One of a kind, Spike Lee has still got it!

Rating: 9/10 (24 August 2018)

When it comes to films related to/about the Ku Klux Klan, it's an odd mix. From the earliest days of cinema, you had blatantly racist propaganda films such as 'Birth Of A Nation' - footage of which is shown in this film. Then to the 80s you had the controversial and apparent good-natured however very flawed thriller 'Mississippi Burning' - especially in its tone and message. And since then, you've had such things as the new all-black cast remake of 'Birth Of A Nation' which put the story correctly. However - from my point of view - you have never had a film about the KKK as strange and varied as this one.
Of course, it's not going to be like any other film you've seen, because it's not a film. It's a joint, which means Spike Lee is behind the camera, and most of the time, that means something brilliant is going to happen. And in this case, it does.
The film, set in the early 70s', loosely tells the true story of Ron Stallworth (played brilliant both comically and dramatic by John David Washington), a black detective in Chicago who pretends to be a white man to try and infiltrate the KKK, and to do so, gets his colleague and friend, Flip (played by Adam Driver) to go undercover as the white 'Ron Pearlman' and join the Klan. And while this plot may sound somewhat like a 'high concept idea' it becomes something much more complex and scary.
Towards the start of the film, Spike gently pulls our attention towards the story, with the laugh out loud humour and mocking of the Klan, making us developed and entertained, and making his central characters likeable. But slowly, as the films real messages start to unreavel we realise this isn't a comedy. However, it also isn't a drama. It's both, and the idea of the comedy and drama going back and forth, putting you in an awkward and nervous position on when to laugh and when not to laugh, works very well. Sitting in a fairly crowded cinema, I didn't know when to laugh and when to cry, and how other people in the audience would react.
Another thing that works very well is the films style. The film is shot like an early 70s' blackpoitation film, such as 'Super Fly' or 'Shaft' both of which are mentioned and referenced to in the film. Because of this, we hear a lot of funky 70s music, and we see light disco visuals, reminding of us of the style in 'Boogie Nights'. And this idea of 70s nostalgia is highlighted in a nightclub towards the start of the movie, shared by Ron, and his love interest - and also very well written complex character - Patrice.
And all of this style, substance and story is brought to life by the cast, who manage to balance the humour, drama and everything in-between brilliantly, at times making it all the more fun, and at others, making it much more scary and alarming.
But none of this would matter if it didn't really mean something. If it didn't have something dark and political to leave on our minds. Of course, it's a Spike Lee joint, so it's going to have some relevance today. And my god, does it. Yes it does! I was in tears in the final part of the movie, which, after laughing and smiling with these characters, racism still goes on, and one person won't change that. It takes a lot to change racism, and no matter how much we can laugh at the racist idiots, the KKK are still out there. And that message really leaves a massive impact on you as a viewer. It's a film where you don't want the lights to fade up, because your not sure what to say or how to feel, and a film like that comes very rarely. And that's why, truely why, BlackkKlansman is one of the best films of the year. 9.5/10