"If Beale Street Could Talk" / Tatum Mangus _ Annapurna Pictures
For his follow-up to the Best Picture winner “Moonlight,” director Barry Jenkins delivered a vivid and deeply romantic adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” on Sunday at the Toronto Film Festival.
The film is a bold and elegant celebration of young black love in the face of a Harlem rife with police corruption. The leads, Canadian actor Stephan James and newcomer KiKi Layne, received a standing ovation alongside Jenkins after credits rolled at the Princess of Wales theater.
Stephan and Layne play 19-year-old Tish and 22-year-old Alfonzo (Fonny, for short), lifelong friends whose soul connection is so pure that Jenkins paints it as divine — even as the sociopolitical climate of their time threatens to tear them apart.
Tish is a good girl from a hardworking Harlem family, represented in salt-of-the-earth performances from Regina King, Colman Domingo and scene stealer Teyonah Parris (“Chi-Raq,” “Mad Men”).
When we first meet her, Tish must break the serious news that she’s expecting Fonny’s baby to her own blood and the snooty women of Fonny’s nuclear family. Not only are the lovers unwed, Fonny is currently behind bars for a rape he didn’t commit.
It’s a violent sex crime committed against a woman he does not know, in a neighborhood far away. A crime for which he has a two eyewitnesses corroborating his alibi, and only a racist cop as a witness for the prosecution. To say nothing of the fact that he vehemently denies it, and the whole of these characters spend the duration of the film agonizing over the impossibility of the event.
But there he sits behind glass, pining for his love and the child that grows within her. Tish, too, becomes bound by the financial strain of his defense, the judgment of her mother-in-law, the physical stress of holding down a job and surviving a turbulent pregnancy. She navigates this as a young black woman in an historical moment that does not want her to succeed. That does not want her to be visible.
“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 in Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy,” wrote James Baldwin, as shown on a title card before the film begins.
“Moonlight” showed us how shame, abuse and isolation evade individual circumstances, “Beale Street” shows us in gorgeous and saturated detail how powerful discovering love can be — and how long it lingers through trials and degradation.
In their moments walking the streets, apartment hunting or having sex for the first time, composer Nicholas Britell gives Tish and Fonny orchestral string pieces so haunting and poignant that one pull of the bow feels like hours playing inside these intimate images.
Their glances, light touches, their smiles, even their squabbles and mundane chores are breathtaking. These moments are purposefully and justly given reverence by Jenkins, who after the premiere said “Moonlight” told the story of the family he had and “Beale Street” was the family he dreamt of.
It’s there in this work, that dream. “Beale Street” is not inclusive, it is transcendent.
The tragedy here is what befalls Fonny and so many men like him, in the 70s and now. A broken system cannot provide the happy ending worthy of such epic romance. It feels like a purposeful gut punch from Jenkins, how deserving his lead characters are of happiness and how completely unrealistic it is they would find it.
“We’re not 19 and 22 anymore,” Tish observes at the end of the film. “We can’t afford to be.”
It leaves a bitter taste, wondering how many love stories and other human triumphs are untold because their heroes are behind bars — or on the other side of the glass waiting to lift the phone and reach the other side.
12 Hottest Toronto Movies for Sale, From 'Wild Rose' to 'Vox Lux' (Photos)
Natalie Portman's "Vox Lux," Robert Pattinson's "High Life" and Kristen Stewart's "Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy" are just a few hot sales titles heading to the Toronto International Film Festival this week.
"Wild Rose" [UTA]
"Wild Rose" was the first title numerous industry players called their most anticipated movie of the festival. It follows a young musician from Glasgow who wants to become a star in Nashville. Julie Walters and Jessie Buckley star in the Tom Harper-directed film.
TIFF
"Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" [Voltage]
Zac Efron stars as one of America's most notorious serial killers, Ted Bundy, alongside Lily Collins, Jim Parsons and Kaya Scodelario. While it's not screening in competition, one major buyer told TheWrap, producers are screening the film outside the festival for potential suitors.
Getty Images; FBI
"High Life" [CAA]
Robert Pattinson has been quietly living in a post-“Twilight” renaissance for a few years now, with breakout performances in “Good Time” and “The Lost City of Z.” Which makes a film like Claire Denis' “High Life” all the more curious given how under-the-radar it’s been. Prospective buyers are intrigued by the cast (led by Pattinson) and the story: A group of criminals sent to space under dubious circumstances.
BFI Film Fund
"The Wedding Guest" [Endeavor Content/UTA]
Following his Oscar-nominated performance in "Lion," Dev Patel is back in "The Wedding Guest," which follows a man on a journey through India and Pakistan. Michael Winterbottom wrote and directed.
Revolution Films
"American Woman" [Endeavor Content]
Sienna Miller plays a woman who raises her young grandson after her daughter goes missing. With Christina Hendricks and Aaron Paul also is the cast, "American Woman" is sure to attract buyers.
Scott Free Productions
"Her Smell" [Endeavor Content]
Elisabeth Moss shines as Becky Something, a frontwoman for a '90s rock band, in a movie that also stars Amber Heard, Cara Delevingne, Virginia Madsen, Dan Stevens and Ashley Benson. Where are our "Handmaid's Tale" fans at?
Bow and Arrow Entertainment
"Vox Lux" [Endeavor Content]
In 2016, TheWrap exclusively reported that Brady Corbet's follow-up to his award-winning directorial debut, “The Childhood of a Leader," would be "Vox Lux." Described as “a 21st century story of Celeste, a pop star who comes to success as a result of unusual circumstances," the film stars Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe and Jennifer Ehle. It already premiered at the Venice Film Festival to stellar reviews -- currently, it is rated 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Venice Film Festival
"The Weekend" [UTA]
"Everything Everything" director Stella Meghie returns to TIFF with this blissful rom-com that stars "SNL" alum Sasheer Zamata. It follows a comedian who gets romantically entangled with three other people during a weekend getaway.
Homegrown Pictures
"A Million Little Pieces" [CAA]
In Sam Taylor-Johnson's first movie since "Fifty Shades of Grey," her husband Aaron Johnson stars alongside Charlie Hunnam and Billy Bob Thornton in an adaptation of James Frey's book that was originally marketed as a "memoir" of addiction but turned out to be heavily fictionalized.
"The Death & Life of John F. Donovan" [CAA]
This film is the long-awaited English-language debut by international film festival l'enfant terrible Xavier Dolan, as well as an anticipated leading man debut by "Game of Thrones" star Kit Harington. The A-list cast also includes Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandie Newton, Jacob Tremblay and Ben Schnetzer.
Warp Films
"Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy" [CAA]
If you think Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern isn't the dream casting of the century, what actually is wrong with you? Justin Kelly directs the film based on the true story of a middle-aged woman who wrote novels under the guise of a teenage boy named JT LeRoy -- while her sister-in-law (Stewart) made public appearances as the author.
LBI Entertainment
"American Dharma" [Endeavor Content]
"Fog of War" and "Gates of Heaven" director Errol Morris is back with "American Dharma," which is a documentary portraying controversial Breitbart editor and former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
TIFF
1 of 13
Toronto film market has awards bait, a Steve Bannon doc and lots of Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman's "Vox Lux," Robert Pattinson's "High Life" and Kristen Stewart's "Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy" are just a few hot sales titles heading to the Toronto International Film Festival this week.