Realizing I had never seen any of Spike Lee's movies, we put this on last night and were mesmerized. I had no idea. This is a masterpiece of a movie on so many levels and viewpoints that it was kind of overwhelming. Incredible actors and acting, cinematography, directing, editing, sound...it haunted my dreams last night, and continues to haunt me today. By "haunt", let me be clear that I mean the lingering presence of a life experience that was so rich and complex that your overwhelmed subconscious mind continues to process it long after the experience, seeking deeper comprehension, meaning, and answers. Not only was watching this film such an experience, but it was a technical masterpiece as well.
In the interest of no-spoilers, I will try to summarize what I think is important to say with care. Having read a bunch of online reactions of others to the movie already, I must say that like any good work of art, what you see in this film is what you want to see, biased by your preconceptions and life experiences. That is, in my opinion, the genius of this film. My ongoing subconscious yearnings for a bottom line, a moral lesson or meaning from this film, are doomed to end up unsatisfied in the end, because I don't think it exists. I don't think Spike Lee actually has an angle, a bias, or a lesson, other than "do the right thing", a simple reflection of the reality that consequences derive only from choices made, and that in choice alone lies morality, truth, and the power to affect a future outcome. Every individual choice--good or evil--writes the story of the future.
In this film, Spike Lee creates a vibrantly colored cinematic tapestry of life in a single 24 hour period on a single street. Within this tapestry he weaves a set of interlocking worlds containing stories of many detailed characters, each with their own backgrounds and troubles, each with their own hopes and aspirations, and each with their own struggles to survive in this microcosm that is their view of the world. Yet, these worlds all coexist on the same street, and as they overlap and collide there is both harmony and friction, there must be give and take.
Many say this film is about racism, but that is a colossal oversimplification. It's about human beings, who can be classified through genetics or culture in a multitude of ways: ethnicity and race, gender, parent or child, husband or wife, rich and poor, store owner and customer, spoken language, musical taste, mental health, disabilities, vices, or authority and power. In this movie, on a single day in a single place, we see through the lens of Spike Lee every single one of these facets of humanity play out in a struggle between harmony and conflict--between love and hate.
As my brain continues to struggle to find a clear punchline, a clear meaning, even a clear sense of what was right and what was wrong in this vivid story, I can only come to one conclusion: Spike Lee doesn't have a punchline, he only paints a picture to illustrate the human problem. In this picture lies the problem posed by the human condition, that we must always live amongst each other amid differences and conflicts and competition, and that even when we think we are doing a great job at this 99.9% of the time, life eventually presents us with a moment of split decision where our choices can have enormous consequences. Good versus Evil. The choice will never look as clear as those words imply, all we can attempt is to do the right thing.
Thank you Spike Lee, this film should have won multiple Oscars, and I can't wait to catch up on all your work which I embarrassingly have missed until now.
In the interest of no-spoilers, I will try to summarize what I think is important to say with care. Having read a bunch of online reactions of others to the movie already, I must say that like any good work of art, what you see in this film is what you want to see, biased by your preconceptions and life experiences. That is, in my opinion, the genius of this film. My ongoing subconscious yearnings for a bottom line, a moral lesson or meaning from this film, are doomed to end up unsatisfied in the end, because I don't think it exists. I don't think Spike Lee actually has an angle, a bias, or a lesson, other than "do the right thing", a simple reflection of the reality that consequences derive only from choices made, and that in choice alone lies morality, truth, and the power to affect a future outcome. Every individual choice--good or evil--writes the story of the future.
In this film, Spike Lee creates a vibrantly colored cinematic tapestry of life in a single 24 hour period on a single street. Within this tapestry he weaves a set of interlocking worlds containing stories of many detailed characters, each with their own backgrounds and troubles, each with their own hopes and aspirations, and each with their own struggles to survive in this microcosm that is their view of the world. Yet, these worlds all coexist on the same street, and as they overlap and collide there is both harmony and friction, there must be give and take.
Many say this film is about racism, but that is a colossal oversimplification. It's about human beings, who can be classified through genetics or culture in a multitude of ways: ethnicity and race, gender, parent or child, husband or wife, rich and poor, store owner and customer, spoken language, musical taste, mental health, disabilities, vices, or authority and power. In this movie, on a single day in a single place, we see through the lens of Spike Lee every single one of these facets of humanity play out in a struggle between harmony and conflict--between love and hate.
As my brain continues to struggle to find a clear punchline, a clear meaning, even a clear sense of what was right and what was wrong in this vivid story, I can only come to one conclusion: Spike Lee doesn't have a punchline, he only paints a picture to illustrate the human problem. In this picture lies the problem posed by the human condition, that we must always live amongst each other amid differences and conflicts and competition, and that even when we think we are doing a great job at this 99.9% of the time, life eventually presents us with a moment of split decision where our choices can have enormous consequences. Good versus Evil. The choice will never look as clear as those words imply, all we can attempt is to do the right thing.
Thank you Spike Lee, this film should have won multiple Oscars, and I can't wait to catch up on all your work which I embarrassingly have missed until now.