Graphic by Isa Renée
Eugene Ashe, writer and director of “Sylvie’s Love,” had one goal when he embarked on the journey of writing it: to portray a surprisingly rare facet of Black life — a love story.
Set through the 1950s and ’60s, “Sylvie’s Love” follows two lovers, Sylvie (Tessa Thompson) and Robert (Nnamdi Asomugha), as they chase their dreams while also chasing each other. The film answers the question of what happens when there is unfinished business with the love of your life. Is it dramatic? Filled with heart-wrenching decisions? Yes and yes. But is it also Incredibly beautiful? A million times yes.
The film opens with Sylvie waiting anxiously in front of a New York concert hall. By chance — or by fate — Robert walks right by. Their unexpected meeting reveals that it has been quite a while since our two lovers have seen each other, and we flash back to five years prior, to the summer of 1958 in Harlem. Here, we find Robert and Sylvie in the middle of their pursuit toward their dreams. Robert is new to town, just barely scraping by and playing saxophone with his jazz band at a local club. While exploring the neighborhood one day, Robert unexpectedly lands a part-time job at a local record store owned by Sylvie’s father. Sylvie works each day to pass the time while waiting for her fiancé to return from the war and dreams endlessly about producing the TV shows she watches. While sharing shifts at the store, their love blossoms as they become constants in each other’s lives. Unexpectedly, though, Robert’s band lands an unbelievable gig in Paris, and he is forced to leave Harlem and put their newfound love on pause for an indefinite amount of time.
With such beautiful sets, costumes and performances from the entire cast, it’s almost hard to believe that you’re watching a movie filmed in the 21st century. “Sylvie’s Love” leaves you with a familiar feeling of hopefulness, much like how films like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) or even “Brooklyn” (2015) left you with a gut feeling that fate maybe does exist and your soulmate is out there somewhere. For you auditory people (or Swifties, either one), the movie most closely feels like Taylor Swift’s “ivy.” In typical Taylor FashionTM, from beginning to end, she transports you into the psyche of a person in an affair with the love of their life, and listeners are able to feel those same fears and acceptance alongside the song’s narrator. This is exactly what Ashe does visually — he was able to create an atmosphere where the audience felt the same feelings of excitement and anticipation that Sylvie and Robert felt through the twists and turns of their relationship, creating an inexplicable and undeniable magic that leaves you So warm-hearted once the credits start to roll.
Not only does “Sylvie’s Love” scratch the classic-romantic-film-with-impeccable-lead-duo itch, but it also provides a much-needed perspective to filmmaking and the narratives surrounding BIPOC in Hollywood.
The success of this magic is especially due to the film’s beautiful relationship with its music. As a musician himself, Ashe felt it was Essential to ensure the music was not only true to the period, but also that it reflected the love that was swelling between our two protagonists. Bill Haley’s “See You Later, Alligator” made its first debut in the film as Sylvie’s choice cleaning song while working, to which Robert walks in on after hearing her dancing from the basement. The song’s playfulness not only broke the ice for the two on their first shift together, but as their story progressed, it becomes apparent that it also seems to encapsulate the youthful nature of their relationship. They can dance along to the rhythm of wherever life takes them and not worry about the other’s judgement, knowing no matter what, they still have love for each other. Eventually, the usage of “see you later, Alligator” became their choice farewell and made consistent appearances as the two slipped in and out of each other’s lives. The music they listened to and that Robert performed not only acted as an anchor to the period, but also as an anchor to their relationship. In a way, the music became a character in itself — it became a significant driving force that sparked so much of the interactions that would eventually blossom into love between them.
Not only does “Sylvie’s Love” scratch the classic-romantic-film-with-impeccable-lead-duo itch, but it also provides a much-needed perspective to filmmaking and the narratives surrounding BIPOC in Hollywood. When looking back at old family pictures, Ashe felt that the images he was looking at depicted a completely different kind of Black life in the ’60s than what is usually portrayed on the silver screen. “Sylvie’s Love” is a truly refreshing and vivid portrayal of Black life in New York City that isn’t framed through hardship, but love and humanity, and it is a necessity for all to see.
At the root of it all, Ashe simply wanted to create a film that he felt needed to exist in the world. “Sylvie’s Love” leaves you yearning for love yet firmly believing in the idea of soulmates, and that one day, perhaps you too will also unknowingly meet the love of your life in a record store in Harlem. Its undeniable nostalgia and humanity leave you feeling inexplicably hopeful. In a year of unknowns and indefinites, “Sylvie’s Love” suggests that goodbyes — even goodbyes to the love of your life — aren’t really goodbyes, they’re a simple “see you later, Alligator!”