Barry Jenkins turns James Baldwin’s novel into visual poetry
“Beale Street is a street in New Orleans, where my father, where Louis Armstrong and the jazz were born. Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, born in the black neighborhood of some American city, whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy. This novel deals with the impossibility and the possibility, the absolute necessity, to give expression to this legacy. Beale Street is a loud street. It is left to the reader to discern a meaning in the beating of the drums”. These words, by writer James Baldwin, open Barry Jenkins’ new film, If Beale Street Could Talk, which is an adaptation of the novel of the same name.
The film marks Jenkins’ return after the triumph of his film, Moonlight, at the 2017’s Oscars: «Something has changed since then: now people answer my calls», he admitted during Rome Film Festival’s promotional press junket. The film premieres tonight at 7:30 pm.
Set in the 70s, in Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk is a moving love story of a young couple living in a world full of pain and injustice: while the 19-year old Tish and her boyfriend Fonny are dreaming of a life together, the young man gets arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Tish, who has just discovered to be pregnant, does anything she can to get him released. As she fights this battle with the support of her family, Tish has to face maternity alone, hoping to see the father of her baby out of prison.
A long time fan of Baldwin, the american director and screenwriter goes back to a theme that is close to his heart: discrimination. This time he focuses on racism, but as expected, there’s no politics in his cinema: Jenkins is a silent fighter who, staying true to the art form, brings to the screen the authenticity of love that, in his own words, is «the only force through which we can survive anything.»
Jenkins literally hugs the actors with his camera, instilling the viewer with their love, their intimacy and their pain. But there’s more: the film is also a tale of family bonds and of the will to overcome the circumstances, no matter what.
From cinematography to music, each detail is a small piece of a work of art, elevated by the intense perfomances by Kiki Layne and Stephan James in the two leading roles. If Beale Street Could Talk also stars actors Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal and Dave Franco.
When asked about America and Europe strengthening their borders and building walls, due to a widespread and alarming “fear of the other”, Jenkins said: «What we can do to tear down the walls of racism and prejudice is sitting together, in a room like this, and talk about everything. What we have in common is that we all came from a woman» he continued. «It’s about being nurtured with love: those who have not been nurtured with love build walls.»
Here is what we get from this film, beautifully shot and written: a tale of two people nurturing their love despite the hostile world they live in. We feel what they feel and find a little piece of our hearts filled with hope.
