★★★★½

The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)

Written by Dalton Welsh - September 15, 2020

“The Last Black Man in San Francisco” a semi-biographical tale from first time feature film director Joe Talbot tells the story of a young black man named Jimmie who attempts to reclaim his childhood home, which has since significantly risen in value in a gentrified neighbourhood of San Francisco. A quietly beautiful film that works in equal parts as a study of character and a study of mood. Thematically touching on the plights of the black community in San Francisco, but even more so the inner turmoil of our central characters, performed with such genuinity from its actors. Elevated by the film’s greatest strengths, it’s mesmerizing cinematography and an appropriately soulful score.

From the opening scene of the film director Joe Talbot lets you know that you are in for something special. With a visual style that could be described as a veristic Wes Anderson, in that the beautifully unorthodox framing is reminiscent of the works of Mr. Anderson but is imbued with a style more grounded in reality. This is aided by the fantastic use of lighting in the film, and with a sizeable portion of exterior shooting, a lot is reliant on the time of day and location. The choice to shoot a lot of the film seemingly in late afternoon gives the whole visual style a warm golden hue, giving an almost fable aesthetic. Perhaps to convey the timeless story of rekindling the joys of a time past, further fueling the films bitter-sweet quality. The work of director of photography Adam Newport-Berra to generate such unquestionable mood from his camerawork is something that has gone sorely underappreciated by film goers.

Then the perfect companion to Newport-Berra’s fantastic cinematography is the profound score, courtesy of Emile Mosseri. The symphonic, orchestral hum of high violins, jazzy horns and moments of poetic lyricism gives a heartful through-line to the film that is both uplifting and melancholic. Particularly Mike Marshall singing his rendition of “San Francisco” that has such strong emotional energy and helps bring about the feeling of San Francisco even if you’ve never set foot there.

Ultimately though, the core of the film is the journey of Jimmie reclaiming the home of his childhood. Being a modest, mild-mannered character makes his venture through trials and tribulations engaging to watch and the subtle moments of emotion that come forward are portrayed excellently by first time actor Jimmie Falls of which the story is loosely based on. This connection he has to the story gives a real authenticity to his character making his journey all the more emotionally resonant, despite the understated nature of his performance. Even with this excellent lead performance, the real scene stealer is Jimmie’s best friend who joins him on this quest named Montgomery performed with idiosyncratic excellency by Johnathan Majors. Montgomery has great interest in creative and performance arts and makes him a uniquely eccentric character in the film. He’s often shown as a contrast to the overtly masculine groups of black males that he finds himself neighboring. Exploring themes of how the black community deals with the economic disparity of San Francisco, and their struggle to find identity amongst marginalisation

This theme is the major message of the film as it makes note of how the black community built and brought about prosperity in San Francisco, only for them to be more or less cast aside as their city becomes gentrified. Which can be representative both in a more macro sense of a long history of black marginalisation and on a more micro scale in terms of the films central story of a young man trying to reclaim his family home. Despite the multi layered nature of these themes the film never beats you over the head with it and while it may feel grim, it maintains a hopeful atmosphere that things can and will get better. Mirrored in the film’s uplifting audio and visual aesthetic.

For his first-time directing Joe Talbot has come running out of the gate with a truly beautiful golden hued expressive study of the communities of San Francisco. Additionally, heightened by Émile Mosseri’s heartfelt score. And performances both subtle and eccentric respectively from Jimmie Falls and Johnathan Majors, whose characters imbue the film with a true sense of authenticity. Ultimately making for one of the most touchingly human films to come out in recent memory.