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★★★★★
13 December 2018
A movie review of IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK. |
"When you’re in there, they can do whatever they want," Daniel (Brian Tyree Henry)
From the director of MOONLIGHT (2016), a cinematic cry of anguish. The best film of 2018. Acting, direction, writing, cinematography, music, etc. are premier league. Is IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK too hard-hitting and devastating for mainstream awards success? If that indeed ends up being the case, it would be a crying shame as this is an example of phenomenal filmmaking.
From the director of MOONLIGHT (2016), a cinematic cry of anguish. The best film of 2018. Acting, direction, writing, cinematography, music, etc. are premier league. Is IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK too hard-hitting and devastating for mainstream awards success? If that indeed ends up being the case, it would be a crying shame as this is an example of phenomenal filmmaking.
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The opening quote: "Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, born in the black neighbourhood of some American city" author of the source book James Baldwin. One of the first lines: "You ready for this?" This. Film. Will. Floor. You. Tish (Kiki Layne) delivers the voice over. She is the guide on a gut wrenching, heartbreaking journey.
Tish is 19 years old. Her beau, Fonny (Stephan James), is 22. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is achingly romantic. The cliché of time standing still, when in love, is at last given a cinematic portrayal, in sublime fashion. The pace of certain sequences briefly, poetically slows. They have been best friends since kids. They have discovered a new facet to their bond. Fonny is a talented sculptor. A contrast to the usual regressive portrayals of African Americans. An intimate picture is painted of their lives. The camerawork flows beautifully. The lighting is painterly. Tish at one point is surrounded by an angelic glow.
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Tish tells Fonny she is pregnant while he is in prison. She is a pregnant poor uneducated black woman trying to get the love of her life justice. Tish also informs her loving, awesome family. A magnificent scene in a film filled with impressive scenes. "Unbow your head sister," states her confident sister Ernestine (Teyonah Parris). Her family is contrasted with his, who do not come off well. Hypocrites trying to be superior.
A racist corrupt cop Officer Bell (Ed Skrein) appears. The hateful contortion of Bell’s face, along with the music, set a sinister scene. As Chris Rock stated in his Netflix comedy special, the police force is the one institution that cannot have a few bad eggs. The police force is too important to society to allow bigotry into its ranks. Fonny is falsely accused of rape. A conspiracy of prejudice prevents justice. Tish spends the runtime trying to get him exonerated. Best friend Daniel talks of his own mistreatment at the hands of the law, and what they do to people in prison. (Seek out Ava DuVernay’s excellent documentary 13TH (2016) for further elaboration.) Both Fonny’s alibi and the victim of the assault, Victoria Rogers (Emily Rios), disappear. IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is filled with vitriol at the injustice of the American justice system. The film does not mince its words. Fonny says America hates black people. When there is discrepancy in power, so much of humanity will take out their miseries on those below them unable to fight back.
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- 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2013)
- DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (2014)
- THE BIRTH OF A NATION (2016)
- CROWN HEIGHTS (2017)
- DETROIT (2017)
- MUDBOUND (2017)
- ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ (2017)
- BLACK PANTHER (2018)
- BLACKKKLANSMAN (2018)
- THE HATE U GIVE (2018)
- WIDOWS (2018)
- The music video to Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’ (2018)
strive to redress the corrosive lies perpetuated by THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915). There is a reason these projects keep getting made. The majority has a responsibility to protect the minority. The strong has a responsibility to protect the weak.
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK touches on society’s tools of oppression. Not just prejudice, but also on the misuse of religion, and capitalism. Tish’s father Joe (Colman Domingo) gives advice to Fonny’s father (the sole caring element of that family) to not worry about money, they want you to be he says. Joe states further, “These are our children and we got to set them free.”
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK grabs you by the heart, the guts and your brains. It makes you shout with joy, shake with anger, and cry with sorrow.
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