Fresh from winning the 2017 Best Picture Oscar for ‘Moonlight’ (a crazily overrated tale of growing up and the search for identity), Barry Jenkins brings us his latest awards glory hopeful ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’. Adapted from the 1974 novel of the same name, this emotional drama depicts the romance between two childhood friends, Fonny and Tish, who have entered into a relationship and got engaged. Fonny is wrongly accused of rape, the families don’t get along, and tensions are only heightened when Tish announces she’s pregnant with Fonny’s child. Unable to bear the idea of the baby being born with Fonny behind bars, Tish and her family rally to get his name cleared. What’s very interesting is that the film isn’t a gritty drama bearing the tagline ‘the fight for justice’ which we have seen many times before. Although we root for Fonny’s release, ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ is essentially a story about love and idealism set against the backdrop of cynical 1970s Harlem.
The intricate attention Jenkins pays to Fonny and Tish’s magnetic chemistry is what prevents the film from lapsing into the formulaic civil rights subgenre. There is a heartfelt poeticism to the scenes showing the lovers’ blossoming romance. They are gorgeously edited and the slowing down of time captures the indescribable euphoria of falling in love for the first time. Jenkins’ signature close-up facial shots are used to intimate effect here, as his characters’ searching, soulful eyes put us in a kind of trance and dare us to look away. One of the strongest scenes is Fonny and Tish embracing on a busy afternoon in Harlem having secured their first apartment together. The tender camerawork convinces us they are the only people there, and their momentary happiness is piercingly moving as their life together is about to be cruelly taken away. It’s a travesty that the editing and cinematography missed out on the awards shortlists. What also stood out for me was the inclusion of not a single special effect: sometimes all it takes to tell an interesting story are gifted actors, a director with a vision, a script that sustains our attention, and plenty of heart invested in it. ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ has all of these qualities and more.
Nicholas Britell’s score is beautifully orchestrated, and the instrumental variations on the same motif in several scenes are cleverly done. The simplicity of the scoring enforces us to stop worrying about the trivial and live in the moment with these optimistic lovers. Regina King’s performance as Tish’s determined but loving mother is nothing short of revelatory. King may have triumphed in the Supporting Actress category, but she may as well be crowned Most Charismatic performer as her acting is grippingly passionate and intellectually nuanced in equal measure. This astonishing performance marks a career best for the hugely talented actress. The non-linear structure may be off-putting for some, as there were times when I had to figure out whether the scene took place in the present after Fonny’s arrest or several months previously. However this didn’t ruin the entrancing, almost hypnotic effect the film had on me.
‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ tackles issues of its time that feel more contemporary than ever, making it a somewhat weighty watch (I’d recommend a large mocha if you have a weakness for cinema treats like I do). What impressed me was the direct avoidance of taking the moral high ground in its representation of racial politics. Mature audiences don’t need reminding that racism is a terrible thing. The white lawyer who takes on Fonny’s defence owes much to the literature classic ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. However, he soon outgrows his youthful idealism when he realises that Fonny’s case is more complicated than he anticipated. Unlike ‘Moonlight’, not once did I feel like I was watching a standard issues film with nothing fresh to offer: Jenkins’ sensitively explores a range of universal concepts with emotive lyricism and cinematic creativity. On a personal note, ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ is a humbling reminder that there is hope to be found even in a neo-fascist world.
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