A rare 10 stars from me

Rating: 10/10 (10 September 2018)

10 September 2018
First Film of Choice at The Plaza Dorchester Tonight - BlacKkKlansman. Based on the book by Ron Stallworth, the first African-American police officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department, this is a story of his early life. Spike Lee has tackled this subject full on, not really grabbing the bull by its horns but climbing onto its back and galloping right down the street - metaphorically speaking. This is the tale of a man who had always dreamed of becoming a cop. However his career is not as exciting as he thinks it should be and he finds himself stuck in the filing department. He gets an undercover assignment as a detective and manages to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. For this he needs the help of a white colleague who acts as the face to his voice. Ron is played by John David Washington, son of actor Denzel Washington, and he is certainly carrying on the family tradition with his considered style of acting, lots of emotion and plenty of thoughtful looks and body language rather than a lot of dialogue, a style that certainly wins us over. A solid performance from Adam Driver too, I look forward to seeing more of his work. This film gives us an insight into the world of the Klan, or the Organisation as they prefer to be known - and it's a scary world. This is a brave subject to tackle and Spike Lee has done it with a frankness that is extraordinary. It's a film with depth of emotion and frightening reality especially the scenes just before the end credits. How can you not be moved by this subject in all the scenes portrayed. Some excellent acting and very thought-provoking, and the script provides us with a reminder of how our language has changed and what has become unacceptable. Not the type of film I expected but extremely gripping.