2019 OSCARS: If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) - Six Women; Releasing the Tension

[Quick Summary: In Harlem, Tish, 18, and her family come together to get Fonny, 21, Tish's fiancee, out of jail for an unjust incarceration.]

TWO THINGS THAT THIS SCRIPT DOES WELL:

1) "[T]hese six women alone now in this house." I thought that this was a nice, simple way to explain the tone shift to come, i.e., how women speak to each other when men are not around.

2) Releasing the tension.  There is a very tense scene in an Italian grocery store:

- Tish is felt up by an Italian punk and slaps him. 
- Fonny runs into the store. 
- A policeman accuses Fonny but Tish speaks up to defend him. 
- The Italian owner confirms Tish's version.
- Fonny barely says anything at all. 

In the next scene, we see the release of all the tension.

Also, I liked that  there were two very different viewpoints: Fonny felt emasculated, but Tish had no idea that her actions were contributing to it.

ex. "EXT. BLEECKER STREET - NIGHT - MOVING

Tish and Fonny moving quietly down the sidewalk.

Fonny holds the bag of tomatoes in the crook of one hand; the other arm he entwines through Tish's. They walk slowly.

FONNY: Tish...

TISH: Yes?

FONNY: Don't ever try to protect me.

TISH: But you were trying to protect me.

FONNY (heavy;quiet): It's not......the same......thing.

Fonny takes the bag of tomatoes...and smashes them against the nearest wall. They make a beautiful, chiaroscuro mess of streaking red. But, mercifully, they hardly make a sound.

The two of them standing apart now, Fonny with his hands in his pockets, looking down at his feet, disgusted.

Tish with a hand covering his mouth, the other wrapped about herself. Fonny closing the space, takes her hand in his:

FONNY: Don't think I don't know you love me. You believe we going to make it?

Tish embracing him, a hand to his cheek, a very full kiss.

She draws back, starts to say something, but...he puts a finger to her lips. Smiles his little smile.

FONNY: Don't say a word. I'm going to take you out to dinner. At our Spanish place, you remember?"

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked how Scene A plays --> Scene B releases the tension  --> Scene B reveals a different interpretation of Scene A.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Written for the screen and directed by Barry Jenkins
Based on the book by James Baldwin