IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK - BFI London Film Festival - Day Eleven

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK is a film that is over-long, and compounds the faults of the source novel with many of its own. I simply cannot understand the critical acclaim for a film in which the central characters are ciphers, and do not grow, and the tough questions around the plot are stubbornly left unaddressed. 

The film is based on the novel by James Baldwin, and is set in a racially divided New York of the 1960s and early 1970s.  It's told as a single flow of narrative with many flashbacks by Tish - a 19 year old girl of almost supernatural innocence and goodness.  Her beloved Fonny has been arrested on a trumped up rape charge, leaving a pregnant Tish in the care of her far feistier and more interesting family.  Her father and putative father in law commit theft to fund Fonny's defense.  Her mother at one point goes to Puerto Rico to harass the rape victim into dropping the charge. But as the book ends the outcome of all this is dark and ambiguous although Baldwin seems to want to leave us with an impression of hope in Tish's continued optimism. I always found this wilfully obtuse - read why for spoilers underneath the release information below.

MOONLIGHT

In over a decade of watching over 200 movies a year, and trying to seek out independent movies, I've never seen a film about gay black men.  That's really quite something when you think about it.  And so it's deeply refreshing and heartening to see MOONLIGHT capture critical praise.  That said, while I found much to admire in its intent and some of its performances, it was a less moving and impressive watch than I had anticipated.  

The film is written and directed by Barry Jenkins, based on an unproduced play by Tarell Alvin McCraney and is based on their childhood experience of growing up gay in a deeply dysfunctional black community in Florida.  What's impressive is that they manage to subvert the stereotypes of the black drug dealer and the crack whore, and the entire concept of masculinity by showing us what they know. The result is a film that feels claustrophobic and melancholy - of a community that is fundamentally dysfunctional, in which its members feel trapped, but where there is some slight hope of escape. It's also a community that feels odd to English eyes insofar as it's so un-diverse - the only white face we see is a cop.

The formal structure of the play carries over to the film: we meet our protagonist at three ages, in three thirty-five minute segments.  In the first part he's a skinny schoolkid called Chiron (Alex R Hibbert), bullied for being camp, who finds solace from his crack addict single mother with a drug dealer called Juan (Mahershala Ali) and his girlfriend, Teresa (Jangle Monae).  Against all expectations, it's the drug dealer who proves caring, understanding and comforting - even going so far as to tell young Chiron that he doesn't need to figure out of he's gay yet, and even if he is, he shouldn't feel ashamed of it.  Moreover, Juan is morally complex, at once judgmental of Chiron's mother's drug addiction, but also conscious that he's the man selling to her.  The power of Ali's performance in this segment is quite dazzling, and I'm not sure the film ever really recovers from his absence.

CAMP X-RAY - LFF14 - Day Two

CAMP X-RAY is a moving and deeply humane film about two people coming to an understanding despite the invidious circumstances in which they find themselves. Playing essentially as a two hander, the movie allows Kristen Stewart to give her most mature and nuanced performance to date, and hopefully for Peyman Maadi (A SEPARATION) to find a wider audience. Together they create a story that is funny, tragic, fragile and full of vulnerability.

Stewart starts as an army private struggling to find her footing in Guantanemo Bay.  She's determined to prove as tough as the men and just wants to do her job.  The movie is about her opening her eyes to how the prisoners are treated - allowing herself to see one in particular as a man rather than a number - and to identify with him as a marginalised person in a culture where the rules are stacked against them. For her, it's dealing with a macho ask-no-questions culture of petty and sometimes flagrantly abused rules.  For him, it's realising that she isn't just another rotated US soldier - and maybe if she can't understand the torture he has suffered, she can genuinely sympathise with him.  Through this mutual respect we leave them as more self-aware, and maybe stronger people, despite the sadly credible circumstances they have endured.

Despite the inevitable comparisons with ZERO DARK THIRTY this is a completely different film. It's a film that is focused and almost austere in its gaze and indeed in the way in which it was produced - sequential shooting in 21 days.  Most of all, it isn't a film about politics per se, or about a woman becoming as tough as the most gung-ho man to prove a point. It's far more subtle, and it's gaze is more intimate. As a result, it's far more compelling and affecting. Kudos to all involved.

CAMP X-RAY has a running time of 117 minutes and has been rated R in the USA.

CAMP X-RAY played Sundance and London 2014 and will be released in the USA on October 17th, in Iraq on October 30th, in Lebanon on October 30th, and in Sweden on November 1st.