If Beale Street Could Talk

The drama genre has had a bit of a renaissance in recent times with slow-building, realistic cinema hoovering up the big awards: think Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Manchester By The Sea, Lion and Best Picture winner Moonlight.

The latter was many folk’s introduction to Barry Jenkins, a Director still very much in his infancy but already carving out a distinctive style and top-table reputation.

He follows that startlingly moving film with an adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin’s 70’s novel. It’s the story of ‘Tish’, a nineteen year old girl pregnant out of wedlock with ‘Fonny’, who is falsely imprisoned for rape before the baby is born.

Like Moonlight before it, it’s a carefully constructed, slow-build of a picture detailing the beautiful relationship between the pair and just how fragile and broken American society was, and pointedly, still can be.

It’s a linear story interspersed with reminiscences by Tish on the pair’s blossoming relationship, from childhood friends to romance. The ‘present’ sequences are filled with a mixture of Baldwin’s dialogue and Jenkins' which cuts hard. It’s literary but never overbearing, it’s tight and precise and, when delivered by such brilliant performances (Kiki Layne and Stephan James deserve particular praise as the central couple but are superbly supported by those playing their family members) it can be moving, uplifting, insightful and passionate all at once.

The flashback sequences are shot through with a lovely sepia-tone giving it the feel of a lost-classic jazz album cover, appropriate considering the jazz score which lovingly plays across the film, and these scenes slowly give new life and meaning to the plot. These sequences are light and joyous, one Dave Franco cameo in particular being a stand out.

Cinematography-wise, as expected after Moonlight, this is exceptional with top work from the returning James Laxton. Intricate, top down camerawork plays alongside lingering head shots. Staring into the eyes of each character buys us into their story.

It’s slow and methodical but beautiful and weighty whilst still being welcoming. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of Moonlight, only due to a slightly ambiguous and rushed ending which leaves a few plot threads dangling, but you know as the credits roll that this was deliberately done.

Another deserved awards front-runner by a Director slowly becoming unmissable.

4 stars ****