BlacKkKlansman (Spike Lee)

[TGM]

BLACKKKLANSMAN

Director: Spike Lee

imdb (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7349662/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

[TGM]

I'm usually not a fan of movies suddenly deciding to become a documentary for its last five or so minutes before credits, and this aspect is possibly more forced here than I've ever seen in any other movie before. Really doesn't work for me at all, and makes for a rather lousy note to leave on. Which is kind of a shame, because that aside though, everything else leading up to that was mostly pretty damn excellent.

[Pop Trash]

I'm usually not a fan of movies suddenly deciding to become a documentary for its last five or so minutes before credits, and this aspect is possibly more forced here than I've ever seen in any other movie before. Really doesn't work for me at all, and makes for a rather lousy note to leave on. Which is kind of a shame, because that aside though, everything else leading up to that was mostly pretty damn excellent.

I haven't seen this yet, but I have a feeling -if the ending is what I think it is- the ending will be extremely divisive and talked about.

[Peng]

Haven't watched the film, but it hasn't occurred to me that that might be spoiler, since it's one of the very first things people talked about when it premiered. There's even an interview/article on the reason Lee includes it I think. I will wait to see how it fits within the actual film's ending, but as of now I don't see myself having a problem with it (I mean, I am even fine with the much derided real-people montage at endings of biopics, and this looks to be much more weighty/interesting than that).

[Neclord]

I think the coda works perfectly to counterbalance the obviously very fictional very happy ending.

[Ezee E]

If it weren't for that ending, this would be Spike's softest movie in his career. This isn't a complete dig, as it is enjoyable to watch from beginning to end with all of the characters being relatively interesting to watch, and the dialog is well-written. But it is pretty by-the-numbers and predictable. Spike does get a few of his moments in, both featuring cameos at the very beginning and in the middle during a white power/black power counter that may be the highlight of the movie.

The end works though, in my opinion. The movie needed Spike's haymaker.

[DavidSeven]

This was really terrific. Funny, engaging, biting. The commentary is coherent and the moviemaking/storytelling is really precise (which I appreciated greatly, having just watched the occasionally unfocused Sorry to Bother You). This is Spike Lee in trademark form, right down to the "give no Fs" ending. I think the film stands on its own perfectly without the coda, but I loved its inclusion anyway. Subtleties be damned, the ending was devastating and powerful. As the denouement played, the breathless silence throughout the theater was palpable, which was in stark contrast to earlier points of the film that really elicited raucous responses from the audience. From an experiential standpoint, this is a really complete movie -- accessible yet provocative. Liked this one a lot. One of Spike's best.

[Mal]

Not to sound like a sap but I am thankful that the craft of filmmaking exists to tie the past to the present in the way this film does. Spike Lee doesn't take a moment for granted with this story- what a terrific, essential film. Easily one of his best films ever. On top of what others have said, I am thankful he took the time to drag white women for being complicit as well.

[Pop Trash]

The more I think about this movie, the less I like it. I predict it will be hot shit for a brief moment then the backlash will set in (cf. Fahrenheit 9/11, Crash, Three Billboards). The changes from the real life story bother me. There's some Braveheart levels of historical revisions here. Even though what he criticizes is coming from a more left-wing perspective than myself, Boots Riley has a nice twitter take down people should read since it brings up the fallacies in the movie.

[TGM]

This is similarly not settling too well with me, too...

[Spinal]

I thought this was straight-up brilliant. I realized shortly before going to see this that I haven't seen a Spike Lee movie since Summer of Sam. Let's be clear about what he did here, because the bravery of this should not be undervalued: he made a popular movie that directly ties the sitting president and the dominant political party to murderous racism. True, this is not exactly breaking news. However, it is still notable that this message is not couched in innuendo or metaphor. The superb writing lays out so many great starting points for discussion and for generating resistance to vile racist ideology. I love that he allows us to hear long, uncut speeches from community leaders that are filled with righteous anger. I love the way he builds up the beauty and charisma of the black power movement and then juxtaposes it against the dull-witted but stubbornly determined white power movement.

Will this be a 4-star movie in 10 years? I don't know and I don't really care. If we're lucky, it will seem to us strident and overblown. If we're lucky, we'll use words to describe it like "dated". But for right now, it sadly captures our times all too well, and it does so with humor, insight and passion.

[Watashi]

You should really see 25th Hour, Spinal.

[Lazlo]

I thought this was straight-up brilliant. I realized shortly before going to see this that I haven't seen a Spike Lee movie since Summer of Sam. Let's be clear about what he did here, because the bravery of this should not be undervalued: he made a popular movie that directly ties the sitting president and the dominant political party to murderous racism. True, this is not exactly breaking news. However, it is still notable that this message is not couched in innuendo or metaphor. The superb writing lays out so many great starting points for discussion and for generating resistance to vile racist ideology. I love that he allows us to hear long, uncut speeches from community leaders that are filled with righteous anger. I love the way he builds up the beauty and charisma of the black power movement and then juxtaposes it against the dull-witted but stubbornly determined white power movement.

Will this be a 4-star movie in 10 years? I don't know and I don't really care. If we're lucky, it will seem to us strident and overblown. If we're lucky, we'll use words to describe it like "dated". But for right now, it sadly captures our times all too well, and it does so with humor, insight and passion.

The Belafonte/Birth of a Nation scene is horrifying and brilliantly done.

[Pop Trash]

I love the way he builds up the beauty and charisma of the black power movement and then juxtaposes it against the dull-witted but stubbornly determined white power movement.

That's such low-hanging fruit, though. One of the things that I love about Get Out is how Jordan Peele implicates wealthy, white Obama voting "liberals" for their hypocrisy, sanctimony, and patronizing of people of color. BlacKkKlansman goes for "Hee Haw" level of satire, thus creating a division between "educated" whites (despite college educated white people voting majority for Trump 48% to 45%) and mouth breathing rednecks. "Well honey, at least we're not like them" someone in the audience might say.

Some of the lines are so bad, too. I practically expected Topher Grace to take a beat and turn and look into the camera after saying things like (I'm paraphrasing since I don't remember the exact line) "we could really make America great again!"

[Ezee E]

I thought this was straight-up brilliant. I realized shortly before going to see this that I haven't seen a Spike Lee movie since Summer of Sam. Let's be clear about what he did here, because the bravery of this should not be undervalued: he made a popular movie that directly ties the sitting president and the dominant political party to murderous racism. True, this is not exactly breaking news. However, it is still notable that this message is not couched in innuendo or metaphor. The superb writing lays out so many great starting points for discussion and for generating resistance to vile racist ideology. I love that he allows us to hear long, uncut speeches from community leaders that are filled with righteous anger. I love the way he builds up the beauty and charisma of the black power movement and then juxtaposes it against the dull-witted but stubbornly determined white power movement.

Will this be a 4-star movie in 10 years? I don't know and I don't really care. If we're lucky, it will seem to us strident and overblown. If we're lucky, we'll use words to describe it like "dated". But for right now, it sadly captures our times all too well, and it does so with humor, insight and passion.

One thing that's kind of irking me is all of the stuff that's simply not true at all in the story. It bugs me a lot when movies try to base themselves off reality, only to basically be a fictional movie in the end. Last year's Detroit is another good example. Great movie on its own, but since it tries to come across as being based on reality so much, it kind of hurts the movie for me later on.

Blackkklansman is doing this now, understanding that the investigation wasn't until seven years later, that there was no girlfriend (Ron's wife is also white), no bombing was prevented, no racist officer that was arrested as the movie states, and his undercover approach to the black civil rights group was actually a 3-year long project.

There's enough great story in the true reality, that bending it seems forced and copping out. The theme that Spike was going for could've certainly stayed there. But this seems like a cop out, finding out afterwards.

I'm disagreeing with Boots Riley's argument, which is strangely similar to how the girlfriend in the movie feels.

Any thoughts on this?

[Spinal]

You should really see 25th Hour, Spinal.

Definitely. I've put that and a few others on hold at the library. I need to catch up on the past 20 years of his work.

[Ezee E]

Definitely. I've put that and a few others on hold at the library. I need to catch up on the past 20 years of his work.

I watched 25th Hour recently, and it was on my top of his list initially. After seeing it again though, it's really lowered, with scene after scene of Norton basically just being scared of going to prison (and rightly so), with his friends basically written him off already. The actors are all fascinating in it, but there's not much to really sympathize for.

I feel like I should watch it again.

The movie that has actually gotten better with me over time is He Got Game. I also really love Inside Man as an entertaining piece of work that still gets Spike Lee's signature throughout.

[Pop Trash]

The movie that has actually gotten better with me over time is He Got Game. I also really love Inside Man as an entertaining piece of work that still gets Spike Lee's signature throughout.

A lot of his movies after Malcolm X are underrated. I haven't seem them in decades, but I remember liking Clockers a lot and Girl 6 being better than its reputation. Girl 6 in particular seems to be an unsung influence on Sorry to Bother You, similar to how Mystery Train is an unsung influence on both True Romance and Pulp Fiction (I don't think enough people saw Mystery Train or Girl 6 to make the connections).

Unfortunately, if you make a movie as great as Do the Right Thing, it tends to overshadow your entire career and the general critical consensus with a lot of Spike's 90s and 00s output was "it's good, but it's not Do the Right Thing." This became especially true as some of his films got pretty messy. Bamboozled in particular is scattered, has a bizarre performance from Damon Wayans, and some shoddy early 00s DV, but it has some funny and on-point ideas and a lovely heartbreaking montage at the end of 100 years worth of blackface and black stereotypes from Hollywood.

Summer of Sam still fucking sucks, though. I don't care what anyone says.

[Pop Trash]

If anyone cares, here's my letterboxd ranking of all the Spike Lee joints I've seen. Obviously, I'm much lower on BlacKkKlansman than most.

https://letterboxd.com/adam_ball/list/spike-lee/

[Spinal]

BlacKkKlansman goes for "Hee Haw" level of satire, thus creating a division between "educated" whites (despite college educated white people voting majority for Trump 48% to 45%) and mouth breathing rednecks. "Well honey, at least we're not like them" someone in the audience might say.


To be clear, I like this movie not because it gives us 100% objective truth. I like it exactly because it uses cinema to paint white supremacist ideology with the brush of cartoonish idiocy. It's like being a caricature artist.

Think of one of the film's most powerful shots, the racist stereotypes used for target practice. Think of Lee's film as a potent reversal, aimed backed at violent racists. This is not objective cinema. This is 'trash talk'. "You think this is who I am? Well, here's you and your stupid face, dumb racist." (At this point, I imagine Spike's old Mars Blackmon commercials.)

I like Peele's approach as well and I think both are valid to the points they are trying to make.

[Spinal]

It's also a direct reversal of what we see in Birth of a Nation.

[DavidSeven]

I can almost never bring myself to care about historical accuracy, especially for a feature film -- that through its broad humor and artistic flourishes -- clearly isn't presenting itself as a straight recreation of events. As for criticisms that the film isn't critical enough of the police, we are again getting into the area of impossible purity tests that the left seems intent on killing itself with, especially from some extreme factions that share a lot of Boots Riley's political views. That aside, Riley loses credibility outright to me for bringing up Spike Lee's ad work for the NYPD and framing it as a serious accusation of corruption. That is some Trump level conspiracy pandering.

[Pop Trash]

One thing that's kind of irking me is all of the stuff that's simply not true at all in the story. It bugs me a lot when movies try to base themselves off reality, only to basically be a fictional movie in the end. Last year's Detroit is another good example. Great movie on its own, but since it tries to come across as being based on reality so much, it kind of hurts the movie for me later on.

Blackkklansman is doing this now, understanding that the investigation wasn't until seven years later, that there was no girlfriend (Ron's wife is also white), no bombing was prevented, no racist officer that was arrested as the movie states, and his undercover approach to the black civil rights group was actually a 3-year long project.

There's enough great story in the true reality, that bending it seems forced and copping out. The theme that Spike was going for could've certainly stayed there. But this seems like a cop out, finding out afterwards.

I'm disagreeing with Boots Riley's argument, which is strangely similar to how the girlfriend in the movie feels.

Any thoughts on this?

Yeah, I was talking to someone on letterboxd about this, and it left me thinking: what are movies that take liberties with their factual history that get a pass from me? I think you can break them up into different categories:

Historical Fiction: these are movies that use a real historical event or events as a backdrop, but then foreground fictional people in said event. Examples: Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, Django Unchained.

Historical movies that foreground real people, but take a lot of liberties with the truth. Think Braveheart, Gladiator, and now BlacKkKlansman.

Historical movies that foreground real people, but mostly get the important details right. Think Apollo 13 or Zodiac, probably plenty of others, but I haven't fact checked a lot of biopics and such. Maybe Capote falls in this category, I'm not sure.

Then you have intentionally fabricated revisionist history like Inglorious Basterds, where the filmmaker is blatantly rewriting history to comment on vengeance or even the nature of historical fiction in movies or the nature of propaganda.

Then you have something like Oliver Stone's JFK, where a filmmaker intentionally adapts not only the "official" story, but also the decades of conspiracy theories surrounding the "official" story to blur the line between fact and fiction and create a swirling mosaic questioning the very nature of subjective history.


I basically like all of the aforementioned movies more or less, but I guess I give Braveheart (which I've slightly soured on over the years, mostly due to my feelings towards Mel Gibson as of late) or Gladiator more of a pass since they take place hundreds or even thousands of years ago, whereas BlacKkKlansman only takes place a few decades ago, and the person it is based off of is still alive. I also don't seen any meta-textual reason (unlike Stone's JFK) to make the changes, other than to punch-up the narrative. I walked out of the theater thinking most of what happened in the movie happened in the book and is accounted for by the cop who wrote it, and I'm disappointed now to find out how much of it is untrue.

[Watashi]

Yeah, I'm with Pop Trash on this one. I know Spike Lee is never subtle in his political parallels, but I felt like I was being patted on the back for my "wokeness" when this film ended. I like it as a movie-movie, but Spike almost cracked the mirror he was holding up as he was bashing my face in.

[Ezee E]

The quicker the "woke" word dies down, the better.

[Peng]

This has me ruminating on why the references to current events feel strained to me here whereas I embrace them in The Post. Maybe because Spielberg leans into them all the way through the film's foundation while Lee, to me, almost pauses his story to make the connections, so I feel increasingly yanked out by the second or third reference to Trump. Also, while I think the film is more complex than the pro-cop criticism indicates, there is definitely something too easy in certain aspects, encapsulated whole in that awful, teeth-grittingly cheery One Cop of Racism resolution near the end. I am usually not one to mind cathartic crowd-pleasing sentiment, but the scene really clanks in its one-note execution all the way through, and I am not convinced by the reading of it being extreme to be subverted later on -- it should work in the moment, just on surface level, too.

Those are significant reservations, but for the most part I really liked the film otherwise, an entertaining buddy cop comedy combined with an appropriately incendiary work of layered, urgent rhetoric. And I'm in the camp of finding the horrific current event footage a perfect end to the film (with a great dolly shot leading in to it, literally a window to the present), a puncture of previously rambunctious, past-tense atmosphere that simultaneously strengthens, not undercuts, the story by tying it back to our horrifying everyday earth. 7.5/10

[Grouchy]

This film is as fine as Lee has been for a long, long time. True to his style, he crams everything and the kitchen sink in it and achieves more than one moment of pure cinema greatness.


It's also a direct reversal of what we see in Birth of a Nation.
This is my take on it as well. The problem is that Boots Riley is essentially right- it's damn near hypocritical of Lee to make a movie addressing cop racism and completely overlook the lenght and the true nature of the protagonist's anti-black work. It's a piece of reality that would make the themes of the film more complex. But at the same time the fact that the film opens with and prominently features footage from Birth of a Nation (plus the Tarzan speech) is clearly related to Lee's relationship with cinema as a political weapon. So it makes sense that he takes huge liberties with the real story to craft a black hero, same as Griffith completely ignored reality in order to make the Klan look good.

The montage at the end was quite wonderful and I'm surprised to learn it's controversial. It makes perfect sense and the use of the classic dolly shot as a trip into present day is inspired.

[Grouchy]

Wow, I was convinced Steve Buscemi was in this but it was actually his younger brother Michael who I didn't know existed and looks almost exactly like him.

I guess he has a huge career ahead of him as a cheaper Steve Buscemi.

[Irish]

The problem is that Boots Riley is essentially right- it's damn near hypocritical of Lee to make a movie addressing cop racism and completely overlook the lenght and the true nature of the protagonist's anti-black work.

Huh? What is "anti-black work"?

I only caught a whiff of Riley's statements about Lee and this film, so I'm a little lost...

ETA: Nevermind! Found it. https://ew.com/movies/2018/08/18/boots-riley-calls-out-blackkklansman/

Riley's an idiot. (Reading this, I'm less surprised "Sorry to Bother You" was such a mess.)

I think you're right on the money about the power of political films, Grouch.

[Grouchy]

Huh? What is "anti-black work"?
The movie depicts Ron infiltrating one Black Panther rally and downplaying the "arm yourself" part of the speech in his report because of his natural simpathies for the movement. Then he immediately moves on to the KKK infiltration. In reality, Ron spent three years undercover with the BPs. Riley's complaints in that regard are legitimate - three years doing that in the '70s counts as anti-black work.

[baby doll]

Wow, I was convinced Steve Buscemi was in this but it was actually his younger brother Michael who I didn't know existed and looks almost exactly like him.

I guess he has a huge career ahead of him as a cheaper Steve Buscemi.He was also in Kelly Reichardt's first (and best?) film, River of Grass, back in the day.

[Dukefrukem]

I think this is my first Spike Lee film. (oh wait, the Oldboy remake)

[Ezee E]

I think this is my first Spike Lee film. (oh wait, the Oldboy remake)

You've got some good movies to watch.

[Dukefrukem]

You've got some good movies to watch.

Priority to watch?

[baby doll]

Priority to watch?Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Malcom X, Clockers, Four Little Girls, Summer of Sam, 25th Hour, When the Levees Broke. Possibly Bamboozled, although I haven't seen it since it was released.

[Ezee E]

Priority to watch?

From ** 1/2 up, Spike will generally have a few masterful parts in his movies, but sometimes tries to cram in way too much, whether it be one too many subplots, or maybe going overboard with the theme. He really fell off after Inside Man, but it looks like he's trying to do higher budget/more quality pics instead of just documentaries and small-small scale movies.

His docs are worth checking out too.

****
Do the Right Thing
Malcolm X

*** 1/2
25th Hour (probably his most liked movie by general audiences)
Inside Man
He Got Game
Clockers

***
Crooklyn
Mo Better Blues
Summer of Sam
Miracle at St Anna
Sucker Free City (if this can be found...)

** 1/2
Bamboozled
She's Gotta Have It
Jungle Fever

*
Oldboy

[Ezee E]

I also have no idea why he did Oldboy, except to cash in. There's practically nothing "Spike Lee" about it

[Dukefrukem]

I think I've seen 25th Hour. Didn't know that was a Spike Lee film.

Also, is Inside Man the one where the guy builds himself into the wall? I've seen that too then.

[Ezee E]

I think I've seen 25th Hour. Didn't know that was a Spike Lee film.

Also, is Inside Man the one where the guy builds himself into the wall? I've seen that too then.

That is the one.

Those are certainly his most 'commercial' of movies. But you can see where Inside Man and 25th Hour each have some solid moments that make it a Spike Lee movie in the end.

To see SPIKE, you've gotta try Do the Right Thing, He Got Game, and maybe..... Bamboozled. He Got Game, Summer of Sam, She Hate Me, Jungle Fever are all very SPIKE movies that have a masterful moment or two, but also overbloated.

Scorsese was going to direct Clockers at one point, but got caught up with Casino and shared that Spike should direct it, and so he did.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I loved this, and I agree with those who say that the ending was a good way to throw a "haymaker" after the film ends with an almost-too-easy depiction of underdogs sticking it real good to David Duke. More than anything, the movie functions as an almost unbearable thriller; the second we start to learn about the bomb plot, my stomach knotted, and many story turns had me lowering in my seat and groaning.

[MadMan]

Powerful, funny, anger inducing and even sticks the landing. Also my current #1 of the year.