Sadly we have reached the final film of our Twentieth Year; but what a film we have for you! If Beale Street Could Talk is certainly one of the best finales in recent years. Winner of an Oscar and loved by most critics ("This movie works as a timeless romance, a family drama, a legal thriller and a poignant social commentary. A great American novel has been turned into a great American film" - Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times).
Many of you will have seen Barry Jenkins' magical Oscar-winning 'Moonlight', where he followed the life of a young black boy as he grows to be a man and realises he is gay. Here again, "Jenkins seems to approach filmmaking with a sort of inspired synesthesia: There’s a musicality to Beale that isn't just confined to the soundtrack of jazz and strings and Nina Simone, a rhythm to his camera angles and storytelling and the particular beats each scene hits" - Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment.
The film is taken from James Baldwin's 1974 novel of the same name: "Fingered by a racist cop, young Fonny is imprisoned for a rape he didn’t commit; his pregnant fiancée, Tish, struggles to free him with help from her tight-knit family. Stephan James’s battered Fonny effectively signals real love and deep hurt, but it’s KiKi Layne who shines in a difficult ingenue role, rendering the shy and deferential Tish – another era’s ideal of femininity – delicate yet strong" - Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail.