Interesting movie and the fact it's based on actual events makes it even better

Rating: 6/10 (2 October 2018)

"BlacKkKlansman" is a new American 2018 movie and the most recent filmmaking effort by Spike Lee who directed here and is also part of a relatively big team of writers that used Ron Stallworth's novel as the basis for this very long film at 2 hours and 15 minutes. Maybe the actor who plays the main character John David Washington will not be too familiar to you, but Adam Driver sure should, actually even without his Star Wars performances. And yes I think that Stallworth is the protagonist here, not just because it is based on his novel, but also because we find out a whole lot more about him than about everybody else, also Flip, for example when it comes to romantic love interests. The latter includes the scenes with the radical Blacks and while I liked these scenes I also felt that the film would not have been considerably worse without them. But they served as a good counterpart to the KKK scenes nonetheless and this refers to one occasion especially when there is really a direct parallel between their two meetings when we find out about both groups' motivations and intentions. This was maybe the highlight of the entire film. You could write a whole lexikon about these 10 minutes or so. Of course, having Harry Belafonte in charge of telling the Black story helps a whole lot and he was mesmerizing without a doubt, even or maybe especially at the age of 90. But also aside from him, these two conventions offered so much material in terms of the women's role in these, or the references about violence or the whole idea what happens/would happen if either group found out they were infiltrated by a cop. Maybe the revelation moment was not the greatest, but it wasn't bad either, just not as significant as it could have been. Then again, we need to keep in mind this is based on real events. It's not "Breaking Bad". I think the performances were with no exception good in here, especially by those playing the KKK members. There was so much absurdity for example in the romantic scene between one KKK member and his wife when we really see what unites them the most in their love for each other is the hatred against others. Well-acted and well-written is the perfect description there and for many other moments. And even if it was such a long film, it never dragged to me.
Yeah well, I could have done without the awkwardly bizarre Alec Baldwin introduction and also without most of the references to our days at the very end, but those weren't that bad either that they left a truly negative impact on the film. The David Duke today scene at the very end was a welcome inclusion though, just because his character was so dominant in the movie, not really in terms of screen time, but in terms of how memorable he was. Another very positive moment staying in the mind was the shot in which we see Stallworth at the shooting area minutes after the KKK members (and Driver's character) were there and we don't see what they were shooting at until Stallworth enters the scene and is somewhat united with his brothers who are targets there and surely many of the KKK members would have preferred them to be actually living targets. With many hot political debates on immigration, this film, even if it is set decades back in the past, feels relevant nowadays too and it was probably the right time for it to be made. I think I read a few weeks back that this is a contender for Best Picture at the Oscars even, but I think the buzz went a bit down. That's fine though as while it is a good film, I doubt it's really best of the year material. But it is good for what it is. Maybe you should rather think about the question if the subject is interesting enough to you than going by the trailer because while Driver's chair turning scene may be hilarious when Washington starts rambling on the phone about how he hates Blacks and non-Whites it's really not as much of a comedy as you might think from the trailer. At least my impression. But that is fine as it would have been worse if they had gone more for a comedy, but ended up fishing for laughs without delivering the quality in that genre. If you know a bit about Spike Lee, then you know what to expect here, although even with the references to the now at the very end, it is certainly not even close to being his most radical movie. But without having seen too much from him I think it is a contender for his best and it sure has a shot at becoming his most popular too. The story makes sense and those rare moments when I wasn't sure like when I wondered why the Nazi guy did not recognize the bodyguard from the door visit earlier, they developed the story in a way that he did eventually. Or the saving from the lie detector test which was pretty spectacular. As was the eventual bomb scene with the explosion too that despite how key of the story it was never really felt too impactful to me to be honest. However, the film delivers sufficiently during many other scenes and moments and I am thankful for that. I am not even close to regretting having seen this one and I think you should go for the watch too. I give "BlacKkKlansman" a thumbs-up and positive recommendation.