The Essential Spike Lee

June 19, 2020

A few years ago, I stumbled upon the documentary Back and Forth, which tells the story of the Foo Fighters, using a combination of historical film footage and video shot while the band was recording their 2011 album Wasting Light.  I knew a few of Foo Fighters’ songs, but very little about the history of the band, except lead singer Dave Grohl’s experience with his previous band, Nirvana.  After watching the film, and loving everything about it, I decided to dive into the band’s catalogue.  I do not relate to most music that is released these days, so the idea of jumping into a band with such a deep vault of music was a thrill.

I thought of this experience recently as I started looking at the film catalogue of director Spike Lee.  I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was hot and cold on his movies, having only seen a few of them over the years.  When I heard a few months ago that he had a new film coming out this year, I decided to dive in to see some of his more acclaimed films and see what I’ve been missing all of these years, before his new film was released.  Suddenly, I had a treasure trove of material from one filmmaker that I could watch and enjoy.  As I was preparing to write this week’s column, I started asking myself why I never saw more of his films over the years.  The thought that popped into my head was one that I’ve been hearing a lot since the murder of George Floyd, and the protests that have emerged throughout our country: We need to have tough conversations about racism in this country and those conversations may be uncomfortable, and it’s ok that it’s uncomfortable – these are tough issues we are dealing with in this country.  I think in the back of my mind, the subject matter of his films made me uncomfortable and my initial thought was “I don’t think I’d like that.”  One of the benefits of writing about films these last six months has been opening my mind to different filmmakers, themes and styles to not only be entertained, but to learn about new topics.

Spike has been making films for over 30 years and no, I didn’t watch ALL of his films – that would have taken way more time than I have to devote to my little hobby, but I did see some really good ones that I will recommend this week.  Spike could probably best be described as one of the boldest filmmakers we have ever seen in this country.  His films are designed to not only entertain, but to use the medium of film to express his opinions (about race, politics, the economy, and the media) and to educate his audiences.  He pulls no punches – there is very little subtlety in his films and very often, he will explore themes that will make the viewer uncomfortable.  It seems appropriate to explore Spike’s films during this time in our country.

He has a unique style as a filmmaker that he has utilized throughout his career which have spanned many genres – drama, comedy, musical, satire, war, horror, and documentaries.  Continuing this trend, HBO recently picked up his film concert of David Byrne’s Broadway show American Utopia, premiering later this year.  His films usually include contrasting styles of sweeping shots of his actors among crowds with intense shots of actors speaking directly into the camera.  His famous “double dolly” shot makes the actor appear that they are floating through the scene toward the camera.  Spike is also not afraid to experiment with radical techniques, like weaving in archival footage of civil rights leaders to reinforce the point of a scene, or one that ended up confusing viewers (including this one) with his 1994’s Crooklyn.  This film, written by Spike and two of his siblings, tells the semi-autobiographical story of Troy, a ten-year old girl growing up in Brooklyn with her four brothers.  It’s a sweet story with a killer soundtrack of 70s tunes, and a film unlike most of his other work.  When Troy goes to visit her relatives in Virginia, Spike filmed the scenes down South using an anamorphic lens, which made the scenes look very compressed, and all the people very skinny.  It was designed to show that the trip to her relatives was disorienting to Troy.  I thought something was wrong with my streaming service, until I went online and found out the effect was intentional and confounded theater audiences so much, that signs were posted outside the theaters to let them know it wasn’t a technical problem (Thanks Wikipedia!) 

Lastly with Spike films, you can always count on the perfect combination of script, story and music, whether it’s a soundtrack of songs or the films’ score, most of which have been conducted by Spike’s long-time composer, Terence Blanchard.  The one criticism I have with some his films is the length – a lot of them feel a little long and could still be effective if they were a little shorter.  But that’s a minor criticism you could make about other brilliant filmmakers (Quentin Tarantino and Oliver Stone come to mind).  So, this week, I’ll present some of my recommendations of the essential Spike Lee films.  You’ll notice that I didn’t include his new film, Da 5 Bloods, in this week’s post – I just watched it and will include my thoughts in an upcoming series I am writing about the best of 2020 films halfway through the year.  Here goes:

The Landmark Film – Malcolm X (1992)

The stakes could not have been higher for Spike’s biographical portrait of the civil rights leader, from his childhood to his days as a hustler in Harlem to the heights of his power before his assassination in 1965.  Based primarily on Alex Haley’s acclaimed book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, the film adaption was pursued by many filmmakers over the years, before Spike secured a deal to direct the film for Warner Bros. Studios.  As one of the more admired and controversial leaders in the civil rights movement, there were a lot of eyes on what Spike would do with the story, and how he would portray Malcolm in the movie.  It’s also important to note that this was only a few years after Spike became well-known in the movie industry, so he was still relatively early in his career as a director.  The result was a rich and powerful film that weaved together historical footage (including the recent Rodney King beating at the beginning) with a deep cast to tell Malcolm’s story.  While the film is long (over three hours), it doesn’t feel bloated – instead, it takes the time to explore how events in Malcolm’s life shaped his beliefs as a leader of the Nation of Islam.  He struggled with aspects of his religion throughout his life, even changing some of this beliefs after his pilgrimage to Mecca. 

Make no mistake about it – while this film features a great supporting cast, this movie is all about the performance of Denzel Washington as Malcolm.  When you watch him, particularly in the last half of the film, you feel like you are actually watching archival footage of Malcolm at a rally.  Denzel embodied him in a way that you rarely see in a biopic.  Each time I see clips of this film, or even when I recently rewatched it, I found myself shaking my head that he didn’t win the Academy Award for Best Actor.  He lost to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman – what a travesty.  Now, the Academy has a history of “make-up” Oscars – awarding someone for their full body of work, not necessarily the film they were nominated for.  Pacino had never won before (and deserved to win for Godfather Part II), so this was his make-up win.  Denzel eventually got his Best Actor win for Training Day in 2001 (to go along with his Supporting Actor Oscar for Glory in 1989).  Malcolm X was an important film about an important leader in this country’s history – and Spike delivered.

The Underrated Film – 25^th Hour (2002)

Spike has always been known as the consummate New Yorker and the city has played a major part in a number of his films.  This was on full display in 25^th Hour, filmed soon after 9/11, which Spike weaved into the story and filming.  Edward Norton plays Monty, a drug dealer, living the last day before he goes to prison, including interactions with his girlfriend (played by Rosario Dawson), his childhood friends (played by Barry Pepper and the brilliant Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and his father (played by Brian Cox).  There are also flashback scenes where Monty recalls how he met his girlfriend, the night he was arrested and other interactions that shaped how he got to this last day of freedom.  The film captures the essence of New York and is not brought up very often when you see the list of Spike’s best films, which is why I think it’s underrated and underappreciated.  Norton is excellent as the tortured lead character, coming to grips with spending the next seven years in prison.  He is one of my favorite actors and starred in one of my upcoming deep cut recommendations.  While this one has some rough language, it’s pretty tame in terms of violence compared to Spike’s other films. 

The Statement Documentary – When the Levees Broke (2006)

I only discovered this film (made for HBO) recently, when reading Spike’s filmography.  Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, he took a film crew down to New Orleans to film the devastating impact of the hurricane and interview dozens of citizens of the city to describe their experience.  His conversations were with a wide range of people – from politicians to scientists to first responders to ordinary citizens and at times, are very emotional.  He presents all aspects of the hurricane, starting with the early warnings ahead of the storm.  He covers the initial days after the storm passed, when people were scrambling to escape the flooded streets after the levees broke and the devastation at the Superdome and Convention Center where thousands of citizens sought safety.  He tackles the colossal failure of the federal government to adequately respond, and the political infighting between the governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans.  Lastly, he covers why the levees were faulty from the beginning and why the city was still at risk for another disaster.  The footage is devastating (and at times, gruesome), the interviews are powerful, the events are infuriating.  This is a difficult watch, but an important one.  Spike made a follow up film for HBO in 2010 about the city’s recovery, If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise.  I haven’t watched this one yet, but have added it to my list.

The Inspirational Film – Get On The Bus (1996)

Continuing a trend to tell stories contemporary to their time, Get on the Bus, which tells the story of a group of African-American men traveling to the Million Man March, premiered on the one-year anniversary of the march.  You may wonder how captivating a story of a group of men on a bus journey from Los Angeles to Washington, DC could be, but I really liked the simplicity of the story.  It features a wonderful cast, including the great Andre Braugher and Charles S. Dutton, plus a few actors who have appeared in a number of Spike’s films over the years – Ossie Davis, Roger Guenveur Smith, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, and Isaiah Washington.  The characters have a diverse set of backgrounds and beliefs and throughout their journey, they discuss their motivations for going on the march.  They crack jokes, they sing songs, they debate and argue, but at the end of their trip, they realize that despite their differences, they have a lot more in common than they thought they did.

The Hollywood Movie – Inside Man (2006)

You could watch Inside Man, and not even realize it’s a Spike Lee film.  When you learn that it was developed by Ron Howard’s production company with him originally attached to direct it, you understand why it doesn’t feel like a Spike film.  Howard had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, so Spike stepped in.  This is a fun heist film, set in New York City (where else?) starring Denzel Washington (as a hostage negotiator), Cilve Owen (as the leader of a group of bank robbers), Jodie Foster (as a power broker brought in to help in the negotiations), and Christopher Plummer (as the bank’s founder).  Spike said he was attracted to it, because it reminded him of Sidney Lumet’s 1975 bank heist film Dog Day Afternoon, the difference being that Inside Man jumps in timelines between the bank robbery while it’s in progress and the interviews conducted with all of the people inside of the bank after the robbery.  There are a number of twists throughout the film, including a few you won’t see coming.  I think of this as Spike’s “Hollywood” movie because there are no messages he is trying to convey to the audience – it’s simply a fun movie you don’t have to think a lot about.  Just sit back and enjoy it. 

The Overdue Academy Recognition – BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Despite being one of the most accomplished and critically lauded filmmakers of the last 30 years, Spike had only received two Academy Award nominations, both of which he lost, prior to 2018.  He was nominated in 1989 for Best Screenplay for Do the Right Thing and Best Documentary in 1997 for 4 Little Girls, an excellent HBO film about the 1963 church bombing that killed four young girls in Birmingham, Alabama.  While he did receive a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2016, he had never won a competitive award until he won the Best Screenplay Oscar for co-writing 2018’s BlacKkKlansman.  John David Washington (Denzel’s son and star of the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Tenet) stars as Ron Stallworth, a Colorado police officer who infiltrates a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.  While he communicates with the Klan on the phone, he gets help from fellow officer Flip Zimmerman (played by the excellent Adam Driver, in an Oscar-nominated performance) to pretend he is Stallworth in person.  The film is based on the memoir written by Stallworth and is well-executed across all facets.  I really enjoyed this one, but fair warning – the language in this one is very rough, considering the characters being portrayed.

The Masterpiece – Do the Right Thing (1989)

In only his third feature film at the age of 32, Spike put his mark on American cinema with Do the Right Thing, a story of the rising racial tension on a scorching summer day in Brooklyn.  Spike stars as Mookie, a delivery man at a pizzeria owned by Sal, played by Danny Aiello.  Mookie’s friends frequent the pizzeria and clash with Sal and his two sons, the oldest of which is played by John Turturro, a frequent collaborator with Spike.  His character, Pino, doesn’t hide his contempt and racist feelings toward the African-American customers and residents of the neighborhood, and bullies his younger brother, who has become friends with Mookie.  Throughout the movie, we get to meet a number of the neighbors who live near the pizzeria, played by actors who would become frequent actors in Spike’s future movies, including Ossie Davis, Giancarlo Esposito (in an excellent performance, and unrecognizable from his future role as Gus on Breaking Bad), Roger Guenveur Smith, and Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the neighborhood DJ, providing the soundtrack throughout the movie.  As the film unfolds, tensions slowly escalate as we see how the resentment and hatred the characters hold for each other manifests itself in verbal insults and physical altercations.  Things come to a head near the end of the film when a character (Radio Raheem, played by another Spike favorite, Bill Nunn) comes into the pizzeria with his radio blasting and refuses to turn down the music.  When the cops arrive, all hell breaks loose, as I discussed in my recent post here.

The film is a masterpiece for a number of reasons – the cast is outstanding, the production design and colors make you feel like you are in a hot summer day in the city, the music complements the story very well – both the score, and the soundtrack, featuring Public Enemy’s anthem Fight the Power, written specifically for the film.  I mentioned earlier that Spike’s movies can make you feel uncomfortable at times, and this one (along with Malcolm X) is at the top of the list.  The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and is one for the ages, but it very intense – it features some pretty hateful insults and the language is pretty rough.  But in typical fashion, Spike shows you the good, bad and ugly of real tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood.  He’s not going to sugarcoat it.  Spike’s character, Mookie, plays the conscience throughout the film, trying to keep the peace among those on different sides of issues and arguments.  He does something at the end of the film that makes you question if he truly “did the right thing” based on the circumstances and how he was feeling.  It’s another way for Spike to leave you thinking about what you just saw, long after you stopped watching the film.  A must watch film, especially in these times.

One last note.  If you are looking to watch any of these films, I recommend JustWatch, a great app that tells you where you can find any film for streaming or rental.

That’s all for this week.  This one was rather long, so I’ll save my moment of happiness for next week.  Thank you so much for reading.  If you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe here.