Spike Lee is Back With "BlacKkKlansman"

The rise of Donald Trump and the Alt Right have galvanized many of our artists recently, and it's apparent that they've spurred Spike Lee to make his most blisteringly critical, powerful film in years.

"BlacKkKlansman" is a historical drama about Colorado police detective Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), who runs an undercover operation that infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Stallworth converses with Klan members over the phone, including its leader David Duke (Topher Grace), while face to face meetings are handled by Jewish officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver). In his personal life, Stallworth also struggles to reconcile his position as a police officer with his loyalty to the black community. He faces hostility and discrimination at work, and dates a student organizer, Patrice (Laura Harrier), with the Black Power movement.

As you would expect from Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman" is a sharply insightful look at racism and hate groups, full of pointed details that tie the events in the '70s to our present day situation. However, what I think makes this one such a standout is that it's so thoroughly entertaining. Scenes where characters seriously discuss race and activism are interspersed with all the fun of seeing the investigation unfold. A lot of suspense is mined from Flip's undercover meetings with colorful local Klan members, including chapter president Walter (Ryan Eggold), aggressive race-war prepper Felix (Jasper Pääkkönen), his hefty wife Connie (Ashlie Atkinson) and dim bulb Ivanhoe (Paul Walter Hauser). Their awfulness is often played for laughs, but Lee never loses sight of how dangerous they are.

Washington and Driver are both excellent as the leads, and handle a lot of tough material featuring a lot of racial epithets with care. The films is very good at depicting how both of their characters grapple with their identities and their responsibilities as members of oppressed groups. However, it's the whole ensemble that makes the movie. I love the scene of Felix and Connie cuddling while discussing the terrible things they want to do to black people. I love Stallworth's sergeant, Trapp (Ken Garito), cracking up in the background during the calls with David Duke. I love that Harry Belafonte was recruited to deliver one of the film's stirring anti-racism speeches. Here, nobody makes the mistake of denouncing the film's villains without also providing the appropriate counterpoints to their poisonous propaganda.

There's also a good amount of time devoted to the Black Power movement of the times, which the director clearly admires. Stallworth's feelings are much more mixed, however, as he believes that he can effect change from within the police organization. His relationship with Patrice, a committed radical, is one of the more interesting parts of the film. It points to intolerance and myopia not only being the domain of white Americans, adding some nuance to the conversation. There's no subtlely whatsoever to the film's intentions, but I like that it does try to give everyone their due. Even the Klan members are all fairly well fleshed out human beings in the end.

This is one of Lee's denser films, full of little historical details and film references for cinema nerds. The very first shot is borrowed from "Gone With the Wind," and a key sequence involves the Klan members reacting to a screening of "Birth of a Nation." It's also a gorgeous production, shot on 35mm and designed to look like a film from the '70s. Lee's trademarks like the "floating man" dolly shots and use of archival material are present, but used with restraint. When they do appear, they have plenty of impact though. The film's ending is the most daring thing I've seen all year, refusing to let the audience ignore the real world implications of the story they've seen play out.

A lot of great art comes out of troubled times. The Trump administration and all the damage that it has wrought will be influencing our movies for years to come. "BlacKkKlansmen" wasn't the first to tackle it, but to date it's one of the most provocative and thoughtful and unabashed responses. And I hope that plenty more follow its example.
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