Best Pictures #49:
2018 (91st) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee
“If I had known this was a Klan meeting, I wouldn’t have taken
this motherfucking gig.”
Spike Lee’s career is full of peaks and valleys. Lee has
always been aware of the power of film to directly and indirectly affect and influence audiences. At times, he can be overly didactic and forget to capture viewer attentions with
entertainment. Other times he perfectly blends his skills as a visual
storyteller with a message or issue he wants to address with incredible results.
His latest film, BlacKkKlansman, is definitely a peak. It tells the unbelievably true story of Ron Stallworth, a
black undercover police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado
Springs in the 1970’s. Lee, working with a screenplay by Charlie
Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & himself, based on
Stallworth’s book, bundles a true story, a crime thriller, and a social drama
about race and racism together with a lively and even comedic tone for a film
that is as entertaining as it is unsettling.
John David Washington (yes, Denzel’s son) plays Ron
Stallworth, the first black police officer in Colorado Springs. Stallworth
begins his career in the records room but after he is reassigned to the
intelligence unit, he begins an investigation into the local chapter of the Ku
Klux Klan. The rookie Stallworth makes a rookie mistake, however, and gives his
real name to the Klan recruiter he speaks to over the phone. So, when the Klan
wants to meet him, Stallworth enlists fellow undercover cop Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to pose as white Ron Stallworth in person while he pretends to be white
Ron Stallworth over the phone. Like I said, an unbelievable true story.
John David Washington handles both the lighter and heavier
material in BlackKklansman with ease.
His character never saw any conflict in being a both cop and a black person
until he meets and begins a potential romance with Patrice (Laura Herrier) the
head of the Black Student Union he was initially assigned to investigate. Adam
Driver gives a great low-key performance as Flip. Driver portrays him as an average person that is very good at his job but finds himself in an unusual, extraordinary
situation. It’s the kind of subtle performance that usually gets overlooked during awards season but Driver has managed to pick up a Supporting Actor Oscar
nomination. Stallworth’s infiltration of the Klan over the phone leads to many
conversations with the head of the KKK, David Duke. Topher Grace plays Duke
almost too well, capturing the insidious affability and unassuming presence
that was meant to be the new face of the Klan.
Throughout BlacKkKlansman, other movies are referenced to
show the power of cinema in regards to race and culture. The movie opens with one of the most
famous shots from Gone With the Wind and a recreation of a racist propaganda
film from the 1950’s. The classic Tarzan movies and Blaxploitation
films are also referenced. The most emotionally affecting scene for me comes when Harry Belafonte, as an elderly speaker at a Black Student Union gathering, shares how
a harrowing injustice he witnessed as a boy was inspired by the silent epic The Birth of a Nation. In 1915, D.W.
Griffith, a pioneer of early filmmaking who invented much of the basic language
of cinema, made the first big budget, epic film. It portrayed the KKK as the
heroes and protectors of post-Civil War white Southerners. After its release,
it inspired hate crimes and revived the long extinct KKK. Film
historians have long wrestled with how to present or teach The Birth of a
Nation; it’s importance to film history is as undeniable as the movie is revolting. I think Spike Lee has finally found a way to present both the importance
and the horrendous nature of The Birth of a
Nation.
BlacKkKlansman seems to be unsure of what note it wants to
leave the audience on. It is a very entertaining and even comedic story but also
a serious one dealing with problems that are still unfortunately relevant today. Lee
inserts real footage from the Charlottesville protests to
emphasize that the KKK is still a real and dangerous threat (and of course he is
correct). Though this documentary footage packs a powerful emotional punch, it would in any context and feels inorganically tacked on. It is one of a few
missteps in an otherwise entertaining and powerful piece of cinema.
Nominees: Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield,
Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, producers
Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Charlie Wachtel &
David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee, based on the book by
Ron Stallworth
Cast: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace
Production Companies: Blumhouse Productions, Monkeypaw
Productions, QC Entertainment, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Legendary
Entertainment, Perfect World Pictures
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: August 10th, 2018
Total Nominations: 6, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Director-Spike Lee; Adapted Screenplay- Charlie
Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee; Editing-Barry
Alexander Brown; Original Score-Terence Blanchard
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