How do we maintain civility in the face of bigotry? If Beale Street could talk, what might it say? It would be a voice of poetic narration, no doubt…of the history of African-Americans sometimes whispering, sometimes shouting, but always hurting about racial discrimination that screams loudly. In other words, the system still screws-over people of color.
Beale Street is a street in New Orleans, ‘where my father, where Louis Armstrong, where the expression of black legacy lives’…according to James Baldwin, the author of the 1974 novel in which the film is based. But Beale Street can be anyplace in black America. It’s simply a condition. It can be Mississippi, Georgia or in this case, Harlem, where teenager, Tish Rivers (Kiki Layne) is in love with Alonzo ‘Fonny’ Hunt (Stephan James).
Tish and Fonny have dreams of a life together. They’ve always been a team…twin-flame soul mate, meant-to-be since childhood…”the loves of each other’s lives,” or so Tish repeatedly reminds everyone. They’re childhood history brought them together. Fonny went to vocational school to learn to build useless things, followed by a job as a short-order cook so he could afford to eat. Now they’re having a child. But the cruelty of life in the ghetto doesn’t necessary embrace their love.
With a painfully-poignant soundtrack that fluctuates between hope and hell, we feel Trish and Fonny’s passion, their innocence, and then their fears come to fruition. The music borders at times operatic, often without voice, but instead through crafty camera work in which Writer and Director Barry Jenkins allows his characters to speak. Jenkins knows how to transfix us in every scene. As with all of Jenkins resume of films, ‘loss’ reverberates.
When Tish becomes pregnant, the ‘fierce’ women in her life protect their babies, their bastards, their Bibles and their pride. Sharon (Regina King) plays Tish’s kind and fair mother. Joe (Colman Domingo) is Tish’s father, who shows that it’s not the circumstance but how we handle it. There’s Ernestine (Teyonah Parris) Tish’s mouthy sister, and there’s Fonny’s mother (Aunjanue Ellis) who could stand to learn a few lessons in all her uppity-ness. Fonny has sisters, too, (Ebony Obsidian and Dominque Thorn) with a word or two to the wise.
In a culmination of opinion, Tish narrates this beautiful story that tells us Beale Street does talk. As an audience, we learn, we listen.
But it’s back to Jenkins, who won the Oscar for Best Picture with Moonlight, who thoughtfully captures the essence, the grit, and a little bit of Motown at the pain of being raised black. But, this isn’t a film about politics. This is personal. It’s also subtle. It’s complicated to conquer, yet Jenkins manages so skillfully to get the word across. Similar to The Hate You Give (not his film) there is a recent theme about giving hatred to others and you’ll most certainly get it back.
Jenkins knows how to deliver poignancy. Every scene bleeds the pain of what could be and sometimes what’s stopped from ever being. It’s the sad reality that history repeats itself when Fonny is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Poor families suffer. The court systems hasn’t enough judges in one day to hear all the cases fairly.
There’s been a string of black-man-goes-to-prison-wrongfully-accused books, too, including Tayari Jones’s Oprah pick American Marriage and dating back to To Kill a Mockingbird.
Might the message finally be heard? How do we maintain civility in the face of bigotry? While the ending of ‘Beale Street’ isn’t strong, its voice rings truth…and that truth tells us that African-Americans have learned to exhibit a certain grace, dignity and humility in times of injustice.