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Adam Driver and John David Washington infiltrate the KKK in Spike Lee's brilliant, thought-provoking, political message film BlacKkKlansman |
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: John David Washington (Detective Ron Stallworth), Adam
Driver (Detective Philip Zimmerman), Laura Harrier (Patrice Dumas), Topher
Grace (David Duke), Jasper Pääkkönen (Felix Kendrickson), Ryan Eggold (Walter
Breachway), Paul Walter Hauser (Ivanhoe), Ashlie Atkinson (Connie Kendrickson),
Corey Hawkins (Kwame Ture), Michael Buscemi (Jimmy Creek), Robert John Burke
(Chief Bridges), Fred Weller (Patrolman Andy Landers), Harry Belafonte (Jerome
Turner)

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is that first black
cop. Ambitious and keen to do his bit, he points out that he is perfect for
some undercover work – and after first investigating some of the civil rights
movement (and falling for Black Student Union Leader Patrice Dumas, played by
Laura Harrier) he is motivated to turn his attention to the Klan. Cold calling
local organiser Walter (Ryan Eggold), he quickly finds himself welcomed to the
Klan (who are of course completely unaware of his race). Working with fellow
undercover detective Zimmerman (Adam Driver), a more relaxed Jewish cop, who
can handle the face-to-face meetings, Stallworth opens an investigation into
extremism in the far right, with their main target being Grand Wizard David
Duke (Topher Grace).
Spike Lee’s film starts as a clever balance between
exploring the central comedy of this set-up – the black cop busting the KKK –
and an exploration of the racial tensions that were barely concealed in America
in the 1970s. Stallworth experiences a parade of suspicion and resentment of
the police from his fellow African-Americans, while some of the responses from
the police officers range from suspicion to outright racist distrust. It’s his
brilliant handling and understanding of the racial tensions in America that
power the movie – and give it the impact and importance it undoubtedly has.
The comic timing in much of Washington’s phone calls with
various hard-right racists is spot on, and the film gets laughs from the gullibility
and foolishness of the Klan (Duke talks at length about how he can always tell the difference vocally
between a white man and a black man). But Lee knows that extremism like this
fundamentally isn’t a joke – and it’s certainly not in this film, which wraps
up a part cop-caper, part undercover thriller with a sharp political message.
Because no matter how stupid the KKK are, we are left in no
doubt about how dangerous, violent and vile they truly are. The racist
language, the repeated use over and over again of every insulting term
imaginable for African Americans and Jews, the prolonged fantasy talk about
lynchings and murders, the amount of guns these people have available to them,
the mix of suave “public face” racists and the violence-as-a-first-resort hicks
and hillbillies that follow them… It’s beyond alarming, its’ terrifying. And
Lee is quite clear – give any of these people even the slightest piece of
endorsement and encouragement, and they would gleefully enact another
Holocaust. There ain’t nothing funny about that.
Instead, scene after scene of Adam Driver’s undercover cop
interacting with this human slime shows no amount of humanity or empathy can be
found at all among this appalling crowd of people. You feel the terror of these
people and Lee fills every scene with a mounting tension and horror that slowly
strangles (fittingly) the initial comedy of the set-up. But then that is part
of Lee’s extraordinary work on this film, an angry blast of politically
motivated invective wrapped up in an entertaining story. Lee makes it clear
that we are kidding ourselves if we think racism is a problem of the past, or
something that can be easily wrapped up (it’s easy to see why he was so pissed off
that Green Book, a far more cosy hopeful
film about racism, scooped best picture). The film ends with an alarming flash
forward to shots from Charlottesville, reactions to the murder of Heather Heyer
and shots of Trump mindlessly talking about “very fine people on both sides”.
The message “America First” is shouted as proudly in the 1970s plotline as it
is in the real life footage of 2017. Hammering
home Lee’s fears that the KKK have never had a warmer environment to work in
than they do today.
Lee’s film does struggle when it comes to the plot that he
builds around the events of the film. The film makes clear that in many ways
the whole investigation was for nothing and produced no lasting results: it
unearthed KKK sympathisers in key government departments (all of whom were
“sent to Alaska” in the words of Stallworth) but was then abruptly closed down.
While this real target is referenced in a throwaway scene or two, a late
fictionalised bomb plot by the KKK – which of course revolves around
Stallworth’s fictional black power girlfriend – doesn’t quite ring true and feels
slightly out of place.
But the real aim of the film is Lee’s political message, and
on that score this film is powerful, sticks in the mind and leaves a lasting
impression. Lee’s direction is also a brilliant mixture of flash and
sensitively filmed set-pieces. There are superb cameos from Harry Belafonte (in
a heartfelt speech) telling a story of historic lynching, and Corey Hawkins as
articulate, passionate activist Kwame Ture. Both these sequences stand out,
with Lee’s controlled direction knowing when to move the camera and when to
hold it and let the power of the words and emotions do the work.
The cast all give outstanding performances. Driver is
chameleonic (and Oscar nominated) as the cop who moves naturally between his
own liberal views and his easy approximation of racism. Washington is brilliant
in the lead role as the dedicated lawman, willing to prove himself among the
racists of his own department. Grace and Eggold stand out as two different
types of the face of “acceptable” KKK. Lee’s film builds on these performances
with his own passion to create a truly lasting and important piece of
filmmaking. Never believe the world has changed: this film reminds us
immediately that cozy stories that talk of “how far we’ve come” are fairy tale
fantasies that distract us from the danger of a racial lynching being just
round the corner.
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