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The First Trailer For Barry Jenkins's 'If Beale Street Could Talk' Is Here, Set In 1970s Harlem
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 2, 2018
Modified Aug 2, 2018
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Scene from the trailer
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 2, 2018
Modified Aug 2, 2018
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In his followup to Moonlight, writer-director Barry Jenkins is bringing James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk, published in 1974, to the big screen. The feature film—adapted by Jenkins—will hit theaters on November 30th, and today he shared the first trailer on Twitter, saying, "Happy birthday, Jimmy." You can hear Baldwin's voiceover in the trailer:
The story takes place in Harlem in the 1970s, and follows 19-year-old Clementine “Tish” Rivers (Kiki Layne) and 22-year-old sculptor Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt (Stephan James), an engaged couple torn apart when Fonny is imprisoned after being falsely accused of rape. Soon after, Tish finds out she is pregnant, and with their lawyer tries to exonerate Fonny.
Upon the book's release, Joyce Carol Oates noted in her NY Times review that "the white policeman, Bell," who set up Fonny, "seems a little crazy, driven by his own racism rather than reason." She goes on to write that story was "a moving, painful" one, and "so vividly human and so obviously based upon reality, that it strikes us as timeless."
Filming took place last fall, and some locations include 5th Ave and 58th St, Edgecombe Ave and 137th St, E 149th St and Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and Yonkers (all according to OnLocationVacations.com).
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barry jenkins
if beale street could talk
james baldwin
trailer
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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