d look and feel so believable, it wasn\u2019t full on reality.\u00a0 \u201cThat was actually the only frustrating bit because it was a stunt.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t quite get the angle.\u00a0 That was difficult for me to do.\u201d\u00a0 But showing the chemistry between herself and Mbatha-Raw, both burst into laughter as Driver jokingly admit with a wide grin, \u201cI really did want to smack her!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m sure [to Mbatha-Raw] you\u2019ve done something in your life that\u2019s worth a smack!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gugu<\/a>
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and company<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Mbatha-Raw, \u201cThat scene was my favorite scene when I first read the script in 2011, and it was my favorite scene to shoot.\u00a0 And it\u2019s my favorite scene in the movie.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those scenes that we\u2019ve just been waiting to happen through the whole movie, because it\u2019s the turning point when Noni finally literally finds her voice and not just on a singing level, but has the confidence and courage to confront her mother and to express some home truths and all of the things that she\u2019s been suppressing over the years.\u00a0 For me, it was explosive and I felt it was such a gift to work with Minnie. . .we really had to lock horns.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the emotion and distinctive persona is not exclusive to the ladies.\u00a0 As Captain David Nicol, Danny Glover then easily handles the role of quietly pushy father.\u00a0 The two parenting styles are wonderful to watch with each driving their child emotionally further from them.\u00a0 Terrific character construct with the parallel worlds.<\/p>\n

\"Danny<\/a>
Danny Glover and Nate Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then there\u2019s Nate Parker.\u00a0 Quietly commanding as Kaz, you feel a sincerity that just emanates from him with very few words.\u00a0 Interesting is to watch Parker and Glover as Parker has the ability to effect tiny nuance to speak volumes; like, screwing his lower jaw slightly and adding just the slightest eyebrow raising in questioning silence of what his dad is pushing him to do.\u00a0 Similarly, Parker is beyond effective when embodying the shock and awe at the haranguing of the paparazzi and the uncomfortableness that comes with being a significant part in the life of someone who is their focus.\u00a0 Just a snippet of reality that really nails today’s world.<\/p>\n

Nate Parker wistfully reflected on the experience, wishing Danny Glover was by his side talking about the film during the recent press day.\u00a0 \u201cThat relationship is one that I will always cherish –\u00a0 from rehearsal until the first time we did a scene, until the last time we had an opportunity to do a scene, until the last time we actually had the opportunity to see each other.\u00a0 He still calls me \u2018son\u2019 and I still call him \u2018pop\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Making the father-son relationship between Kaz and captain Nicol even more powerful is Parker\u2019s own life.\u00a0 \u201cMy father passed away when I was very young.\u00a0 Being someone who comes from a single parent household, you have ideas of what your life would have been like if you had a father in your life, the effect he would have had, the kind of wisdom he would have imparted on you, and what you would have wanted to do to make him proud.\u00a0 So, this relationship was very special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nate<\/a>
Nate Parker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reflecting on Glover\u2019s character, Parker notes, \u201cHere\u2019s a man who\u2019s stood in the gap in a time and in an environment where in this community there are not many father-son relationships that you see that are happening in a healthy way.\u00a0 So, to see this man want nothing more for his son than for him to go to law school and educate himself, get an education around creating change and policy, and then go into politics and eventually try to follow in the footsteps of President Barack Obama, they\u2019re all positive and good things.\u00a0 However, nonetheless, it was a projection of what he wanted for my character\u2019s life.\u201d\u00a0 Using that as fuel for his own performance, Parker opines on Kaz\u2019 motivations.\u00a0 \u201cThere was no opinion about [Kaz\u2019 life] until he looked into [Noni\u2019s] eyes and he saw her experience.\u00a0 He saw from this macro level of what was happening in her life that there was a congruence, that what was happening to her was happening to him.\u00a0 Then you saw this relationship with his father start to turn, and it didn\u2019t turn in a way that was obvious like, \u2018Dad, you\u2019re trying to destroy me and smother me.\u2019\u00a0 It was more like, \u2018What if I did something that I loved?\u00a0 What if I pursued something that meant something to me?\u00a0 What would that look like?\u2019\u00a0 I think that the more important thing is the reaction from the father.\u201d\u00a0 Parker gives full credit to Prince-Bythewood for \u201cthis healthy place\u201d for the relationship between Kaz and his father.\u00a0 \u201cIt was complex and I enjoyed playing it.<\/p>\n

But it’s the dynamics of Noni’s journey and\u00a0 that of Kaz which drives the emotion and the reactive nature of the child-parent relationships, as does the freshness and joy that erupts between Mbatha-Raw and Parker.<\/p>\n

Strong supporting performances not only come from Tyler Christopher, who delivers a solid presence as Liam King, but R&B superstar Machine Gun Kelly aka Richard Colson Baker who plays Kid Culprit.\u00a0 A standout and someone to put on your radar is India Jean-Jacques as the young Noni.<\/p>\n

\"Minnie<\/a>
Minnie Driver and India Jean-Jaques<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Writer\/Director Gina Prince-Bythewood knows her story, fleshes it out relatively well with great focus on the parent-child relationship from which all else stems and gives a voice to those desperately trying to find one.\u00a0 What could have been a worn-out \u201cbeen there, done that\u201d story in the hands of a lesser director, thanks to Prince-Bythewood, there is an integrity and intelligence that elevates the characters and the film as a whole.\u00a0 A consummate storyteller, she delivers a story that shows that relationships between parent & child knows no socio-economic bounds.\u00a0 Wealthy, jet-setting entertainment folks have the same things going on as middle class blue collar as lower middle class.\u00a0 Parents all want a better life for their kids and unfortunately, no matter where in the world, will push and push to have them achieve it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The characters are constructed so that we see variations of the parenting techniques and beliefs and what is deemed of importance to each character and how that impacts each child.\u00a0\u00a0 For Glover’s Captain Nicol, it’s not money; it’s power to help others through politics.\u00a0\u00a0 For Driver’s Macy, it’s money to help her run from poverty and from being “a nobody” making her an ultimate pushy stage mother from hell, using her daughter to compensate for her own failures.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s refreshing and welcome to see Prince-Bythewood develop the parents so that each has it built in them to justify whatever they do.\u00a0\u00a0 But it\u2019s the emotion journey and transformation of Noni and even Kaz, that is simply magical to watch unfold as each grows and steps up and steps out from under the thumbs and ideals of their parents.<\/p>\n

Keeping the camera fluid, Prince-Bythewood calls on cinematographer Tami Reiker and together the two develop a visually metaphoric storytelling, using extensive close-ups and mid-shots early in the production for the claustrophobic world in which Noni, as well as Kaz, lives, but then widening out as Noni and Kaz \u201cfind themselves\u201d ultimately delivering stunning wide-angle panoramic shots for the last act of the film.\u00a0 Lighting is significant, particularly in a Rosarita Beach sequence, capturing a celebratory warmth with a setting sun as backlight, golden shadows, sun flares.\u00a0 Similarly, a climactic outdoor concert is lensed with the bright white of day, blue skies as a sense of freedom takes hold.<\/p>\n

\"Gugu<\/a>
Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Machine Gun Kelly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A critical element of the film\u2019s construct is the music.\u00a0 Soundtrack and scoring is dynamic, pulsating and telling, with songs specifically written for the character by Richard C. Baker and Terius \u201cThe Dream\u201d Nash, among other notable R&B tones.\u00a0 And yes, it is Gugu Mbatha-Raw doing all of her own singing and stage performance in the film.\u00a0 For Prince-Bythewood, \u201cIt really started with Noni\u2019s original music and knowing what we needed for that.\u00a0 Early on, the only target I had was The Dream.\u00a0 I knew that he could do the raunch at the beginning of the movie, but also write beautiful love songs like he does for Beyonce, and I wanted somebody at that level.\u00a0 We had to believe her songs would be playing with the radio.\u00a0 This being a music film, music was everything to this, so it started there with his original music and the work that both Debra Byrd [Mbatha-Raw\u2019s vocal coach] and The Dream did with Gugu in the studio.\u00a0 And then, just as a whole, with the soundtrack, it was very important that the music mirrors her trajectory.\u00a0 I wanted to have a balance between established artists like Beyonce, but also some newcomers like Cynthia Erivo, who has such a beautiful track, and Yuna. . .As the story progresses, we had more of that singer-songwriter vibe to it, which is where Noni was hoping to go.\u201d\u00a0 Calling herself \u201cvery very fortunate\u201d, Prince-Bythewood gives props to producers Allain and Reggie Rock Bythewood, especially when it came to Machine Gun Kelly, not only to play Kid Culprit but for his music.\u00a0 \u201cI knew I wanted a real hip hop artist, and that\u2019s something that Stephanie, Reg and I talked about a lot, about bringing that authenticity, and that was tantamount for this film.\u00a0 In pushing for [MGK], it was a bit of a fight and the fact is they had my back in terms of wanting to go that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wonderful and warm, \u201cBeyond the Lights\u201d is emotionally freeing and inspiring! An emotional journey of finding one’s voice that will resonate with all, \u201cBeyond the Lights\u201d lifts the heart and the soul.<\/p>\n

Written and Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
\nCast:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Nate Parker, Minnie Driver, Danny Glover, Tyler Christopher, Machine Gun Kelly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leave it to writer\/director Gina Prince-Bythewood, the driving force behind the award-winning \u201cLove & Basketball\u201d and \u201cThe Secret Life of Bees\u201d, to jump into the callous coldness of the music industry as her newest playground with \u201cBeyond the Lights\u201d.\u00a0 An emotionally powerful film that digs deep behind and beyond the lights, \u201cBeyond the Lights” is, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,9],"tags":[1445,1452,1451,1447,1450,1446,1448,1652,1651,1449],"class_list":["post-10003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-reviews","tag-beyond-the-lights","tag-danny-glover","tag-gina-prince-bythewood","tag-gugu-mbatha-raw","tag-machine-gun-kelly","tag-minnie-driver","tag-nate-parker","tag-nina-simone","tag-rap-music","tag-tyler-christopher"],"yoast_head":"\nBEYOND THE LIGHTS - 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