Sylvie’s Love – Sylvie (2020)

Directed by: Eugene Ashe | 124 minutes | drama, music | Actors: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jemima Kirke, Tone Bell, Alano Miller, Regé-Jean Page, Lance Reddick, John Magaro, Ron Funches, Ryan Michelle Bathe

You hardly see the classic, hyper-romantic love stories as they were made in the fifties, sixties and early seventies. One of those films where at the same time as the lead actress – often personified by Audrey Hepburn – you fall head over heels in love with the handsome stranger who steps into her life, and where you are sucked into the game of attraction and repulsion that then arises in a setting of authentic romantic streets. ‘Roman Holiday’ (1953) is perhaps the most imaginative example, but a film like ‘The Way We Were’ (1973) with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford fits perfectly into that picture. Writer and filmmaker Eugene Ashe ‘(Homecoming’, 2012) openly longs for that almost extinct genre and decided to breathe new life into it, but with one big difference. “In those old movies, it’s almost always about two white people who plunge into a passionate romance. Why wouldn’t it be possible with two black people?” His main inspiration was the film ‘Paris Blues’ (1961), in which Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier play two jazz musicians who fall in love with two American tourists (Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll) in Paris. “Harold Flender’s book, on which this film adaptation is based, initially focuses on the love between the black musician and the black woman, but in the film their romance only forms the ‘B-plot’ and Newman’s characters are and Woodward suddenly take center stage. I wondered what would happen if that movie was made with black characters, more closely related to the book.”

That film Ashe eventually made is ‘Sylvie’s Love’ (2020) and stars Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha, a multi-talented American who, after a successful sports career as a defensive back in the NFL, made the move to Hollywood where he worked as a writer, producer (from ‘Beast of No Nation’ (2015) and ‘Harriet’ (2019) among others) and actor is making his way. Jazz is sultry and love is in the air in 1957 New York. Thompson plays Sylvie, daughter of a record store owner who occasionally helps out in the shop, while she waits for her fiancé to fight in Vietnam. But then the talented saxophonist Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha) suddenly walks into the record store, looking for a day job to pay for his stay in the Blue Morocco Lounge. And as they discuss Thelonious Monk’s latest record, sparks fly. Sylvie’s mother doesn’t like the blossoming romance and gently points out to her daughter that she’s already engaged, while Robert’s band is booked for performances abroad. Sylvie and Robert grow apart and time passes. But every time they cross paths again, love and passion flare up again in full force.

You can safely call ‘Sylvie’s Love’ a tribute to those aforementioned romantic dramas from the time of classic Hollywood, and not just because Ashe shot on 16mm film. He even manages to recreate the signature studio setting, full of stylish, lavish sets and costumes and a warm, dreamy atmosphere. But at the same time, his film is an ode to love, which cannot be stopped by anything. It’s very refreshing to see black actors star in these kinds of roles. Typically, historical dramas starring black people deal with racial hatred, discrimination, and the civil rights movement. Rightly so, of course, because it is and remains important to pay attention to this (and unfortunately also urgent, because unequal treatment is still the order of the day). The fact that we mention how special it is that in ‘Sylvie’s Love’ two black people experience a compelling, classic romance should not really be necessary. Ashe takes the viewer on a journey through time through his two protagonists, including the accompanying delightful, timeless music by Sam Cooke and Stevie Wonder, among others. As the Sexual Revolution unfolds in the 1960s and Motown sets the tone for music land, our heroine Sylvie develops into a confident young woman who takes control of her life, although it may not always be in the way you think. that would expect. Asomugha learned to play the saxophone himself (although he doesn’t play everything himself) and has an intense chemistry with Thompson, so that we can easily go along with their passion for each other.

For lovers of unadulterated, pure romance, ‘Sylvie’s Love’ is a must-see. Not only because the film looks to be a bitch, but also because the romance between Thompson and Asomugha is so compelling. If you are not much of a romantic, but you do like to watch historical drama, then ‘Sylvie’s Love’ is also worth a look, because the love story is set against the background of the turbulent sixties and the developments of that era in a natural way. time intertwines with the lives of the characters. ‘Sylvie’s Love’ is ‘La La Land’ (2016) but without the characters bursting into song every once in a while and with more depth and a sense of historical time.