If Beale Street Could Talk: James Baldwin Adaptation Glitters in Harlem Gold
If Beale Street Could Talk is the most recent cinematic gem by Barry Jenkins, director of the 2017 Best Picture winner Moonlight. An adaptation of the 1974 James Baldwin novel of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk chronicles the journeys of Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (Kiki Layne), two recently engaged Harlemites navigating through the unique perils of black love in a predominantly white world. Best friends since childhood, the tempestuous love story of Beale Street’s two protagonists extends far beyond the starting point of the film, and the audience is welcomed into their world in medias res.
Within minutes of their initial appearances on the screen, Fonny and Tish enrapture the hearts of their spectators. The youthful softness of their interactions, like the ever-interlockedness of their fingers, is difficult not to admire. As the production progresses, though, the innocence of their connection nearly dissipates. Only moments after life appears to be in relative order, Fonny is revealed to be imprisoned after being falsely accused of rape, and the burden of his defense falls on the backs of Tish and both of their families. The majority of the film then bears witness to the maturation of Tish from a naive nineteen year old on the precipice of womanhood to the defender of her lover’s legacy and the future of their unborn son.
In the absence of her fiance, Tish is forced to become the chief commander of her own life and activity at home. She begins working long hours while simultaneously moving through the motions of pregnancy, vulnerable and unaccompanied. But despite the whirlwind of responsibility and disorder that swallows her, Tish maintains a brave face for Fonny, for her child, and for herself—a beacon of compulsory hope in the midst of struggle. Each week that she meets with Fonny through undusted prison glass, Tish reassures him that her love has not yet expired. That she is still as steadfast about securing his freedom as when it was first stolen from him.
Beale Street is a testament to the endurant capacity of love on two planes: romantic and familial. The quest for Fonny’s justice is undertaken not only by the film’s unlikely heroine, but also by an entire network of relatives and friends all committed to righting the wrongs done to their son, brother, and longtime companion. “These are our children, and we got to set them free,” Tish’s father declares in one scene. And this charge is unhesitatingly taken by Sharon, Tish’s mother (portrayed by Golden Globe winner Regina King). It is she that takes the first flight out to Puerto Rico to confront Fonny’s accuser, despite never having before stepped on a plane. It is she that first embraces Tish after learning that her teenage daughter is pregnant out of wedlock. Sharon is the embodiment of unconditional love—the antithesis of Fonny’s own mother, who condemns his relationship with Tish and the supposed ungodliness of her family.
Through If Beale Street Could Talk, Jenkins parlays what could just be another “love conquers all” story into a poignant reflection on the oftentimes devastating reality of American race relations. Quite possibly what makes the film so profound is the timelessness and universality of its message. Fonny and Tish’s experiences are far from unique. From their seemingly sisyphean battle trying to find a home in a city dominated by white landlords to Fonny’s entrapment in the labyrinthic prison system, their journeys never stray too far from the archetypal black love story. And Baldwin recognizes this truth in the foreword to the film, writing, “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 Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy.”
But within the sometimes somber exterior of Beale Street, there is light. Jenkins envelops viewers with the warmth of a Harlem autumn, showcasing each chapter of the narrative across a backdrop of marigolds and burnt oranges, urban housing project red brick, and the jazz melodies endemic to New York’s most vibrant locale. It is a masterful demonstration of Jenkins’s auterist abilities and renders its audience breathless—a sentiment that critics seem to share, as the film is being considered for three Academy Awards this Sunday, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Score.
If Beale Street Could Talk is a heart-wrenching yet heartwarming celebration of blackness in many forms: black womanhood, black parenthood, black love. If in Moonlight, “black boys look blue,” in Beale Street, black folks glitter gold.
