Joining the organisation

Rating: 7/10 (7 November 2018)

BlacKkKlansman is a Spike Lee joint that is based on the true story of Ron Stallworth (John David Washington.) He was the first black recruit of the Colorado Springs police force in the 1970s. Stuck in a dead end job at the police records department, Ron gets an opportunity to do undercover work. One day after seeing a newspaper advert, he rings the local branch of the KKK and applies to join.
Obviously as Ron is black he cannot meet the local members. So fellow undercover officer Detective Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) goes to the meetings but Zimmerman is Jewish. Both end up investigating radical members of the Klan who plan to wage war against the local black college student union who bought in an ex Black Panther member to speak at an event.
There is a powerful cameo from Harry Belafonte telling a story of a mentally handicapped black man who was found guilty of rape on trumped up charges and was then brutally lynched. The white crowd had been whipped up by D W Griffith's movie, Birth of a Nation.
Lee's film takes liberties with the actual true events. It starts off as a satirical drama. Lee however in unable to resist being heavy handed with his message and makes a few digs at President Trump and his America First policies, which Lee regards as code for supporting racism.
The film benefits greatly from the performances by John David Washington and Adam Driver. However it is a little too long and uneven. The last act with the bomb did not work for me and looked contrived. It is still an interesting and enthralling film.