![]() ![]() After his Oscar-winning hit Moonlight, Barry Jenkins took on the ambitious project of turning Baldwin’s novel about a passionate couple torn apart by an unjust system into a screenplay. There is one French adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk and excerpts from other books appear elsewhere, but the new If Beale Street Could Talk is the first full Baldwin book to be reimagined by an American director. ![]() Until now, James Baldwin’s books had not been adapted into a feature film in English. Still, some adapted work can transcend its origins and stand on its own merits, like the film versions of To Kill a Mockingbird or The Godfather, becoming a beloved pop culture staple separate from the literary source. How closely each adaptation sticks to the text will almost certainly be a point of discussion, if the ongoing arguments over the Harry Potter books versus movies are any indication. ![]() It’s why we have so many cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare plays and novels, like Pride & Prejudice and Little Women. If Beale Street Could Talk by Barry JenkinsĪdapting a story from the page to the screen is its own kind of art - a balancing act between which of the original details to keep, loosely incorporate, or cut out. ![]()
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