Name: If Beale Street Could Talk
Rating: 4.405172413793103 (174 reviews)

Barry Jenkins

Unmarked screenplay, dated Rev. 7.2.2018. Released by Annapurna Pictures in the United States Dec. 14, 2018.

Screenplay

If Beale Street Could Talk

EDEN!!!!!

“My father’s chest shook with laughter, I felt his chest rising and falling between my shoulder blades, and this laughter contained a furious joy, an unspeakable relief: in spite of all that hung above our heads. I was his daughter, all right: I had found someone to love and I was loved and he was released and verified. That child in my belly was also, after all, his child, too, for there would have been no Tish if there had been no Joseph. Our laughter in that kitchen, then, was our helpless response to a miracle. That baby was our baby, it was on its way, my father’s great hand on my belly held it and warmed it: in spite of all that hung about our heads, that child was promised safety. Love had sent it, spinning out of us, to us. Where that might take us, no one knew: but now, my father, Joe, was ready. In a deadlier and more profound way than his daughters were, this child was the seed of his loins. And no knife could cut him off from life until that child was born.”

James Baldwin

When a pregnant Tish's boyfriend Fonny, a sculptor, is wrongfully jailed for the rape of a Puerto Rican woman, their families unite to prove the charge false. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

A Novel

Shahir Saleheen

James Baldwin is truly one of the most prolific American authors in history. In If Beale Street Could Talk, Baldwin masterfully creates a story of Tish and Fonny, two Black people living in New York, who have fallen in love. In this story, Tish becomes pregnant with their child, and Fonny has been sent to jail after being falsely accused of rape. The story follows both families in how they manage both their daughter’s pregnancy and their son’s legal situation. One of the finest elements of this story is how passion and intimacy are written about, especially in ways that subvert expectations. The fervent passion Tish and Fonny share for one another is sincere, defined by their connection between themselves and the future they wish to share with themselves. However, there are so many passionate relationships and warm acts of kindness &amp; humanity that build a complex world within the story. Fonny’s solidarity &amp; compassion that he shares with Daniel as Daniel describes his time in prison and Frank &amp; Joseph’s connection built over their duty to support for their family, those are two storylines that redefine masculinity in a way that demands for the reader to break away from traditional views of masculinity and examine how masculinity can be observed in a compassionate and humanitarian context. The relationship with Tish &amp; Sharon, and Tish &amp; Ernestine, and even between Tish &amp; the owner of a grocery store, reflect on how women stay in solidarity with one another to protect themselves from the violent forces of the patriarchy and the projections of women from the imagination of men. Another intriguing element I find in this story is the religious elements and how it connects to the themes of hope and resilience. For context, Baldwin was involved heavily with the Pentacostal Church in his youth, and he ended up leaving the church, in part of his alienation from the church as a black, gay man. Fonny’s mother serves as a religious zealot who views his relationship and future parental relationship with Tish as an abomination. She believes that Fonny is a sinner that only her prayers can save from damnation, and, interestingly enough, she’s not in the story for almost the entirety of the rest of the story. Her performative righteousness existed to express her disapproval of her situation, and when both families worked as hard as possible to improve their situations, she was nowhere. When the two families stood in community with one another and treated each other as respect as their neighbor, it was incredibly important for both families. These themes of religion feel deeply connected to the overall themes of hope that Tish and Fonny both feel for their baby’s birth, Fonny’s freedom from his false trial and the quality of life they may experience in a word less anti-black. Baldwin creates such a masterfully human story, and with such a technical prose and compelling character building, he truly makes a statement about the state of Black America in the 1970s, covering the passion, hope, pain, sadness, fear, and humanity that existed there.

really beautiful and holds a lot of duality, there’s so many moving parts and such little rest for almost every character in the story unless they choose to opt for some form of rest (franks daughters which inevitably their rest comes to an end outside of their choice by the end of the book.) I think there’s also a lot of portrayals of the nuance of loving someone while being a person of color here , like Tish always choosing to see Fonny as beautiful even when he’s in jail and deteriorating, the way Tish notices that frank loves his daughters and that they love him at the peak of him lashing out. The moment shared between Tish’s mother and Mrs Sanchez (if i remember her name correctly) is also so powerful and humanizing and really plays into the matter of what does it truly mean to dream someone as evil or to resent someone. Thank you james baldwin

juneau

Sarah Sammis

I remember liking it but most of the details are fuzzy now.

truly astounding to me that this book could have been called bitter when it is a determinedly doubtless portrayal of far-reaching and unshakeable love. tish and fonny are so dear to me that it makes my heart hurt

lauren

britt

hilda ☆

one thing about james baldwin is that he’s going to ruin your life w his storytelling. i’m in awe what a brilliant man

Lizelle G

Speechless. Baldwin's perfectly blends love and hardship, poetry and social critique, color and feeling.

In this honest and stunning novel, Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin creates two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.

Nora 

Wow. When you feel grateful to having had read something. We read the book and watched the film, which is sort of its own animal, in our book club podcast

"Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncerain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions -- affection, despair, and hope."--Page 4 of cover

Morgan Thomas

There is no doubt that James Baldwin is a great writer. Amazing. His talent lies in the way that he can use words to convey the depth of the human spirit. The strength and defeat and hope that anyone can have. Especially the love.

camilla

completamente obcecada por james baldwin no segundo livro lido. saindo daqui, vou correndo procurar os outros além de transcrições, entrevistas, audios TUDO sobre esse homem. 

que historia lindíssima sobre amor, medo, injustiça.. tantos assuntos importantes desde pautas raciais e de racismo dentro da própria família à fanatismo religioso e violência policial, social, institucional. tudo escrito com muita ternura, muita sensibilidade. 
não é novidade o quanto james era a frente do seu tempo mas nesse livro é como se isso ficasse mais claro ainda. foi publicado nos anos 70, mas tudo TUDO é tão atual que poderia facilmente passar por um livro contemporâneo. 

fiquei um bom tempinho tentando processar o final e a principio achei melancólico mas, pensando não só no final e sim na trajetoria toda, minha interpretação mudou. creio que depois de nos passar tanta garra, tanto poder em forma de família, em forma de tish, em forma de fonny, eu acredito mesmo que a única coisa que aquele final nos transmite é: esperança. o futuro é incerto mesmo e ainda lhes faltava muitas garantias, mas naquele momento a esperança era a maior certeza que eles tinham. 

obrigada james baldwin.

amarachi

Stunning. Powerful. Delicate. Breathtaking.

aisha

james baldwin put the feeling of love, sorrow, anger, all of it into words. i’m a puddle of tears.

eve 

I love this book. I cherish Baldwin’s words and his mind. I am amazed at how much in this story I’m hearing his voice through an authentic voice of Tish. It was a quick read, written so profoundly from root to tip. At some point I had a thought how not only the content of the book but also it’s appearance depicts the systematic racism and prison system in America perfectly. The discreet look of it, the slimness, seeing it amongst hundreds of other books, you wouldn’t notice it all or maybe you would, only briefly. The same goes for every POC affected by the oppression in that country, both then and now, unless you really see them, unless you look for them, you wouldn’t notice them. You’ll only briefly pass them, but you have the privilege to not see what’s right in front of you. 
Baldwin wrote the love between Tish and Fonny amazingly. Not only that, the love between family, all its twisted ways; he showed it to us. Black love, black families, black men, black women. I loved Baldwin navigating the love between a woman and a man in an honest way, without restraint. He certainly knew how to represent both the good and the bad. 
I found the ending accurate. The openness of it holds much more than we think; it gives us hope and reality at the same time. 
I will think about Beale Street forever. It makes me think of a lot of things. 
Open Water, Moonlight.

stephanie

(4.5 stars)
incredibly emotional, beautifully written. I'll definitely try to read more my Baldwin.

Satya Nelms

No thoughts I have tried to gather about this book feel like they do it justice. You must read it for yourself and feel it for yourself.

Dweedle 

So, so good. The second James Baldwin book I read in as many weeks. I thought about this book for days after.

Vittoria Vespoli 

Trever

3.5. I had to read this for a class, and I think the fact that I didn't care for the class and the professor may have colored how I enjoyed this book. Baldwin does convey the emotions of the characters well, and by extension demonstrates very lucidly how systemic racism affects people very personally. Still, at points it felt a bit heavy-handed, or rather, Baldwin's "point" felt a bit more transparent that would be ideal. Ultimately it's well-crafted, but there's just something about it that left me a bit colder than I'd hoped.

Charlotte Jones

This was my first time reading Baldwin, and it not only reminded me why I enjoy classics so much, but also there are thousands of others that I haven't gotten my grubby little hands on yet. Classics challenge me, in the best possible ways: intellectually and emotionally. This is grim, distressing, and above all else, a reminder.

In this honest and stunning novel that inspired the award-winning major motion picture of the same name, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. "A major work of Black American fiction." –The New Republic Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin’s story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions–affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.

Jeff Brown 

The most relevant book I've read recently is Jacqueline Woodson's Red to the Bone. The latter was a more fluid read, even with the multi-generational presentation.

But "Beale Street" was more raw. More real-life. And I wish there was a Part Two to Tish and Fonny's story. A great book (and I hope the movie is as good). More James Baldwin has been added to my ever-growing list of authors.

Joy KBA

It was okay. Books written in the 70-80’s have a peculiar choice of words & sentence structure... idk. The story was okay, didn’t bore me but didn’t intrigue me to read further either. However, I am glad I read this one

Caitlin

Powerful, harrowing, brutally honest, beautiful, terrifying. Baldwin’s writing is on a level of its own. This should absolutely be required reading for all students. It’s a real, truthful look at America, at the racism that runs too deeply in this country’s systems, and the love and hope that, against all odds, persists.

Cesar Toscano

James Baldwin was an amazing writer with the best voices in literature, whenever I start a work of his, I am just taken away into the character's world. This book has some of most beatiful imagery and pacing I have read, the characters are great and full raw emotion. I think Baldwin understood the concept of love in such a beautiful and raw way, it's just one of the best books ever written.

James Arthur Baldwin

Wilhelmus Maria Verhoeven

Een zwarte jongen in Harlem wordt gearresteerd wegens verkrachting, maar lijkt weinig kans te hebben op een eerlijke procesgang.

Maxime van der Wal

This was my first introduction to James Baldwin, and I was captivated from the first page on. Baldwin's prose is not only stunning, but also feels effortless.  If Beale Street Could Talk  is unapologetically black in its most pure and brutal form: exploring themes of systematic racism, anti-Blackness and mass incarceration, but also strong familial relationships, empathy and passionate, all-encompassing love. All of this is done in a sober, sometimes harsh way (especially to the white eye), and that's exactly why I love it. There's no beating around the bush - Baldwin tells it how it is, and in the case of Black Americans - especially in the 70s - it isn't pretty. Voices such as Baldwin's are essential in literature, whether his stories serve as a source of relatability or confrontation.

If Beale Street Could Talk Screenplay

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