This is Not Just a Movie

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2019)

If I'm being honest, I always struggle reviewing movies that tackle racism in America. For starters I'm not American, so it doesn't quite hit as close to home as it maybe intends. More than that I'm white, and I live in a majorly white area. I've never experienced that kind of treatment, so I admit it makes it hard to empathise sometimes. But no movie has created as much turmoil of approach for me as this one. I'm not Spike Lee's biggest fan, on a personal level. I feel he makes too much about his race, and his protests often just come across as childish rather than passionate, but I don't want to get too deep into that. His movies often tackle difficult subject matter, especially those that cover the plights of the black community. My issue is that I'm not entirely confident I received the message he was trying to tell.
Okay, so the movie is about Ron Stallworth, Colorado Springs' first black police officer in the 70s. He infiltrates the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his Jewish colleague. A mixture of hilarity and tension ensues from the situations the characters find themselves in. But Lee also adds in a completely fictional character to add a black point of view, I guess, in Patrice. Honestly I have no idea what his intent is with her character. I can imagine to many of the black community she is represented as a hero, but to me I found her to be almost as bad as the Ku Klux Klan. I'm torn because I don't see Spike Lee (or what I know of him) to intentionally put in a black character for us to root against. I don't see the point he's making with her. Is he trying to appeal to those who paint the police as the villains? Is he trying to pin the blame on the police force himself? Or is he genuinely attempting a more partisan position by showing that black people can have outrageous and generalised views of the 'opposition' as well? Because that last one is how it came off to me, and yet doesn't fit the general theme of the movie at all. Maybe this confusion was exactly his intent.
The rest of the movie is solid through and through. It's smartly written, and full of subtle callbacks you wouldn't pick up on without dissecting the film. The most poignant, especially as a film reviewer, was the subject of films and their impact on the race issue. At one point Ron is debating with Patrice about blaxploitation movies of the 70s. He finds the humour and entertainment in them, while she sees them as offensive, and he remarks that they're only movies. True enough, they are, made purely for entertainment value and to appeal to the black audiences of the time. But later on in the movie Ron witnesses a KKK meeting where they enjoy The Birth of a Nation with a racist uproar. The KKK in the movie are portrayed as all American heroes and the KKK watching it celebrate this like a party. At that point it's not just a movie. It's propaganda. It's the celebration and normalisation of racism. This is a very important point to make, not just about BlacKkKlansman, but about movies in general. Sometimes movies are not just movies. Sometimes there are agendas behind them. Sometimes they're used to fuel movements and steer public opinion. Lee wants you to know this while watching this movie so that you can't just shrug it off as 'just a movie'. He wants you to pay attention to what he's saying, because it's important.
Another thing I wasn't sure of on the initial watch of this movie was the very end, but I'm definitely coming around to it being somewhat a stroke of genius. The movie has finished, the characters have had everything resolved (for the most part), and this is where the credits would roll. Except they don't. Instead we cut to real life footage from 2017 in Charlottesville. We see the real David Duke on a podium speaking in support of Trump and making America great again, not even attempting to hide his racism. In the middle of this we cut to rallies and marches, both from white supremacists, and the black lives matter movement. It all culminates in footage of a car charging through a crowd of black lives matter supporters, and a dedication to the woman who died as a result of it. My initial impression was slightly irksome. It took me out of the movie entirely, and I didn't immediately see why it was included. It felt like a curveball. It felt irrelevant. But as I thought about it more I realised the point it was making. BlacKkKlansman is the story of racism in the 70s, but this racism didn't just go away. The KKK didn't just disband and change their minds. They're still around today. They're still making an impact today. They're still violently assaulting people in the streets today. Including these real-life clips at the end reinforces that the message being told in this movie is important - today. It's not just important history to know about, because it's not just history. It's still happening.
The acting in this movie is top-notch as well from everyone involved. John David Washington (son of Denzel) definitely deserves praise for his performance as Ron Stallworth. He holds a natural charisma that makes it hard not to like him. He eases into the performance and makes it so natural that it's easy to forget he's not the real Ron Stallworth. Particular standout moments include his subtle facial reactions to the racism he suffers, particularly early on in the movie, but also later when he's assigned as bodyguard duty for David Duke. Talking of, Topher Grace was exceptional as the charming, down-to-Earth Duke. He definitely embodies that everyman feel that enabled Duke to infiltrate the hearts of Americans. He doesn't come across as a racist at all until his racist remarks start to sneak into his dialogue. Corey Hawkins' small appearance as Kwame Ture is also great, as he delivers a speech to the local black community to inspire them to take a stance and fight back against the systemic racism they suffer on a daily basis. While some of what he says is a bit extreme, Hawkins delivers it in such a way that it's inspirational, and the potential extremism in his words is lost.
Adam Driver deserves a bunch of recognition here as well, as Flip Zimmerman, the white detective helping Stallworth out as the white face of Ron Stallworth, KKK sympathiser. His character arc is subtle, but also a very important aspect of the movie for non-black people to latch on to. Zimmerman is a Jewish character, which is another race of people disliked by the KKK. However, being white, this aspect of Zimmerman's identity never had much of an impact on him. He was never slighted against for being Jewish. He didn't even practice Judaism, so his Jewish heritage has even less impact on him. Until he's asked to help infiltrate the KKK. The flip in his position from regarding it as just another part of his job to something more meaningful is a reminder that race issues are not just segregated to the black community. In the words of Zimmerman; "...I never thought much about it, now I'm thinking about it all the time..." That is the kind of impact BlacKkKlansman seeks to achieve in everyone, regardless of ethnicity or background.
While I think Spike Lee's walkout of the Oscars when Green Book was announced as the best picture winner was childish, like a tantrum over not winning what he felt he was due, and as much as I enjoyed Green Book as an entertaining movie, BlacKkKlansman probably deserved the recognition more. Green Book was just a movie, the very thing BlacKkKlansman makes a point not to be. While they both tackle racism, BlacKkKlansman feels more genuine and more impactful. Of course they're completely different movies aiming for completely different audiences, but I feel like I can at least understand Lee's feelings watching his movie, that he didn't see as just a movie but as a social cry for help (the upside down American flag at the end is all the evidence of this you need), lose to a piece of entertainment made by white people for white people. Yeah, that would feel like a stick in the gut.
BlacKkKlansman is a really good movie. A really, really good movie. It definitely deserved more recognition than it got when it first came out. It balances the lighter more comedic moments with the more important and serious tones perfectly, forcing us to really ask ourselves why we found that moment funny, and how the implications are actually terrifying. If nothing else Spike Lee has earned a whole lot more respect as a filmmaker from me. This movie is dense. There's so many different layers to it. It's hilarious and upsetting in equal measure, it has so much to say and tells most of it in a smart and affecting manner, and even on a technical basis the film looks and sounds great, driven by fantastic performances all round. I give it a high 8/10. Would definitely recommend.