Lock Yourself In Weekend: With Spike Lee
Spike Lee has been one of our most prolific filmmakers for over 25 years, and he’s also a triple threat as he writes, directs, and on occasion, stars in his productions. His ‘actors tree’ is staggering: a mix of stars who got their first film roles/breaks (Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, John Turturro, Rosie Perez, Martin Lawrence, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, Delroy Lindo, John Leguizamo, and Michael Imperioli, Roger Guenveur Smith) and veteran actors that got a second wind (Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Christopher Plummer, Danny Aiello, Lonette McKee) appearing in Spike Lee films. In anticipation of his forthcoming film, Red Hook Summer, shut off the cell phone, turn off the computer and lock yourself in with these seven essential Spike Lee films:
(originally posted May 2, 2012)
Malcolm X (1992)
Translating the story of the transformation of Malcolm Little (drug addled hustler and street thug) to Malcolm X, (civil/human rights icon), to the screen was mired in controversy for years. But in the hands of Spike Lee, it became one of the greatest biopics of all-time. Denzel Washington doesn’t play Malcolm X: He IS Malcolm X, and not awarding him the Best Actor Oscar that year is inexplicable. Spike takes us from New York to Mecca and back again and the results are staggering. This is the film that cemented Spike as one of America’s great filmmakers and Denzel Washington as one of the most prominent actors of his generation.
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Do The Right Thing (1989)
After the critical success of She’s Gotta Have It and the mixed reviews of School Daze, Spike Lee need to deliver on his 3rd full length feature. Inspired by the NYPD-related deaths of Eleanor Bumpurs and Michael Stewart, Do The Right Thing looks at race relations coming to a head in a Brooklyn neighborhood on the hottest day of the year. Spike himself leads the great ensemble cast as Mookie, a pizzeria deliveryman who is at the center of the shocking events that take over the final third of the film. Danny Aiello is fantastic as the owner of Sal’s and we get an early glimpse of just how good John Turturro was (and is) playing Sal’s son Pino. It features the still dynamite anthem, ‘Fight The Power’ by Public Enemy. Funny, poignant and thought provoking, Do The Right Thing still packs an emotional punch 20 years after its release.
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Crooklyn (1994)
Spike’s most introspective and personal film is also his most overlooked. What makes this warm, often bittersweet look at a Black family living in 1970s Brooklyn even more extraordinary is that it’s told through the eyes of a child (played with remarkable poise by Zelma Davis). Delroy Lindo – who had his breakout role as West Indian Archie in Malcolm X – is fantastic as Woody, a jazz musician struggling against the changing musical tides and being a provider for his family. The always solid screen veteran Alfre Woodward portrays his wife Carolyn, who is struggling to keep the household together. Spike captures every nuance and feel of the period from the height of the Knicks glory years, neighborhood dynamics and the family dynamics that are universal. Crooklyn proved that Spike could deliver a change up and it soars. It’s a lost treasure that deserves to be discovered.
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Inside Man (2006)
Spike’s most successful film to date – about a bank heist in Lower Manhattan that unravels a trove of secrets – is unusual in that he didn’t write the script. In fact, he was essentially a director for hire after Ron Howard backed out of the project. And with a cast that includes Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, Christopher Plummer, Willem Defoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor, who can blame him for taking the project? Even when working off an outside script, Spike’s mark is all over the film: racism in a post 9/11 world, corruption, and how the lines between right and wrong are getting thinner by the day. Also look for the sly reference to Do The Right Thing.
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25th Hour (2002)
This 2002 drama is often referred to as Spike’s ‘9/11 movie’, but its much more than that. It’s about the choices that we make in our lives and the ramifications that they have on those closest to us. Edward Norton brings a combination of edge and vulnerability as Monty Brogan, a convicted drug dealer spending his last day of freedom with his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson), friends (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper) and family (Brian Cox) before heading upstate to do a 7 year prison stint. He’s also looking to find out who is the person who ratted him out – a search that that threatened to destroy his already fragile relationships with those in his inner circle. Spike’s decision use the Ground Zero cleanup as a metaphor for the events in the story made it more effective. Even more powerful is a five minute sequence in which Monty rants against every ethnic group that makes up New York City, his father, his girl, his friends and even himself juxtaposed against images that wind up celebrating these differences as much as they mock them. In the hands of a less skilled director, it would bomb horribly. Spike and Norton pull it off ease. 25th Hour is that rare combination of time capsule and character study.
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Jungle Fever (1991)
Spike goes straight for the jugular in this blistering look at interracial relationships. Wesley Snipes plays Flipper, a happily married architect with a young daughter. His world is turned upside down when he begins an affair with his temp secretary Angie, played by Annabella Sciorra. Adding to his problems is a tense, fragile relationship with his parents (wonderfully played by Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee), his crackhead older brother Gator (played to scary effect by Samuel L. Jackson) and a city – black and white – openly hostile to interracial couples. This film has so many layers, and the script is superb. Jungle Fever also has a outstanding supporting cast (Anthony Quinn, John Turturro, Tim Robbins, Lonette McKee, Debi Mazer and early screen time for Halle Berry and Queen Latifah) and a killer Stevie Wonder score. As the concept of a ‘post-racial’ America is part of the national conversation, watch Jungle Fever and it will take the conversation to an entirely different place.
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Summer Of Sam (1999)
New York City was virtually boiling over in the summer of 1977. There was record heat, crime was rampant, and the city was still in the midst of a financial crisis. Punk was exploding out of the Lower East Side, Studio 54 was the epicenter of disco and people were openly expressing their sexuality in places like Plato’s Retreat. Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin battled each other as the Yankees were battling for a pennant. But at the center of all of this was the blackout (which lead to widespread looting and fires) and The Son Of Sam serial case in which six people were killed and several others were wounded over a year period. This 1999 drama – which tells the story of how the case affects a group of friends in the Bronx – captures all of the passion, and the paranoia of the period to astonishing effect. Adrian Brody delivers the film’s best performance as punk convert Richie. If you were in New York City at the time, it’s the perfect film to remember just how crazy, exciting and diverse the city was. If you weren’t there, it’s as close to the real thing as you’ll get.
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