Medicine For Melancholy

Director

Barry Jenkins

Cast

Wyatt Cenac as Micah
Tracey Heggins as Jo’

“a night they barely remember becomes a day they’ll never forget.”

Before directing the award winning 2016 film ‘Moonlight,’ Barry Jenkins made his directorial debut with the 2008 gem, Medicine For Melancholy.

The film opens with glimpses of a night before that involved heavy drinking and partying. Scenery cuts to a man named Micah and a woman named Jo’ waking after what appears to be a one night stand. What happens over the span of this 88 minute film is a classic love story turned social commentary involving two twenty somethings living in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco.

The first thing that stands out in this film is the choice of black and white. Color is something used very seldom within the film and only adds to Micah’s view of seeing everything as black and white. With that being said, race is something heavily discussed throughout the film. Micah is heavily interested in stereotypes and states his view that two black people spending Sunday at art museums does not fit into his stereotype. Jo’s response in the face of Micah’s view, “Who gives a shit what society thinks?” and for much of the film Jo’ derails much of those very stereotypes.

In this scene above, Micah takes Jo’ to the MOAD (i.e. Museum for African Diaspora) where they listened to Olaudah Equiano’s memoir from the late 18th century that detailed his experience as a slave in the slave trade.

Another heavily discussed topic is the gentrification of neighborhoods in San Francisco. Hanging on Micah’s wall, is a Residential Rehabilitation Survey that was written by Leonard S Mosias defending the gentrification that was going on in July 1962. The camera pans over the word ‘LIES’ that is stated over the middle of the poster and Jo’ asks “why do you still have this up?” “A reminder that poor folks still got it hard” replies Micah.

Given the feelings that Micah demonstrates towards his city, Jo’ states, “this city just seems to piss you off” at which Micah reply’s “nah I love this city, I hate this city, but I love this city.” This leads to one of the few scenes that contains color, where Micah describes what he loves about San Francisco despite hating the fact that, “black folks are only seven percent of this city.”

As stated early on, this is a love story where Micah and Jo’s relationship grows organically throughout the film. In one standout moment of the film (below) you realize there is a spark between these two but Jo’ realizes this magic won’t last and states, “this is a one night stand.” Micah responded with, “it’s only been one night, can’t do anything about that” and you sense, at this moment, that Micah is going to cling onto every last moment that he can have with Jo’ knowing it will end after today.

Overall, Tracey Higgins and Wyatt Cenac demonstrated a natural chemistry that helped a simple story grow into something more deep and Barry Jenkins did an excellent job capturing the moments with his use of closeups and music selection.

An In Depth Interview with Director Barry Jenkins