Spike Lee: in retrospect

[fasstrack]

I don't claim that the following is original or not already discussed to death, but he came to mind and I sort of want to clear the file cabinet.

Two things come to mind (with the proviso that I haven't seen any of his first-run work in many years): That Spike Lee peaked with School Daze and that despite genuine weaknesses and a genuine talent the (mostly white) critics got on his case for all the wrong reasons.

From the first Lee film I saw, She's Gotta Have It, I saw a really unusual cinematography talent. It seems that in that film and his thesis NYU film (Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads---also a very good film generally) and even the flawed Do the Right Thing he did the following: black neighborhoods either passed off as havens for criminals, pimps, etc. by white directors, or at best given a 'gritty' urban look, were given a real poetry under his lens. They looked great and the residents were proud of them. I spent time in those hoods through many decades and he was right to show them off because large chunks of them deserved to be. But in the '80s white film critics got on his case for sweeping the aforementioned crime, etc. under the rug and giving those hoods an unrealistic sheen. B.S. I say. He did too, and was right to stick up for himself. What the hell is wrong with using a talent to correct a stereotyped, misused, and disrespectfully ignorant image? He grew up in Brooklyn, you know? And the guy was making films for black audiences and white writers were clueless and felt left out, so they unloaded. A simplification, perhaps, but I think he deserves to be defended there.

What the smart-ass scribes should have pointed out was a real weakness IMO: writing. I thought a lot of his characters, from Bleek, Shadow, and especially Giant in IMO his worst film, Mo Better Blues (let's not even get into the twin brother Jewish club owners) to so many others---were cardboard cut-outs, not people. Giant was funny, at least. Also some of the imagery is embarrassingly heavy-handed, like the gun on the bible in Jungle Fever (which was ballsy and brave in other ways). He took on a lot of worthy subjects bravely, then tanked the final product with lousy writing. As a final thought, and not mine, Stanley Crouch was never a fan because he found him politically naive and shallow back in the '90s in a VV piece. That's Stanley's thing and I guess if you want to comment, go ahead. I think Lee's politics through his lens is not the issue. Back to the white scribes, I can't prove, but truly believe in my gut many didn't have the balls to point out his weak writing for fear of being called racist. What hipocracy (sp?) if that's the case!

I think Spike Lee showed a lot in School Daze. It was well-written and very astute, and a love letter to black folks. Also it didn't shrink from showing their own contadictions and inter-community prejudices. That student film also was a bitch. There are others I've yet to see I know I would enjoy, at least certain aspects.Some have expressed the view that his greatest talent is for hustling and sales, and I think that's bunk also.

No one has to cry for Mr. Lee. He's done quite well for himself and in many ways is a trailblazer. Maybe Singleton's great and disturbing Boyz in the Hood could have been made if there was no Spike Lee, but it would have been a hell of a lot harder to both make and sell.

But from a purely artistic development viewpoint: after those first films what the hell happened?

[Rooster_Ties]

I thought "Crooklyn" (1994) and especially "25th Hour" (2002) were both great -- and "Inside Fun" was fun too (if not as weighty).

Any body see Spike's "Summer of Sam (1999)?? - I always meant to rent that, but never got around to it. Always meant to rent "Clockers" (1995) too.

Iirc, I thought "25th Hour" was one of the best films I saw that year, and I remember Terence Blanchard's score was great too.

[kinuta]

The ones I keep coming back to are Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, Clockers, 25th Hour, He Got Game and Malcolm X.

[Neal Pomea]

I was glad he did When the Levee Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.

[Big Wheel]

The ending to Bamboozled almost left me in tears. A very flawed movie, and having seen Reality Bites last year it's obviously derivative in some ways of that film, yet...it somehow works at what I think Lee was trying to accomplish.

I think to attack Lee for flat characters is to miss the point a bit. Many of these characters are intentionally flat, like in a Greek tragedy.

[fasstrack]

The ending to Bamboozled almost left me in tears. A very flawed movie, and having seen Reality Bites last year it's obviously derivative in some ways of that film, yet...it somehow works at what I think Lee was trying to accomplish.

I think to attack Lee for flat characters is to miss the point a bit. Many of these characters are intentionally flat, like in a Greek tragedy.

[/quote I guess we agree to disagree, though I wish I did agree. I don't see anything intentional. Some people can write, some can't, just like some people can play, etc. I wanted to like Mo Better, being a jazz musician. But even with Bill Lee for a father he managed to make one of the worst films on the subject IMO. Aside from badly written characters speaking and behaving unlike any musician I've known he took an important subject, artist obsession, and ham-handed it with obvious and groan-worthy cliches. It should have been one of his best. Just my opinion, no more

[fasstrack]

The ending to Bamboozled almost left me in tears. A very flawed movie, and having seen Reality Bites last year it's obviously derivative in some ways of that film, yet...it somehow works at what I think Lee was trying to accomplish.

I always wanted to check out Bamboozled. I really like the acting of, I believe, the lead character. I forget his name. Tommy something? He was in Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop and She's Gotta Have It. If anyone knows speak right up.

[JSngry]

Tommy Davidson, long of In Living Color.

[fasstrack]

Tommy Davidson, long of In Living Color.

Thanks.

[relyles]

He is not the lead characther though. Damon Wayans is.

[jazzbo]

I'm a Spike Lee fan. And I guess I'd like to see his characters as more in the service of the story's fate, though I think fass is right that Lee's just not as good as he could be in that regard.

Lee has used excellent cinematographers and I think has directed actors and the lens quite well. I thought Malcolm X was a very powerful film, perhaps in some ways his best.

[fasstrack]

I'm a Spike Lee fan. And I guess I'd like to see his characters as more in the service of the story's fate, though I think fass is right that Lee's just not as good as he could be in that regard.

Lee has used excellent cinematographers and I think has directed actors and the lens quite well. I thought Malcolm X was a very powerful film, perhaps in some ways his best.

I felt bad saying that too, since I'm a fan in other ways. I think he'd be a powerful film maker if he didn't try to do everything. It reminds me of seeing Isaac Bashevis Singer on a talk show disowning Barbra Streisand's Yentl b/c she insisted on doing everything, including direction. Collaboration is important, especially when you're so close to the material you can't see obvious flaws (or strengths) that a partner could easily point out.

I though Get on The Bus really good, though, with very believeable and well-formed characters. One of his best, maybe.

[MartyJazz]

Aside from the above films mentioned and the various criticisms and praise associated with Lee's "black" themes and characterizations, I think he is a very capable director when it comes to more standard fare, e.g., the drama thriller, "Inside Man", a film I quite enjoyed.

[fasstrack]

Aside from the above films mentioned and the various criticisms and praise associated with Lee's "black" themes and characterizations, I think he is a very capable director when it comes to more standard fare, e.g., the drama thriller, "Inside Man", a film I quite enjoyed.

He's also a hell of a director of commercials BTW, and makes nice money at it. Good for him.

This thread is the first I've heard of Inside Man. When did it come out?

I'm glad I put this topic up. It's making me rethink his whole output. I want to see some I've seen again and some I haven't. One thing is as sure as it is obvious: Lee has had an impact. I believe he will last.

[relyles]

"Inside Man" was released in 2006. I thought it was a very good movie with Clive Owens and Denzel Washington.

[jazzbo]

I like that movie as well.

[Hot Ptah]

Another thumbs up for Crooklyn. I loved how the film built up to the climatic event of the father performing his own jazz compositions in a showpiece concert, and then it turns out to be a solo piano concert of rather uninvolving material, held in a small room which could have seated about 30 people, with many of the chairs empty. That's how I remember it, anyway.

[Leeway]

I'm a Spike Lee fan. And I guess I'd like to see his characters as more in the service of the story's fate, though I think fass is right that Lee's just not as good as he could be in that regard.

Lee has used excellent cinematographers and I think has directed actors and the lens quite well. I thought Malcolm X was a very powerful film, perhaps in some ways his best.

I felt bad saying that too, since I'm a fan in other ways. I think he'd be a powerful film maker if he didn't try to do everything. It reminds me of seeing Isaac Bashevis Singer on a talk show disowning Barbra Streisand's Yentl b/c she insisted on doing everything, including direction. Collaboration is important, especially when you're so close to the material you can't see obvious flaws (or strengths) that a partner could easily point out.

I though Get on The Bus really good, though, with very believeable and well-formed characters. One of his best, maybe.

That's a good point, but in this age of the auteur, probably not a popular point to hold. Great auteurs have great strengths, but often great weaknesses too. The nature of the beast. Anyway, in this respect, Spike reminds me of Woody Allen, who might also benefit from some artistic partnerships. Interesting to view Woody and Spike together. Very divergent films (indeed, one might say Woody goes to great lengths to expunge blacks from his films), but quite similar as film makers.