BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee is one of those directors that I like, though not perhaps one that I laud as I would others. He has made many films that I have enjoyed - indeed one of my all time favourites in "Do the Right Thing" - though while interesting, innovative and always politically-charged in his work, his films tend to be flawed in some way or other. Having said that, apart from 2013's misguided "Old Boy" re-make, I can't say any of his films haven't been worth my time.

It would also be fair to say, however, that like many other directors, as his career has got longer, his body of work has become less impactful. With much of his work over the last decade coming in the form of TV, documentary and music video, "BlacKkKlansman" is a welcome return to feature film form delivering his best film for many years.   

Based on, but moving away from, his memoir, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first black police officer on the Colorado Springs force. Left in archives, however, his uniqueness on the force see him used for undercover purposes to make sure a student rally doesn't get "out of hand." This taste of active police work sees him quickly moved to Intelligence, where apropos of nothing, he calls the local branch of the "Organisation" (the Ku Klux Klan to you and me) pretending to be a harmless white racist, eager to join. Discussions developing, the head of the Colorado Springs branch is keen to meet.

There is just one problem with that.

Enter fellow undercover Flip Zimmerman (face-seen-a-lot-these-days Adam Driver). With Stallworth the voice and Zimmerman the face, they create an alter-ego Klan member Ron Stallworth. Gaining further trust, they soon gain recognition within the Klan at a national level. As such, they soon uncover a secret plot among some members against student groups.

As the scenario suggests, there is something of a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour throughout "BlacKkKlansman". Stallworth able to convince members of the Klan that his is the voice of a white man, much to the amusement of his colleagues, particularly when making the rookie mistake of using his actual name and address. Sending a Jewish man to play the face also leads to numerous references to showing his penis to prove his whiteness (and not just with how small it is). As ever with Lee, political rhetoric comes with a sense of humour.

But there are more political messages - attempts at least. Stallworth, as the sole black police officer, sees himself as a pioneer, while his relationship with student activist Patrice (Laura Harrier) throws questions at him as to how a black man can ever work for a racist police force. But why can't he be both a police officer and proud black man? Zimmerman is a man who doesn't define himself by his Jewish heritage, but once spending time with the Klansmen, he soon becomes more aware of white society's views towards him. These are perhaps left unexplored to a greater extent, with entertainment more of a key factor, as well as lampooning certain individuals. One gets the sense that Lee and his fellow writers, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmot, are making not-so-subtle references to the current political situation in the US throughout.

And it is thrown square in your face on the film's conclusion. A seemingly Hollywood happy ending, with lives saved, victory achieved and knockabout goofs thrown in, the team are told to destroy all evidence of the case, much to their frustration. This is then followed by a literal barrage of now well-known video footage of cars ploughing into protestors, alongside speeches from Donald Trump and David Duke (featured at a younger age in the film). From the euphoria of cinema, we are brought straight back to reality in a brutal way, timed and measured for maximum impact: true images more shocking than any fiction.

Much more slick than his earlier films, there are still flaws here: perhaps an indulgent dance scene showing Lee's music video influence; and some plot holes that could use some covering - natural when fictionalising true events for entertainment. The more mainstream edge on show here - less radical than his works in the Eighties and Nineties - lead to criticisms as to thechanging of the script and Lee's (lack of) showing the reality of what happened. Is the police "racism" Stallworth experienced shown as little more than childish name-calling here? Are the Klan members simply pantomime villains? Perhaps. Lee's recent work with the police to help improve minority relations could be seen as a motivation for some of the changes to story and character for a more positive outlook.

But the truth - maybe sadly - is this is a mainstream film - Lee a more recognised name in the industry than in his younger, more aggressive days - and Hollywood will always change the script in the name of entertainment. One cannot, therefore, be shocked by the lack of overall truth; and the choice for entertainment over education. For the merits of the film itself: Lee shows that he can still make feature films that cover the full range of making you laugh, cry, enjoy, rage and think. Your thoughts as to that though may not be so positive.

Every 14 Days...(15)

Clockers (Richard Price)

‘Clockers’, the 1995 Spike Lee film, is one I have not seen for a while. The book of the same name pre-dating it by 3 years is written by Richard Price, a regular contributing writer on ‘The Wire’. Since I have a liking for both, I decided to take it for a spin, a rather long spin.

Split in two halves, alternate chapters focus on ageing homicide detective, Rocco Klein, and drug dealing lieutenant, Strike. After being given the duty himself, Strike discusses with his estranged brother that a local restaurant manager and low-level drug dealer has ‘got to be got.’ But before Strike can fully whimper out of his murderous responsibility, he is shocked to find that the deed has already been done and that his brother has turned himself in.

Put on the case, Rocco finds himself at odds to explain why a decent, hard-working man would hand himself in over the murder. Believing his brother Strike has to be involved somehow, Rocco presses hard to put the young clocker under pressure to take responsibility for the murder and clean his brother’s name.

The bold David Simon quote on the front cover reads ‘The Wire wouldn’t exist without Clockers’ and is one that can be taken as true. Written at a similar time to Simon’s books, it has a similar vein running throughout, focusing on individuals and building up their character and traits slowly. Many ideas, themes and characters from this book feature in ‘The Wire’, which Price would later write on.

It’s a long read and an intense one, focusing largely on the two main characters, but is well written, engrossing and asks some interesting questions about what would drive a man to kill.

Days to read: 26

Days per book: 14.5

The Box Lady and Other Pesticles (Richard Herring)

Following on from where ‘Bye Bye Balham’ left off, this is the second instalment of paper publishing of the second longest online blog in the world.

Looking back at himself a decade down the line, he sees himself starting to set-up his new life in Shepherd’s Bush following having said ‘bye bye’ top Balham. It’s more of the same, showing regret and shame at some of his previous actions as an older, wiser and now married man.

Being that this blog has now made its mark on Mr Herring’s ‘Warming Up’ blog, I can’t wait to see my name in print in 20 years or so time.

Days to read: 15

Days per book: 14.6

Mao: The Unknown Story (Jung Chang and Jon Halliday)

Back in August, 2008, I bought and started to read ‘Mao: The Unknown Story’. But by September, only just over one hundred pages in, I got bored and chose to start something else instead. Ever since, the seemingly never-ending book has remained on floor piles or shelves in the various accommodation I have since inhabited. But, seeing as everything else on my bookshelves had already been read, I thought it about time that I finally finished the bastard.

At some 765 pages, if you remove all the appendices and index, and small print, this is a long old book. Upon starting it, I whizzed through the first hundred pages again on train journeys, but beyond that, found the book to be slow and plodding. The book starts off at a pace you feel you can keep up with, but when getting to The Long March, you feel like you might have actually been part of it, as it seems to read in a ‘and then this happened’ manner. Motivation to keep going, therefore, soon started to decrease.

Reading ‘Mao: The Unknown Story’ is a bit of an ordeal, struggling through a long-winded book, feeling less motivated and as if you aren’t intelligent enough to care about some thing that happened loads of years ago.

The book, however, does not always sit amazingly well with me. While a history book – looking into ‘facts’ – it feels written in a story-like manner, as if first-hand experience. While all sources, etc. are cited at the back of the book, they are not always linked to the text, and the little inflictions and adding of ‘our italics’ seem more like the authors painting the picture they want you to believe, rather than leaving you to conclude your own opinions based on evidence.

Much of the book is undoubtedly true and it uncovers some previously unknown information, but with the style in which it is written and the negative attitude towards the subject from the outset, it feels less an academic text, and more a biased television documentary. This is a book that will divide opinion, but one thing that is for certain is that this is not the most comfortable read.

Days to read: 91

Days per book: 16

Slam/Bamboozled

Now, here are two films I remember watching many moons ago, and for some strange reason was compelled to watch again. Of both, I remember slightly unusual techniques and styles, feeling more like home movies than big-budget films. But, neither is particularly big-budget; both controversial in their own way and quite experimental, designed to create emotion more than they are to entertain. Both, therefore, are not great films, but interesting ones nonetheless, perhaps not fully getting their ideas across, but based on good ideas.

Starting with ‘Slam’, we see young Raymond Joshua living in D.C., working as a small-time drug dealer, occasionally writing the odd verse of poetry. Caught in a gang-land shooting, he sees himself arrested and trapped with the choice of going to prison or going to prison on a drug possession charge. Angered and frustrated, he again finds himself trapped in the middle of a gang dispute in prison resulting in him letting out his grievances in the form of poetry in the prison yard.

Slam

If you like, ‘Slam’ is a musical; not so much a film, but a vehicle to showcase the talents of the cast as poets and emcees. Much of the cast are poets and/or rappers appearing in a debut acting role, or one of their few and had a big hand in the writing. Saul Williams plays the lead role, with Sonja Sohn (that ‘dyke cunt’ from ‘The Wire’), Bonz Malone and Beau Sia taking up supporting roles, among others. The acting and story, therefore, are never fully polished, with writer/director Mark Levin known more for his documentaries than feature films.

The story moves on a little too quickly in parts and character motivation is not always fully explored, beyond William’s character. But with the low-budget feel, this has that trapped-in-time quality, feeling isolated from the rest of the world. There is nothing Earth-shattering here, but some interesting social comment and, at times, powerful performances.

Spike Lee’s ‘Bamboozled’ is a satire of modern television and what those watching the ‘idiot box’ have come to expect on the small screen. Damon Wayans plays Pierre Delacroix, a sit-com writer criticised by a ‘more black than black people’ network executive for writing shows that are ‘too white,’ featuring ‘white people with black faces.’ Pushed to deny the existence of a middle-class African-American, Delacroix works to create a show so ‘black’ as to shock America into realising the stereotypes that are portrayed on every day television. Ticking-off every racial stereotype imaginable, he creates ‘Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show’.

Bamboozled

Amazingly, the show is a success, working only to further stereotypes rather than destroy them; leaving Delacroix viewed as a sell-out. Success and fame are predictably the downfall of those involved resulting in tragedy.

‘Bamboozled’ is an interesting film for Lee to have made at the time; rising in his career and choosing to make a film that is quite low on a number of things. To start, the cast is low on out-and-out actors – and you can include Damon Wayans and Jada Pinkett-Smith within that – using rappers and comedians in many roles. It is also a film low on any nice Hollywood gloss and sheen – an effect probably desired considering the subject matter. The one thing it is high on is camera numbers, using numerous handhelds to take shots from various angles, such as audience reactions to a new breed of minstrel show. This creates a claustrophobic and documentary-like feel to the film.

Bamboozled

But being a satire, the film is more about the point it is trying to make; the use of footage from old television and film portrayals of African-Americans throughout and montaged at the end highlighting this. References are made to various moments where art and politics have collided, as well as using real-life figures vocal in such areas.

But ultimately, ‘Bamboozled’ ends up a little messy in final execution. The lack of any real acting talent leaves performances a little wooden, as well as the characters they portray a little too extreme, notably the Mau Mau, led by Mos Def, who feel a little unrealistic despite Mos Def’s usually charismatic onscreen performances. A little too much can be rammed down your throat at times, with all imagery and dialogue geared towards one thing.

Bamboozled

Neither ‘Slam’ nor ‘Bamboozled’ will ever be regarded as great films, nor will they probably be remembered by many. But both are interesting examples of more creative film-making. Big budget effects, state-of-the-art camerawork and even actors are not required, as long as the film is based on a strong idea and purpose. They are portrayals of writers, trapped in different situations as they struggle to overcome stereotypes, relying on the talents of their non-acting casts. Well-executed at times or not, both still offer more than the endless big budget sequels and re-makes that make-up the majority of box office takings.