Date: 2018
Director: Spike Lee
Actors/ Characters: John David Washington/ Ron Stallworth, Adam Driver/ Flip Zimmerman, Laura Harrier/ Patrice Dumas, Jasper Pääkkönen/ Felix Kendrickson, Topher Grace/ David Duke
Summary: Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer from Colorado, successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white surrogate, who eventually becomes head of the local branch.
Review
Just going to jump right in and say that this film reminded me of why we need cinema. It reminded me of the power of the big screen and the importance of the messages it can send to audiences. Long after the credits of this film rolled I was still contemplating the wonderful piece of cinema that Spike Lee has created.
The summary of this film sounds crazy, when you try and relay back to people what you just watched it becomes so bizarre to try and describe the only thing I found myself telling people was that they needed to go watch this film. Ron Stallworth is an African American police officer in Colorado Springs who undergoes an undercover investigation into the Klu Klux Klan, initially the investigation seems more like a personal vendetta rather than a professional operation but as Ron uncovers more about the Klan he discovers that there are illicit and criminal intentions underway. Obviously, Ron is a black man and so cannot attended physical meetings with the Klan so in order to keep his cover he works together with his co-worker Flip Zimmerman, who notably is also a Jew. The two pair up to form a discrimination fighting double act and set out to take the KKK down and bring about justice for their races.
Whilst watching the film I couldn't help but pick up on the fantastic blend of Tarantino- esque tension and suspense merged with Spike Lee's brilliant situational comedic story. I was so surprised at how hilarious this film was but then how quickly Lee was able to shift the film's tone without causing tonal issues or too much juxtaposition.
I will be so surprised if this film doens't get a million Oscar nominations because the ensemble cast of this movie were excellent. Driver and Washington were fantastic in their leading roles and the chemistry between the two on screen was incredible. Some of the best stand out performances for me upon reflection would have to be the performances of the KKK members particularly in the meeting scenes Jasper Pääkkönen and the woman the played his wife, Ashlie Atkinson delivered absolutely despicable performances as the white supremacists that they depicted.
I have to say it was extremely refreshing to see a film that depicted African Americans not as the victim but as the heroes and also did not completely villianise white people against the blacks. Although the film obviously focussed on the white supremacists in the KKK there were positive representations of white people befriending black people for example Ron and Flip's friendship. This film was so topical and relevant to the current issues in today's society particularly prior to the Charlottesville riots which are nodded to at the end of the film through a screening of news footage from the event. Lee ends the film on such a powerful note tying the events of the past to what is currently happening today.