I just saw “Get on the Bus” for the first time today. I thought it was pretty cool. I also enjoyed “Do the Right Thing”. However, “Girl 6” was pretty boring, I thought.
I guess what I like best about him is the broad range of characters and the opinions they have in his movies. He’s usually got someone from every angle and in most cases he lets the opinions stand for themselves without being very preachy. Well, I mean that the message of the movie isn’t usually preachy. Some of the characters may be, but I like how he just leaves it as that and doesn’t try to conform the movie to one of the characters opinions.
Basically this thread is for all feedback on him. Like him? What movies are your favorite? Hate him? Why?
I’ve only seen Do the Right Thing. I thought it was a great movie, as well as a thoughtful and needed social statement. Mr. Lee himself has annoyed me in the past with some of his rants, but I could have been wrong to feel annoyed. He’s an interesting, thought-provoking artist.
I’ve only seen ** Summer of Sam **, but I really liked it. Can’t say as it made me run out and rent all (or any, for that matter) Spike Lee movies, but I did buy my very own copy of SoS for my own personal enjoyment. It was a little long, but completely worth it for the punk kid, John Leguizamo cheating on Mira Sorvino with her cousin (as IF that would ever happen), and the awesome soundtrack. I think the movie came together well in the end. Captured the moment, if you will.
I have heard good things about Spike Lee movies (I am pretty sure I’ve seen at least one, but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of it.)
I do have some bad feelings about him as a person, though. I have heard multiple times that he is adamantly against interracial relationships - since my sister is in an interracial marriage, this hits close to home for me. Now, if I’m wrong about his feelings about interracial couples, I’d like to know about it. But this is the definite story I’m hearing about him.
I think much of this perception comes from his film Jungle Fever, which had several characters speak quite openly about how they felt interracial (i.e. black & white) relationships were undermining the black community. The relationship was also shown to be disfunctional. However, what most people forget is that the seeds of another interracial relationship (between the shop clerk and his customer) were planted with the obvious indication that this would be a positive thing for the characters. What he was criticizing were the motivations both the black and white character had for getting involved with someone outside their race.
This is typical of most of his films, where he provides an outlet for a variety of voices from the African-American community, including a lot of perspectives, opinions, and attitudes that may not be seen by “mainstream” (white) audiences. Things that matter to some black people are things people outside of that community might never consider to be an issue. **School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Mo’ Better Blues, Get on the Bus, Malcolm X, Clockers, 4 Little Girls, ** and Bamboozled are important films and, though they vary in quality, they all give insights into the African-American experience that you really don’t see being covered by any other major director.
I am not black and would not presume to say that Spike speaks for his community–I think, however, that he does get a lot of attention because he is extremely vocal about what he sees as double standards and hypocrisies in the entertainment industry and American society in general. He has been labeled as “reverse-racist” or anti-Semitic, but I’ve found that often these quotes are taken out of context. Personally, I think the guy’s smart, funny & talented, but often has the burden of being a “representative” of his race put upon him that is unrealistic. He’s one guy with one vision, and while other high-profile black directors make the occasional film (paging John Singleton & the Hughes Brothers), his productivity is unflagging and always of interest.
I’ve seen several of his movies, and scratched my head again and again as they’ve gone weirdly off-kilter. What the heck was that stupid ending all about in School Daze, with the bell-ringing and the “Wake up!”? What was the final point of Do the Right Thing…that the delivery guy owed it to his fellow disgruntled inner-city brethren to trash the pizza place, even though the owner had been decent and human to him (and to the community at large)? How do you make a movie about jazz musicians and render them THAT boring?
Lee is really good at getting his name in the papers, and I’m sorry, ArchiveGuy, but I think he RELISHES being a “representative of his race.” He certainly played that card at the right time to take over the *Malcolm X *project, which he merrily fucked up just as badly as he does all his other work.
For better or for worse, he’s centered himself nicely as the “leading black filmmaker,” and I wish to Christ someone with more creative talent and/or storytelling organization had nabbed that title for himself.
Here’s how I interpreted that scene: A situation had escalated to the point where the pizza place owner’s life was in danger. Mookie (the delivery guy) displaced the crowd’s anger by throwing the can through the window – not necessarily the “Right” thing, but better than the probable alternative.
That movie seemed to be more of a beginning to a discussion than an end. This is, of course, just my opinion.
I agree. Sal and his sons were going to get killed by the crowd unless somebody did something fast, and Mookie did the only thing he can think of. Certainly Sal didn’t appear to blame Mookie for what happened – he was angry that his store was gone, but never once in that conversation did he imply that it was Mookie’s fault. Nor did Mookie seem to hold it against Sal that he had called Radio Raheem a “nigger.”
It was probably going to happen anyway, but they got out unharmed. If the cops hadn’t killed Radio Raheem, it wouldn’t have happened. And if Sal hadn’t attacked Radio Raheem’s boombox with a bat, the fight would never have attracted the cops. And if Raheem had just turned it down when Sal told him to, Sal wouldn’t have gone after him with the bat. And on and on . . . frankly, the movie is very fair in showing multiple points of view and spreading the blame.