BlacKkKlansman

Liam Hall

Liam Hall

Veteran
Spike Lee back on form with Blackkklansman. Lots to admire, despite some clunky politics and dodgy wigs. Slick, funny and shocking in equal measure with great performances from Adam Driver and John David Washington in particular.
 
I forgot I watched it. Most shocking was the footage at the end - which to some extent shows the weakness of the main film.

Loved the black comedy- cinematic gold - of the bomb and letterbox sequence
 
Yeah, that ending... ... I'd seen all the footage before, and knew it was coming, but boom, seeing it cut together on a 60ft screen was something else.
 
I enjoyed it for the most part, but did find a bunch of weaknesses in it. He took SO MANY steps to make this pro-police in this time of Black Lives Matter that it became comfortable. Let's not discuss the politics of that one way or another, just that it made for some creaky filmmaking at times. I didn't mind the liberties with the facts -- it's not a documentary. I actually thought the ending more appropriate than many give it credit for, as it does speak to the undercurrent of the movie. I could have done without the comeuppance scene in the restaurant that preceded that ending as it was way too clunky and obvious. And I greatly admire Harry Belafonte but man did that sequence drag on. But the film is clearly Lee's best in years and an enjoyable piece of entertainment. And it certainly has a great sense of time and place in the look, much better than he did with Summer of Sam.
 
Tons of ads for this "for your consideration" - personally, I don't think it deserves much in the way of accolades, though yes, I suppose it's Spike Lee's "best in years"... but does that say much? The performances were very good for the most part, but the direction was subpar to say the least. I mean, not just clumsy, but miscalculated and amateurish. It's strange to say "amateurish" about a director who has as many films under his belt - including the quite good "Do The Right Thing" - but there's no other way to put it... many scenes are so clumsily expository, whose sole function is clearly exposition with no redeeming dramatic value, that you'd expect that in a student film, not something done by a seasoned director, yet here we are. Great subject matter, excellent actors, poor direction. A pity. "Could've been a contender" for real.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top