Believe the hype. It’s incredible.
There are some films that feel like no other director could have made them. For example, it’s hard to imagine anyone else but Martin Scorsese adapting Wiseguy into Goodfellas and on a similar note, Steven Spielberg has often said that he needed to mature as a filmmaker before turning his attention to Schindler’s Ark.
On this note, when BlacKkKlansman was pitched to Spike Lee, he said that he signed up on six words alone “Black man infiltrates Ku Klux Klan ” and since being released to massive acclaim in the U.S and on the festival circuit, it’s about to land in Ireland.
Throughout the course of his career, Spike Lee has always been fascinated by the drama that unfolds when two ideologies clash. Do the Right Thing was a perfect examination of the hatred and bigotry that develops on the hottest day of the year in Brooklyn. School Daze examined the issues that African-American students were facing in U.S colleges and as for Malcolm X, many critics would argue that it’s one of the greatest biopics ever made.
This director always had the knack of making films that felt topical and timeless at the same time. On this note, BlacKkKlansman feels like it’s a project that was destined for Lee but like all great stories, this tale about a black police officer that infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan is so crazy that it’s true.
It’s the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organisation aims to sanitise its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.
This all appears to be very heavy stuff but the film is also hilarious. Right from the off, we’re told that this is “Based on some fo real, fo real shit’ and like the work of the McDonagh brothers, Lee effortlessly flips between lines that are hilarious with some more powerful reflections on racism and hatred. This is an angry film, but it’s also wonderfully comic, heroic, tragic, horrifying, ridiculous, serious, clear-eyed and confused.
Despite the fact that it’s set in the ’70s, there’s no denying that this is a film that’s brimming with the urgency, passion and tensions that are defining Trump’s America.
During one particular scene at a KKK banquet, the racist organisation’s Grand Wizard David Duke – played with an unnerving balance of charm, fanaticism and hatred by Topher Grace – tells the crowd that he wants to thank those in attendance for putting America first. America first. Elsewhere, black activists are pulled over by the side of the road simply because they’re black and have political views. KKK members conduct target practice with black faces as the bullseye.
This is serious stuff but it’s to Lee’s immense credit that the next laugh is never more than a minute away.
It’s fitting that the film opens and closes with depictions of racism in America. Gone with the Wind may have won a then-record eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but whitewashing of slavery and the idea that the true “Old South” was a place of happy “darkies” is problematic.
Lee addresses this right from the off but the horrific trump card is yet to be played.
One month before production started on BlacKkKlansman, the horrific events of the Charlottesville rally occurred. Members of the far-right and self-identified members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, white nationalists, Klansmen, neo-Nazis, and various militias took to the streets and chanted racist and antisemitic slogans.
They were also carrying semi-automatic rifles, swastikas, Nazi symbols.
After clashing with counter-protestors, Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old legal assistant from Virginia, was killed while 19 other people were injured.
After these scenes of death and violence was released, President Trump stood in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan and said “I think there is blame on both sides.”
It’s not a coincidence that BlacKkKlansman is released to coincide with the anniversary of those events and after leaving the cinema, your jaw will be on the floor.
As John David Washington said: “It was horrific. It was a necessary reminder that after seeing this film – which has humour in it and is very enjoyable – and yet there’s some stuff that isn’t as enjoyable because of the harsh reality of this film and what it’s talking about. That scene brought it all together. Like, this isn’t make believe this isn’t just an idea of what happened. This is what happened. This is what we’re living with. I want people to think about the language of hate, how you see this in the film and how it’s still with us today.”
With a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 96% and 82% on Metacritic, BlacKkKlansman has already proven to be a massive critical darling and it’s easy to see why.
Spike Lee and the entire cast have been openly talking about the film’s real life ending, but getting to that point is one hell of a journey. We’re not going to spoil that but for what it’s worth, we gave it a five-star review.
That’s some fo real shit.
Check out our interview with John David Washington below.
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