BlacKkKlansman - Cinema with CJ Review

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2018)

BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee spouting more of that fo' real, fo' real sh- and I dig.
I dig real hard.
A few slices from perfection, but still all in on all the things that still matter. It's pretty well worn the comments on how the film is perfectly timed and a wonderful snap back at the real state of the union, but in its real construction...That's what I'm talking about.
For all the Trump parallels, the commentary on racism on all levels, the evolving but still problematic nature of police investigation, to all the other themes that stick and resonate so hard, especially in those last five minutes...Spike Lee reminds you once again why he teaches on the subject of film. He constructs a damn fine one.
There's a sequence near the beginning that alone shows the power of powerful dialogue, strong direction, purposeful cinematography, and masterful editing. Then you get that throughout the rest of the film. BlacKkKlansman speaks through the medium of cinema in how calculated and important each cut is, and it speaks through Cinema itself. Hell, it opens with film footage that already throws in a reversal and then uses film further in many scenes following to play off the heroics of "white" cinema and "black" Cinema. Juxtaposition is alive and well in BlacKkKlansman and sometimes the simplest technique is the most powerful.
We see how two worlds are so different through their similarities, and context truly plants where the line in the sand is. Lee has created another film to shine a light on how f-ed things are and some people are, and that times haven't really changed and that all lives matter. There are still some misjudged violent wrong people in the world and they haven't stopped yet. But Spike Lee has made another flick that can be put in cinemas and show us - because that's where we go to see our heroes - that there's good people fighting the good fight, and infiltrate hate.
Because this film points out pretty easily...that hate is stupid.