Directed by and Starring Spike Lee
This is an EXPLOSIVE film with every moment bursting with energy. Overall, Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing is loud, controversial, and as such, highly fascinating. Some people call this one of the most written about films in film history. This is another occasion where I will refer you to the great Roger Ebert's review of this film... not because I think his judgement of it is important, but rather because his description of seeing this movie for the first time captures the feeling quite well. Whether or not you have seen this film before, I encourage you to watch this clip in which one racial minority rapidly insults another. It captures the tension and simmering anger that rapidly boils out of control in this film.
This film takes "auteurism" to another level. Spike Lee is all over the film... as the star, the director, the writer, and producer. Thus, it's no wonder that he personally drew a lot of attention after its release, with many people asking him what he thought the "right thing" was, and whether he was advocating violence. Lee was three years out of NYU when he made this movie, and it moved him into the main stream attention rapidly. Everyone in the late 80s and early 90s seemed to have an opinion about what he was trying to say. Some remarked it was as if people were seeing different versions of the same movie, based on their comments.
I think this film is so powerful because it ripped elements of racism right out of the headlines. It references/draws a plot point from a couple of racially motivated attacks in New York in the 1980s (Michael Stewart and Eleanor Bumpers, by NYPD). It draws on old traditions of african americans in films, with actors like Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. It has every nationality you can imagine, all jammed together into a tiny neighborhood on the hottest day of the year. It begins with the command from the now-iconic Samuel L. Jackson to "Waaaaakkkeee up!" -- but is it ever clear what the audience is meant to wake up to. This film raises more questions than it answers, and so what it does successfully is get you thinking. Lee remarked repeatedly on its release that he wasn't trying to advocate a certain viewpoint; more that he was hoping to open up a dialogue.
Do the Right Thing is grappling with not just issues of race, but how to respond to racism. Non-violence or self-defence?, the movie asks. It does so using dialectical form, an idea from a Russian filmmaker named Eisenstein that a good argument is a thesis, and an antithesis, coming together to make a synthesis. Lee does the first part well, presenting two quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X at the end of the film, each arguing different points of view about violence. He also continually presents this photo of MLK and Malcolm X throughout the film. However, what's the synthesis? That's up for the viewer to decide.
In short, this is not a film that is about entertaining you. It wants you to wake up and think about something that, yes, was controversial in 1989 -- and in many ways, I think, is still somewhat controversial today. Whether or not racial issues are part of our everyday lives any more, this film is an interesting look at what binds us together -- and tears us apart -- as Americans. This film is a masterpiece, from its vivid color and interesting angles, to its plot device, to its simple ability to string you along with hardly any action until the very end. It is historically significant and beautifully made, and I highly recommend it.
Fun fact... the year this fascinating film was released, Driving Miss Daisy won the Oscar for Best Picture. Could there be two MORE different films on the issue of race?
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