Once upon a time, a new movie from Spike Lee was anxiously awaited. Very few filmmakers had a run right out of the gate like he did. She’s Gotta Have It. School Daze. Do the Right Thing. Mo Better Blues. Jungle Fever. Malcolm X. Even Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, his master’s degree thesis film from his NYU days, showcased an exciting new talent who was going to set the film world ablaze. But then, by chasing mainstream studio success, Lee went on to make some project choices that, while still often technically dazzling, left much to be desired. The poor choices of projects like Clockers, Summer of Sam and 25th Hour were, in some degrees, saved by the interesting choices he was making with projects like Get on the Bus and Bamboozled, and the devastating 4 Little Girls and When the Levee Breaks. But whatever choices he made, you had to know that Spike Lee was going to make at least one more film that could match his 1989 masterpiece in tone and style and fury and compassion. BlacKKKlansman, after 21 feature films and 11 documentaries, is the film that shows what he’s learned after thirty plus years behind the camera. BlacKKKlansman is the film Spike Lee was destined to make.
BlacKKKlansman
