Barry Jenkins must love faces. Or, at the very least, he knows how to capture them on film. Just as he did with Moonlight two years ago, his latest film’s most memorable moments are largely silent. The shots in If Beale Street Could Talk that will be seared into the brains of his audience members are those of facial expressions — some pained, some joyful, all remarkable.
But, just like his last film, this movie is more than just a collection of memorable shots. It’s that rare sort of film that somehow feels like a breath of fresh air in the cinematic landscape, but has a familiarity to it that makes it easier to swoon over. This time, Jenkins trades in the grounded modernism of Moonlight for a warm, nostalgically romantic film that feels like a cross between Douglas Sirk and Wong Kar-wai, but still peppers in some harsh moments of realism that keep the film from feeling like a fairytale. Most significantly: If Beale Street Could Talk brings the legendary writer James Baldwin to cinemas for the first time, and crafts yet another masterpiece, cementing Jenkins’s status as one of the best working filmmakers.
This incredibly faithful adaptation of the titular novel follows a young African-American couple in 1970s Harlem. Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (KiKi Layne) are going to have a baby — but this happy news arrives at just about the same time that the former is falsely accused of a terrible crime, and is thrown in jail while awaiting trial. Tish races to overcome the institutional biases that are keeping him imprisoned, employing the help of her supportive family. As Jenkins jumps around in the timeline, he highlights the couple’s history, the systematic racism they’re faced with on a daily basis, and the way that every character tries to find love and joy in even the darkest of moments.
The most obvious thing about If Beale Street Could Talk is that the cast is an embarrassment of riches. James and Layne, both of whom were relative unknowns prior to this year, are instant breakout stars who mesh perfectly with Jenkins’s sensibilities as a director. Layne carries the film effortlessly, providing heartfelt narration and boasting empathetic, deeply emotive eyes. James, meanwhile, pops with screen presence — it’s easy to see how Tish fell in love with Fonny, because it’s just as easy for the audience to fall for this exciting new star. But, in one of the best acted moments in any film this year, James gets one of Jenkins’s trademark close-up face shots, and completely breaks your heart.
But it’s not just the leads who warrant raves: Beale Street also contains two revelatory supporting performances — one from an established character actor, and the other from one of 2018’s biggest new stars. Regina King — an actress who has consistently done great work in films both good and bad — is given the role of her career as Tish’s mother. A radiator of maternal energy, King’s Sharon is the sort of warm-hearted, good natured character that comes around in films all too little. While King has one major Oscar reel moment, this is a thoroughly lived-in performance that she completely sells.
On the other end of the spectrum, Brian Tyree Henry (so great in Widows this year) has only one scene, but manages to convey an entire film’s worth of sadness through body language, facial expressions, and a terrific monologue. As a friend of Fonny who just completed a jail sentence for a crime he did not commit, Henry is a symbol for the film’s main thesis and is worthy of awards attention—even with less than five minutes of screentime. In fact, many actors, including: Dave Franco, Fin Wittrock, Colman Domingo, and Teyonah Parris do great work and bring incredibly detailed life to their characters, sometimes with fewer than two minutes in the actual runtime.
This cast’s success can be tied to Jenkins, who not only adapts Baldwin’s prose well, but proves time and time again how great a director he is. While I’m sure it’s possible to convey his proficiency on a technical level, the more fascinating thing about Jenkins’ work is the way he is able to transmit emotion through the screen. Again, he does this quite a bit by focusing on his actors’ faces. But it’s more than just that: his opening shot, of the central couple walking down a road, hand in hand, instantly exudes affection and pure, innocent love in a way that feels more genuine than any other love story this year.
Similarly, another scene — in which Fonny and Tish explore an apartment they’re thinking of renting — carries a sense of familiarity and warmth. On a more serious note, a dream sequence in which Fonny imagines being separated from Tish on the subway carries a palpable sense of urgency, while a confrontation with police — one which the audience ultimately knows the ending of — is hugely suspenseful. From the very first shot, Jenkins taps into an emotional core and fuels his film with it.
One final theory as to how Jenkins acheives this filmmaking power: it might have something to do with his cinematographer, as well as the composer of the film’s score. James Laxton — who worked with Jenkins’ on Moonlight to great results — ups his game and delivers a gorgeous film, with stunning colors that pop off the screen. Meanwhile, Nicholas Britell (another Moonlight alum) delivers what might be the inarguable best score of 2018. Jenkins is a talented man, no doubt, but he’s also a man who knows how to surround himself with other talented folks in order to produce the best results.
One could waste words praising Baldwin’s intelligent, deeply complex story that feels just as timely today as it likely was at the time of its publication. But, at this point, Baldwin’s genius is inarguable and has been written about by far smarter people than I. Jenkins seems totally aware of how little his story needs to be updated, and instead crafts a faithful screenplay that allow the best elements of the book, as well as his best qualities as a director, to shine through. Jenkins already made his mark on cinematic history with his sophomore effort, but it’s nice to see that he has no plans of slowing down or delivering less than exemplary work. If Beale Street Could Talk is the work of a modern master.
Rating: 10/10
Comments are closed.