Sylvie’s love
Director – Eugene Ashe
Cast – Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Aja Naomi King, Eva Longoria, Lance Reddick, Jemima Kirke
Sylvie’s Love, the new romantic melodrama on Amazon Prime Video, starts with a luxurious title sequence – the kind of title sequence that instantly brings back memories of a very special era in movie making. Each actor is given an individual card, with their characters’ names in bold yellow font, as if they were all playing remarkable historical figures.
Filmmakers these days underestimate the power of a good title sequence. It’s a dying art. One of the stealth services it offers, among other things, is to instantly convey the tone of the movie and lure the audience in even before the story has even started. The opening title in Sylvie’s Love, which takes its hat off to the 60s, does both things.
Watch the trailer of Sylvie’s Love here
But once our attention is caught and the film’s retro tone is advertised, Sylvie’s Love becomes so caught up in its stylistic pranks that she often forgets simple things like character development. Not only does it visually evoke a bygone era in filmmaking – it’s shot on grainy 16mm film – it also follows, a little too religiously, the storytelling style of classic Hollywood novels. And it does this, unlike La La Land or the recent Mank, without putting a contemporary spin on the material.
Directed by Eugene Ashe, the rousing Sundance flick resembles Damien Chazelle’s masterpiece in many ways. But it also covers some of the criticism that was directed towards that musical.
Like La La Land, it tells the star-crossed love story of an emerging jazz musician and a young woman who wants to work in the entertainment industry. They meet at her father’s record store, where he finds a job. In the evenings he plays saxophone with his band in the local jazz clubs. But this time, critically, both protagonists are black.
Tessa Thompson plays Sylvie, who dreams of running her own TV show one day, but doesn’t know if she’ll be allowed to. She is at a disadvantage, both racially and because of her gender. But Robert, on the other hand, operates in a world dominated by black men. This brings its own unique challenges.
Sparks fly like the band on the latest Miles Davis album and secretly quick conversations under Sylvie’s dad’s nose. Before you know it, Robert asks her to come and see him play. But true to its nature as an old-school melodrama, the film puts its protagonists to the test with a series of contrived setbacks, the first of which is Sylvie’s impending marriage.
Nnamdi Asomugha, left, and Tessa Thompson appear in a scene from Sylvie’s Love. (AP)
The film offers a refreshing perspective on the internal class structures of the black community. It wouldn’t be too far to describe it as a fairytale. Sylvie is in many ways a princess in anticipation – a prominent member of the community, her future carefully mapped out for her. She can’t mess with an Aladdin-like street rat.
And just like an old Disney movie, there are a few ethical concerns you may have at certain events. For example, by teaming up with Robert, Sylvie ends up cheating on her fiancé. And when Robert, in setback number two, gets an offer to go to Paris with his band, it never occurs to him to stay back to be with her. Instead, he pressures her when he says ‘we’re all that matters’ and asks her to go with him.
As it turns out, the film’s gender politics is stuck in the past too. And that’s the main problem with it. It is too mandatory to use outdated narrative devices to address in any way a demanding contemporary audience. It’s all really cute when characters say things like “Charmed, I’m sure” and “Can I have the fun of this dance?” in casual conversation, but the sight of an independent woman chasing a man who turns her back is not something you can easily beat your head around.
That said, one shouldn’t overlook his contributions to black cinema. Along with Pixar’s Soul and the amazing Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sylvie’s Love is the third film this month to highlight the artistic achievements of the under-represented culture. Maybe view it as part of a warm Christmas-style triple bill?
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The author tweets @RohanNaahar