If the performance goes away, and there’s this perfect fusion between actor and character, then I want the audience to look right into that person’s eyes. It’s important for the audience to have a direct connection to the character, and when an actor’s performing, there’s always some degree of distance. If I can feel that the actor’s in a place where the thinking has receded and they’re in a meditative state, then we pull that shot out. This engagement with character is something he spoke of at length in an interview with The Atlantic’s David Sims: He is fond of shooting his actors front on, which was an aspect of Moonlight that I loved. Entertainment OneĪs with Moonlight, Jenkins’ aesthetic continues to be lush.
If Beale Street Could Talk is the story of Tish (Kiki Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James), who are separated by Fonny’s wrongful incarceration.
Most notably, there are omissions from the film’s ending, which creates a focus solely on Tish and Fonny. In fact, every scene in the book was apparently filmed, but not all made the film’s final cut. These documentary-like moments are directly inspired by Balwdin’s rhetoric, which evokes recent documentary based on his work I Am Not Your Negro. Tish’s voiceover is melancholic in some parts – “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass” – and angry in others, as the film breaks into a documentary-style detailing of systematic racism of America. The narrative uses ellipses to create a series of moments in their relationship that bounce from sorrow to hope. The film’s plot is non-linear as it cuts between Fonny’s incarceration and earlier moments depicting the blossoming of Tish and Fonny’s deep love for each other. Does she wear a wig or her natural hair? Without any dialogue, King’s performance is a proud affirmation of blackness. One standout scene sees Sharon preparing to meet Fonny’s accuser, Victoria Rogers, and contemplating how to present herself.
Regina King, who is fantastic in Southland, The Leftovers and American Crime, has received a noteworthy amount of critical acclaim for her performance and is favourite to win the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Performances are consistently strong in this ensemble. Never question whether or not she was raped. Importantly, Fonny’s accuser, a Puerto Rican woman named Victoria Rogers (Emily Rios) is never portrayed as an antagonist, but as another victim of circumstance. Tish and her family, her parents Sharon and Joseph Rivers (Regina King and Colman Domingo) and quick-fired sister Ernestine (Teyonah Parris), fight to prove Fonny’s innocence and secure his release. Jenkins’ film sees a young woman, Tish (Kiki Layne in a breakthrough performance) go through pregnancy as her fiancé, Fonny (Stephan James), is convicted of rape and sent to prison a crime he did not commit. The official trailer for If Beale St Could Talk.
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