BlackKkKlansman (2018)

The studio is selling Blackkklansman as something it isn’t. From the trailers you think it’s madcap, zany buddy cop movie but that is a bait and switch. Perhaps they didn’t think they could sell what it really was; a sharp, sassy, examination of racial bias in America told through the lens of this “truth is stranger than fiction” story. It is far more of a bold, gut punch than the marketing lets on. It is not silly. While it has strong attitude, it doesn’t use flippancy.

Reminiscent of some of his earlier work, Spike Lee shows a fearlessness to not pull punches and a boldness with he films his story. More like some of his more recent work there is a strong maturity and gravity to his tale, a way of connecting us to the pathos of Ron Stallworth’s story that easily could have been missed amongst the style.

But Lee is a master and he shows us just how well he can balance it all. I was taken aback (again after expecting something different based on the trailers) by how powerful, how gripping, and how throughful the whole film was.

One of the biggest strengths of the film is the way it speaks to us today. I know if the grand scheme of things we aren’t that removed from 1970, and this film drives that point home. While the time setting allows us a bit of distance for reflection Lee keeps our eyes on the way we are living this all today. From the police brutality to the “make America great again” and “America first” slogans, to the white anxiety about demographic changes Lee refuses to let us off the hook by placing his story in some distant past. He is showing us the ways all of it connects.

And he does it with a gripping personal story of a hero, heroes actually. Stallworth leads but he brings in a number of others to rise to the occasion. Lee’s beautiful eye for caputuring the emotional centre of each moment is on display here Blackkklansman is a beautiful film as well as being both entertaining and powerful.

Lee ends his film with a tool often used in “based on real events” movies. He switches to real footage of now, of the ways the white supremicists are coming out of the woodwork and influencing culture. Lee doesnt let us look away and honours the legacy of those cops whose story he is telling.

BlacKkKlansman
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Ryan Eggold, Corey Hawkins, Harry Belafonte
Director: Spike Lee
Writers: Charlie Watchtel, David Robinowitz, Kevin Willmot, Spike Lee