BlacKkKlansman (2018) review - Movie Thoughts (Chapter 36) 👮

Hello everyone,

Today's film actually brings the scheduled programming for this project to a close. I had envisioned to write for the majority of the time my area was in Stage 4 lockdown, and with this I have done that - yay for me!! 👏👏👏 However, the lockdown has now been extended by another two weeks, so I've decided to extend this project too! Get excited for some more film waffle everyone 😁

In a kind of brilliant twist of coincidence, this film was actually the very first one I watched from my long list that eventually became the blueprint for this project. It was also really significant at the time because of the important conversations surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, and this film's themes were a stark reminder of how much the unfair injustice that black people faced in the 1970's are unfortunately still issues that need to be addressed today. I would also recommend Ava DuVernay's incredible documentary 13th if you haven't seen it for some more in-depth and factual education on this serious topic where change is long overdue because black lives matter - all day, everyday.

As a film, I had completely missed this Spike Lee project despite the hype it got around awards season in 2018/2019. I'm really glad I finally sat down and watched it, because it was a great film and a thought-provoking watch despite the explicit language warning....

(**disclaimer: the following thoughts are 100% my opinion, you do not have to agree with them - film is inherently subjective and everyone's perspective is valid! Also, there are probably spoilers in the following, read at your own risk. Now onto some thoughts....**)

Source: IMDB

Cinema has this amazing, innate ability to captivate, educate and discuss social issues within the context of a singular narrative or point of view. Exploring the issues we are sometimes too afraid to talk about openly; film often wrenches the door open and forces you to listen through the beautiful and the ugly. This philosophy of viewership was the exact effect Spike Lee’s provocative police drama BlacKkKlansman exuded from the first frame. Unapologetic and up-front about context, tone and society, everything was set up so audiences knew that was about to unfold wasn’t going to sugar-coat a damn thing. In Colorado Springs, African-American police officer Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) manages to infiltrate the local branch of the Klu Klux Klan with the help of a colleague and quickly rises up the chain of command. A seemingly crazy premise based on the real-life Stallworth’s memoir, a talented cast and creative team evoked a horrific and overtly racist society with clarity and the intent to leave a deep mark on its viewers long after the credits rolled.

A striking precision of tone and vision defines all of director/co-writer Spike Lee’s work; and this piece was no exception. The opening five minute sequence of a well-known and intensely racist piece of propaganda by Dr Kennebrew Beauregard (Alec Baldwin) snapped audiences to attention and discomfort straight away. This intense rhetoric set the tone for the rest of the film; an up close and personal illustration of racial inequality. All of the KKK propaganda that is included in the film should make any non-racist person clench with frustration and reinforced the severity of the stakes Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) was messing with whilst undercover as Stallworth in the inner sanctum of the Klan.

Perhaps a controversial choice on the surface, the screenwriting team of Lee, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott’s decision to saturate the dialogue with plenty of expletives and the full plethora of contemporarily problematic and offensive language provided a powerful backbone to how this film smacked viewers in the face. It was raw and often unrelenting in conversation, and incredibly unpleasant to listen to, but that’s an absolutely necessary story garnish when dealing with a narrative that involves an African-American police officer infiltrating the KKK and coming face to face with David Duke (Topher Grace) himself. It was easy to see the intention behind that choice, and choosing not to hide behind watered down sentiment also upped the stakes to the highest of tensions.

In amongst that tension was also strong threads of visceral passion. The powerful speech delivered by Kawme Turu (Corey Hawkins) at an early rally and the heart wrenching story told by Jerome Turner (Harry Belafonte) towards the end of the film were beautiful moments of well-written hope and grief respectively. Turner’s words were hauntingly inter-cut with a sequence of the KKK performing a chilling church ritual; culminating in the echoing mirror of chanting ‘black power’ vs. ‘white power’. Such dramatic and deliberate editing and directing choices compounded an already powerful subject into the realm of cinematic sequences that were not only beautifully constructed but hard to emotionally forget. 

There was a degree of self-awareness and underlying commentative flair that moved beyond the scope of this narrative or Stallworth’s experiences. The magic of this film’s impact came from some truly genius direction by Lee and the various emotional beats he managed to hit within the serious source material. There were moments of light-hearted witty banter, and in retrospect they were much appreciated given the hard-hitting discomfort the majority of most of the narrative was situated in; both visually and in the dialogue. Also amongst the discomfort were instances of Lee’s cognisance at the depths of these themes repeating in more recent times. The Sarge (Ken Garito) and Stallworth walked down some stairs in the precinct whilst discussing the political and mainstream aspirations of the KKK; with heavy implications for the state of American politics hanging overhead. Would America ever elect someone like David Duke as President of the United States? We all know the answer to that alarming question.

Such a tone doesn’t succeed in packing a punch unless every single person gave 150% commitment to some objectively uncomfortable dialogue and infamous characters. Lee is not a filmmaker who deals in half-arseing, and the ensemble cast presented an array of bold, striking and passionate performances that complimented his direction and writing prowess. Washington gave a calm yet captivating stand-out performance as protagonist Stallworth, and Driver’s thought-provoking performance as gruff Jewish cop Zimmerman presented moments of powerful reflection in response to the Klan’s concurrent disgust with Judaism.

The majority of BlacKkKlansman was uncomfortable to watch, but that was 100% by design. Lee’s intelligent and edgy direction communicated the severity of the narrative with an effortless, unapologetic fervor. There’s retribution for an utterly unlikeable presence in the police department during the closing scenes of the film and a moment where a filmmaker telling a different story might have faded to credits, but Lee deceived audiences in favour of a different and distinctly ominous conclusion. Momentary triumph but an overall lack of societal change to reverse racial inequality was the sad truth that echoed through the closing frames; and the inclusion of the 2017 footage of sentiment in Charlottesville, Virginia well and truly hammered that point home. At the heart of racial division and inequality, how much has the USA really changed from the 1970's to right now?

8.5/10, 4 STARS

Thanks for reading,

Love and support for those voices we need to listen to now more than ever, Emily 👮