BlacKkKlansman - Review Thread

Let's edit the poll to make the 1 score read 'Spike Lee should shut his face.'

Somehow I doubt it's crazier than Sorry to Bother You.

And I doubt there's anyone more inflammatory than Spike Lee. He literally has KKK members shouting America First in a movie set in 1979. And yes, I'm aware that was also Ronald Reagan's slogan and he's just as racist as Trump, but that still wouldn't fit the context of a movie set in 79.

This is actually the first Spike Lee movie that I think I've ever looked forward to seeing. Lee saturates almost all his work with his own politics to the point of being obnoxious but this looks like it could be an interesting piece of filmmaking.

I feel like there are often times several words in regards to describing filmmakers that are highly overused to the point where they're just empty placeholders, and perhaps the greatest culprit of this is when critics describe a film or director as polarizing. It's become a sort of synonym for edgy, daring, bold, emotional filmmaking, and as a result it's misused and pretty dismissible. I mean, when we really think about it, how many contemporary directors are truly polarizing; artists that are pushing buttons, shocking audiences, and doing it all while raising social awareness about issues most would shy away from. There are some that come to mind, like a Lars Von Trier, though I find him to be polarizing only because he's an asshole that tries to be as grotesque as possible though actually says little to nothing at all with his films. Darren Arronofsky as well could be regarded as polarizing, but I think his work is generally pretty admired aside from mother! and Noah. Even when looking back in film history, there aren't as many as you would think that would truly fit that mold. Pier Pasolini, to be sure, was so polarizing it got him murdered. But to be objective, very few filmmakers I would say are truly polarizing. Pushing the medium of cinema? There are several wonderful examples. But a polarizing filmmaker (no, Polanski doesn't count either), that's a rare find.

Spike Lee, since his masterpiece 1989 film Do the Right Thing, has often been labeled as such, and I can certainly understand why. I'm a huge champion of that film and its unabashed examination of racial tension, riot-inspiring energy, and literally in-your-face camera push-ins where angry characters are ranting directly to the audience. Spike Lee has had a career filled with successes and failures, and more of the latter as of late to be sure, but nothing he's done can ever top the brilliance of Do the Right Thing, a movie highly stylized in its approach to examining race relations in America, but centered around such a small, unspectacular event of a silly argument over there not being African Americans represented on the wall of a pizza parlor. I would argue that, yes, Do the Right Thing is a polarizing film. You can sit two people down who both feel the film is a masterpiece, and yet have two completely different stances on the occurrence of the riot itself and whether or not it was justified. Spike Lee is certainly a filmmaker who centers the majority of his films on race and social class, and steeps much of this in historical backdrops to often depict how far we think we've come, but haven't actually at all. He is a polarizing filmmaker, by its very definition, and his in-your-face approach is celebrated by some and despised by others. I've found it to work brilliantly in certain cases and feel worn out in others, but oddly enough Lee has sort of toned things down in regards to this style for the last couple of decades, with notable exceptions being Chi-Raq and I suppose Bamboozled. Well, fret not lovers and haters of Mr. Lee, as his latest film, BlacKkKlansman, is Lee returning to his unabashed roots with mostly success. No, this movie is not nearly on the level of Do the Right Thing or Malcolm X, nor is it as provocative as you would hope (in fact it largely plays itself fairly safe given the context), but this is Lee in his total comfort zone, pissing off conservative America and shoving their blatant hypocritical rhetoric right back in their faces. While BlacKkKlansman never reaches the wild heights that it's been billed as, this is Lee at his best since Inside Man, and in Trump America his bold, angry artistic voice has met a true adversary. Polarizing indeed.

The film, based on a true story, centers around African American man Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), a newly minted police officer in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He's quickly bored by the mundane administrative duties that have fallen on him, and wants to see more of the action. He gets the chance when he's assigned to go undercover to a rally for a civil rights activist in order to gauge the threat of a rebellion against police officers, and there he meets the president of the Black Student Union, Patrice (Laura Harrier). He doesn't reveal to her that he's a cop, and throughout the film they have a tug-of-war between what defines being black in America, a stance which she believes is smeared by being a part of the systemic racism that police officers empower. Ron though still isn't satisfied, but comes across an ad in the local paper for the Ku Klux Klan. He calls them, and after a series of phone conversations, is invited to meet with them. Clearly he's going to need someone else to pose as him for these meetings, so enter Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), a Jewish police officer who reluctantly agrees to pose as Ron and meet the members of the local Klan chapter. These are certainly the best scenes of the film, and Lee does a great job of toeing the line between funny moments poking fun at ignorant Klan members and building tension that at any moment the operation would be compromised. While the stakes admittedly don't ever feel too large, this is Colorado Springs after all, there's a lot of time devoted to fleshing out these characters, even the Klan members, that really works to engage the audience into feeling this is immensely important work being done. One of the best elements of the film are Ron's multiple phone calls with David Duke (Topher Grace), who takes a liking to the man over the phone he fully believes is white. Grace may seem like a silly casting choice initially, but he plays Duke perfectly, walking around with a comical self-importance propagated by his small legion of ignorant disciples. Again, though the stakes plot-wise do feel small, having Duke in the mix adds an essential gravitas to the endeavor and certainly helps place this film in its historical context.

Oddly enough, the film doesn't push for style as often as you'd think. There are certainly some moments that will catch the eye, such as a brilliantly edited sequence where African American faces are almost blended together as they listen to a speaker, or a very funny nod to blaxploitation near the end of the film moving actors on a dolly while they don't move their feet. But overall, the film is pretty mild tonally. It's consistent to be sure, but it doesn't have the bold filmmaking signatures from Lee that you'd hope for. I hate to do this, but especially in comparison to two other black films this summer bearing loads of style in Sorry to Bother You and Blindspotting, BlacKkKlansman never feels like it pushes the envelope enough behind the camera, as Lee elects to play the historical event straight for the most part. This isn't a flaw, but there were many times that I wanted the film to echo stylistically the anger and emotion that the characters were displaying onscreen. I wanted Lee to go for those obtrusive, "I don't care if this makes you uncomfortable" camera movements and push-ins that make Do the Right Thing so effective, but there's little of that to be found. Still, what BlacKkKlansman doesn't possess in style, Lee certainly makes up for directing the cast to great performances. These aren't markedly fleshed out characters, but everyone onscreen feeds off the other so well that it hardly matters. The movie is a constant barrage of back-and-forth exchanges, some funny, some offensive, some tense. This is not a movie that feels like its running time despite being very dialogue heavy, and Lee deserves a lot of praise for keeping the energy strong and the film moving at a constant clip.

My biggest issue with the film is that by the end of it I didn't sit in my seat, stare at the credits, and ponder what the film presented. Yes, this is a film that overtly tackles racism in America's past and present and does it very well, but at the same time it doesn't really present anything either. Lee takes a lot of well earned shots at Trump America throughout the film, culminating at the end with footage of the Charlottesville, Virginia protests from last year. Lee has never been credited for his subtlety, which is fine, but while Do the Right Thing stuns the audience depicting how a small situation can quickly escalate into violence as people's prejudices boil over, BlacKkKlansman fits more in the obvious, progressive mode. Do the Right Thing has characters that are racist, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad people. BlacKkKlansman is far less complicated than that, with every character clearly drawing their respective lines in the sand. I don't think that anyone not sporting MAGA hats will have issue or, more importantly, be politically moved by what Lee has to say, because it's pretty straightforward stuff going on here. And again just like the lack of style, that's totally fine, this is a biopic of sorts after all which are rarely known for displaying more than the facts. But we've come to expect something more profound from Lee, and again the only real issue with BlacKkKlansman, though it proves to be a large one, is that it plays itself very safe. The movie ends and you feel that while it's a funny romp and Ron certainly made David Duke and the KKK look like the morons they are, nothing really was accomplished. Maybe I'm being cynical here, but then again so is Lee with his constant allusions to Trump America. Unfortunately for Lee, beyond surface level "racism and bigotry is bad and has been a part of America forever" points he doesn't drum up much to build on that thought. There's nothing technically wrong with BlacKkKlansman, but there's also a sense after watching it that it could have been more. Angrier. Crazier. Deeper. Polarizing. We'll just have to settle for a good time at the movies and Lee's best work in a decade instead, which is certainly nothing to be upset about.

7/10

Film of the year, maybe decade. Lee swings hard for the fences and is scoring runs with every crack. There's so many layers here to dissect, told by a man who isn't trying to start a riot as much as he is telling us that hate isn't the answer.*

Yeah it's powerful, funny, and Lee's best work in years.

* - Having said that, I hate racism that much more after this movie.

I saw it. I enjoyed it, but it seems to be a bit overhyped.

You were wrong.

I definitely don't think it's perfect. There's some contrivances and not every piece of the ending works, but all told this was pretty stirring. The film manages to speak to a number of pressing racial concerns in a way which is very entertaining without sacrificing any of its poignancy or political fire. I love the performances, I love Lee's energy, I love the music, and I love what befuddled fools Lee presents the KKK to be.

The lack of subtlety doesn't bother me either. There's a time to whisper, and there's a time to scream. Right now I could use the latter, and Spike has a lot worth saying.

I do wanna reflect on the film a bit before scoring it, but this is definitely an important piece of work and among the year's best so far.

The notion that a radical organization can't or shouldn't be looked into by the FBI if it leans left, for one. Or that Ron Stallworth is an Uncle Tom for belonging to the FBI which is doing so.

Or that Spike Lee being brought in as one of many consultants by the NYPD for ideas in how to improve its image, not knowing of any of those ideas were implemented, and him billing that organization for his services is somehow wrong.

Spike Lee has had some missteps for sure. Tweeting out the address of the wrong George Zimmerman for one. But tearing him down because he doesn't conform to Boots' childish political worldview is stupid. There are far better targets.

BlacKkKlansman is not a perfect movie. The film relies on some contrivances, parts of the third act feel tonally off, and the messages are at times muddled. That all said, when Spike Lee hits here, he's hitting home-runs. In telling the story of black detective Ron Stalworth's (John David Washington) infiltration of the Klu Klux Klan, Lee hits just the right balance of satire and seriousness. Though BlacKkKlansman never loses sight of the Klan's dangerous ideology and their capacity for harm, Lee also never grants the members any sense of respect or dignity. All KKK members here are painted as totally incompetent and disorganized boobs. Capable of horrific acts? Absolutely. Deserving of mockery and scorn? Oh yes. This undercutting of the Klan is not just for comedy purposes, but also fuels one of Lee's messages pertaining to the inherently destructive and unstable ideology of hate the Klan is built on, something visually symbolized by the climax.

Lee also engages with debates regarding how to fight racism in a corrupt system. This is most emphasized in Ron's relationship with Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier), a black student activist who believes that change within the system is impossible; only radical change can bring genuine equality. Given Ron's position in the police force, he clearly feels differently, but there debates do challenge his perspective and the double consciousness drawn from Ron's identity as a black man and a cop is something explored. Lee doesn't really settle the debate, and it's substantial that the film in fact ends with that exact debate going incomplete, but he does raise some interesting talking points. There's also Adam Driver's character, someone of Jewish heritage able to "pass" as white and as if he isn't at risk when in actual fact he is. Driver's arc is largely about someone who views the problem of white supremacy as intellectually repugnant, to someone who is emotionally affected and at risk. Such an arc is substantial enough to warrant it's own film, and indeed some pieces do feel missing here, but it also makes a great supplementary piece to Ron Stalworth's story in BlacKkKlansman.

For as much as the film deals with heavy themes and hard questions, BlacKkKlansman is also one of the year's most entertaining films. Lee has always had an uncanny ability to blend heavy subject matter wih blistering entertainment and that serves him well here. Lee's camera work is perhaps less bold than in something like Do the Right Thing, but he does give the film a distinct look and the editing does wonders to drive the story. The performances are universally very good, with John David Washington and Adam Driver making a great on-screen duo. Ultimately, while the film is maybe not as polished as it could have been, I do understand Lee's urgency in telling this story. On that note, the parallels to the contemporary political landscape will likely be entirely obvious to any viewer as Lee makes no pretenses of subtlety. Personally, I'm fan with this. There's a time to whisper, and a time to scream. Now feels like the latter.

A-