BlacKKKlansman (Spike Lee, 2018)
I can’t say if it’s the film of the year but it’s one of them. This is the story of how a black police officer, Ron Stallworth, from Colorado Springs infiltrated the KKK, or the organisation, as they call it, in the early 1970s. What Spike Lee does though is makes it relevant to today’s America. The shame of course is that it’s relevant to today’s America. The shame is that it’s the President that has made this relevant to today’s America. The wonderful thing is that Spike Lee can concoct a wonderful narrative, he can build drama, he can get great performances from his actors. It’s not just a wake up call for us all, it’s a great film as well.
The beauty of this film, as should happen with good fiction, is variety of potential conflict and the uneasy interaction between a number of characters. So it’s not just about Ron’s interaction with the KKK. It’s also about his interaction with the black students organisations at the local college. His burgeoning relationship with Patrice, the organiser of one of the organisations. His interaction with other officers in the Colorado Sprngs Police Department. Here, there’s one officer Philip who is Jewish and the film explores his conflicts that arise from this story.
It would be easy to portray the KKK as buffoons and leave it there. But what happens is that we see what a menace they can be and what their intent is as well. Chillingly we hear and see the efforts the Grand Wizard, David Duke, made so that the Klan would become a main stream political organisation. A pressure group that would exert influence on main stream America. All of this at the same time as being a deeply racist and prejudicial organisation.
I can’t say if it’s the film of the year but it’s one of them. This is the story of how a black police officer, Ron Stallworth, from Colorado Springs infiltrated the KKK, or the organisation, as they call it, in the early 1970s. What Spike Lee does though is makes it relevant to today’s America. The shame of course is that it’s relevant to today’s America. The shame is that it’s the President that has made this relevant to today’s America. The wonderful thing is that Spike Lee can concoct a wonderful narrative, he can build drama, he can get great performances from his actors. It’s not just a wake up call for us all, it’s a great film as well.
The beauty of this film, as should happen with good fiction, is variety of potential conflict and the uneasy interaction between a number of characters. So it’s not just about Ron’s interaction with the KKK. It’s also about his interaction with the black students organisations at the local college. His burgeoning relationship with Patrice, the organiser of one of the organisations. His interaction with other officers in the Colorado Sprngs Police Department. Here, there’s one officer Philip who is Jewish and the film explores his conflicts that arise from this story.
It would be easy to portray the KKK as buffoons and leave it there. But what happens is that we see what a menace they can be and what their intent is as well. Chillingly we hear and see the efforts the Grand Wizard, David Duke, made so that the Klan would become a main stream political organisation. A pressure group that would exert influence on main stream America. All of this at the same time as being a deeply racist and prejudicial organisation.
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