Spike Lee has not had a commercial, or critical hit since 2006's Inside Man, and after that he would often attempt to get bigger films off the ground such as Miracle at St. Anna, or his remake of Oldboy, a few years ago, but both films were neither received well, nor did they have the box office receipts to prove they were hits, in fact the complete opposite. Lee, who I have always admired as a filmmaker, did get other projects going since and during that time, but mostly they were smaller films that would only play in the very biggest of cities meaning that if you lived anywhere else you would either have to rent, buy, or stream the films in order to keep up to date with his body of work. Lee needed a film that was both going to be a critical success, but also one that would attract audiences and actually make some money as well. When his new film, Blackkklansman premiered at Cannes, I am certainly not sure what audiences, or critics were expecting, but the result turned out to be Lee's best reviewed film in probably longer than a decade as well as winning some of the top prizes at Cannes, which in my mind because of their very particular, yet often right on the money judgements, this meant that Lee's new film was great, but how would audiences fare and let alone the movie when it had a theatrical release date right in the middle of summer which we often know can be very difficult for smaller and more intelligent films? Blackkklansman continued to earn rave reviews as more critics were able to see it and the film was even given a wide release by it's distributor and the film was made for roughly 15 million dollars and after not even a month of release it has already doubled that amount in box office returns and has many saying that it is certainly a contender for Best Picture at next year's Oscars and in my mind, I wouldn't be surprised if the film, or Lee himself were standing on that stage next year picking up their awards. Having now seen the film myself, I will have to be honest and say that the style and tone of the film was a bit of a surprise to me because I was not expecting it to be so comedic and yet I found it often worked by also dealing with pretty upsetting subject matter and allowing us a chance to breathe and also to get immersed within the film and have a good chuckle as well as getting some hard hitting material as well, so I felt the balance which at first may have taken a little bit to get used to, ended up working beautifully. The story in itself is one of this year, or any recent year's most interesting plots around and the fact that it is all based upon a true story further adds fascination and a great emotional impact at the end of the film. The performances both by the leading cast as well as supporting were all fantastic and some of the best of the year. The script which Lee had a hand in writing is often smart, funny, intriguing and like any of Lee's best films, it also hits home and gets a point across that will certainly leave you shaken and stunned by the time you have walked out of the theatre. Lee has always been known for being angry at the world's injustices especially regarding race and this new film is no different. I appreciated that the violence in the film was toned down and realistically there was very little of it, so I think it would also bring more viewers in that way. The racial hatred, bigotry and language of which the film has lots, can be offensive and almost sickening at times, but we know why Lee went for this and he certainly gets his point across and then some. This is a film that is fascinating entertainment and also entertainment that will make you think about what you have just seen and may even change the way you look at current events and American history itself. The all too true aspect that is most disturbing is that this kind of hatred and acts of violence still exist and there are too many of these type of stories in the news today which makes the message of this film all the more timely and prevalent. This is one of the year's best films if not the best film of the year so far.
Review of BlacKkKlansman
