“Though If Beale Street Could Talk tackles painful, not to mention painfully topical, subjects, what stays in the memory about Barry Jenkins's adaptation of James Baldwin's 1974 novel is its overwhelming romanticism. This is a movie that burns with righteous anger at the way historical, societal, and institutional racism has perverted the African-American experience in the United States, and yet Jenkins refuses to let indignation drown out the love story at its center between Fonny (Stephan James) and Tish (KiKi Layne). At many points, Jenkins's film plays as an ecstatic paean to their undimmed love, one that undergoes a major test when Fonny is sent to prison for a sexual assault he didn't commit.
“Nicholas Britell's score is crucial to the film's emotionally wide-ranging affect, with swooning cellos and jazzy trumpets alternating with subtly foreboding electronic drones and quietly doom-laden percussion. As entrancing as it is to hear Britell's music in context, however, it's even more illuminating to hear it in isolation, where one can appreciate the depth of the composer's imagination. Under Britell's pen, chord progressions express tender tentativeness, and the spareness of many of his themes stand in contrast to the cello-led explosion of romantic fervor when Fonny and Trish finally consummate their love for each other. It's all tremblingly gorgeous themes and ceaselessly inventive variations, which is appropriate for Jenkins's vision of the world as expressed in If Beale Street Could Talk: one in which some things heartbreakingly stay the same, but also one in which people find ways, however small, to keep a semblance of hope alive amidst the darkness.” ~ Kenji Fujishima
This year’s “nominees:”
First Man (Justin Hurwitz)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)
Mandy (Jóhann Jóhansson et al)
Suspiria (Thom Yorke)
You Were Never Really Here (Jonny Greenwood)
No comments:
Post a Comment