Jungle Fever

Plot synopsis:
Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) is a successfully married African American man who works at an architectural firm in New York City. One day, an Italian American woman named Angela "Angie" Tucci (Annabella Sciorra) is hired as a temporary secretary at the place. Flipper complains to his partners Jerry (Tim Robbins) and Leslie (Brad Dourif) about wanting an African American secretary. They tell him that they want "the best human being for the job."When Flipper returns to his Harlem home after visiting his best friend Cyrus (Spike Lee), he tells his wife Drew (Lonette McKee) about his promotion. Drew tells him to be prepared if his promotion is declined, but Flipper tells her not to worry. Meanwhile, Angie returns to her Bensonhurst home, and cooks dinner for her father Mike (Frank Vincent) and her two brothers Charlie (David Dundara) and Jimmy (Michael Imperioli). Her boyfriend Paulie Carbone (John Turturro) arrives and takes her out on a date. Paulie is a regular Italian-American man who co-manages a grocery store in his and Angie's neighborhood. While he waits for Angie, her brothers antagonize Paulie about his relationship with his sister, threatening him with bodily harm if his only intention is to have sex with her. Paulie's able to shake it off and he & Angie leave.One night, Flipper and Angie are working late at the firm, and they start to have a conversation about cooking. They continue to work late and have dinner in his office and they have sex on a desk. The next day, Flipper doesn't speak while walking his daughter to school. Later, at the office, he tells Jerry and Leslie that he wishes to be made a partner at the firm. After his offer is declined, he abruptly quits his job, telling his employers that his ideas have made the firm very profitable. One of his bosses, Leslie tells Flipper they need "a little more time" while Les' partner, Jerry, reacts angrily to Flipper's resignation, saying that his ego is driving his decisions. Later that night at the park, Flipper admits his infidelity to Cyrus. Just then, Flipper's older brother Gator (Samuel L. Jackson) shows up with his girlfriend Vivian (Halle Berry). He asks Flipper for some money so he can feed his crack habit. Flipper initially refuses, but gives in eventually.Meanwhile, Angie tells her two girlfriends that she's seeing Flipper, shocking them when she tells them he is African American. She then tells them not to tell anybody. But her friends just cannot stop their gossiping and they secretly tell one of Angie's brothers, who likewise, tells their father Mike.The next evening, Flipper and Angela are ignored by the racist staff at a local restaurant. He complains to an African-American waitress (Queen Latifah) about not being served, she in turn berates him for dating a white woman. Later, the rumors about them surface when Flipper comes home and sees a furious Drew throwing his things out of the second floor window, forcing him to move back in with his mother Lucinda (Ruby Dee) and his father the Good Reverend Doctor (Ossie Davis) in nearby Brooklyn. Later that night, he confronts Cyrus for betraying his trust. Cyrus admits that he told his wife Vera (Veronica Webb), but he didn't know that she would tell Drew (plus several other people in the neighborhood). Flipper insults Vera for her big mouth and inability to keep a secret which causes a rift in his friendship with Cyrus, who demands he apologize to Vera, but Flipper refuses. Shortly after, Flipper ends his friendship with Cyrus after seeing that although Cyrus does like and support Flipper, he will always side with his wife regardless of her actions.The next day, Flipper tries to make things up to Drew by bringing her flowers at work, which she refuses. The two have a nasty argument and Flipper leaves. Meanwhile, Angie ends her relationship with Paulie. His father Lou (Anthony Quinn) finds Paulie in the bathroom and consoles him. When Angie returns home, a livid and racist Mike violently beats her for dating a black man and throws her out of the house.Flipper and Angie move in to an apartment together, where they subsequently encounter social problems including a failed dinner with Flipper's parents who disapprove of their son dating someone outside his race. These and other racial issues eventually strain relations between the couple. One night, things come to a head when the police almost arrest Flipper after receiving a wrongful report from another racist white person that "a white lady was being attacked" (this, due to somebody apparently having watched them in a compromising position over a car hood from a window, since it looked like he was forcing himself on her). Afterword, Flipper and Angie get into another huge argument when he tells her that he refuses to have half-blood children with her.When Paulie hears the confession from Angie about her affair with a black man, he is heartbroken. This, somehow, gives him the courage to ask a black female regular customer, named Orin Goode (Tyra Ferrell), out on a date. This puts him at odds with his own racist father and his friends, whom he gets into a fight with, although he winds up hurt himself. Orin turns down Paulie's request to go out on a date. When he pesters her, Orin tells him off by saying that her parents have forbidden her from dating a man outside her race and she will not defy her parents out of blind loyalty to them. Paulie finds himself more emotionally hurt and alone then ever.One night, a high-on-dope Gator storms into his parents house one night while the Reverend is away, demanding money from Lucinda while trashing the house. The Reverend arrives and threatens to shoot him if he doesn't leave. Gator turns to leave, but upon hearing the Reverend insult him, he turns around and threatens him. The Reverend tells Gator he is better off dead, and shoots him in the groin. Gator cries in pain as he slowly dies in his mother's arms. However, The Reverend shows a small sign of regret.Eventually, due to the great gap created between them two, Flipper admits that he was only curious about being with a white woman, and he tells Angie that she should accept she was also curious about black men. They break up and he leaves the apartment they were sharing. Angie returns to her father's house where she apologizes for getting into a romance with a man who's color skin is different. Mike awkwardly welcomes Angie back.In the end, Flipper is seen having sex with Drew again, but she is laughing and crying at the same time. When they finish, she sends him off. It is clear that they were obviously not back together and she only called him over for sex, with no seemingly immediate solution in regards to it. He kisses his daughter Ming (Veronica Timbers) goodbye and walks out to go home back to his parents house. Then, at the turn of the corner, a very young black girl asks him to let her do oral sex on him for two dollars. Stunned, Flipper embraces her and screams to the heavens: NOOOOOOO!!!!.(It was not clear whether the plot had leaped forward to some years later and this girl was Ming, or that he was only shocked to see this teenager whoring herself for drug money.)

Tags: murder

Review:
However his life is thrown into chaos when his wife Drew finds out.The opening credits are catchy and the material is just the sort of racial issue that Spike Lee made his name but somehow the film itself really failed to catch my imagination or hold my attention.
Firstly the film feels like a series of disjointed conversations  most of which are interesting enough to listen to but don't a total film make.Secondly, and more importantly, Lee appears to be in agreement with some of his characters that mixed race relationships are not a good idea.
Then again, maybe it's close to being inevitable with how the elements mix, and at the end there are some parts of the film that are the best that Lee's done so far as a filmmaker.Wesley Snipes and Anabella Sciora star as the said 'jungle fever' couple, the man being married with a kid, of all things to a woman who is also light-skinned and with her own 'issues', and the woman having an 'old-fashioned' Italian father.
Among many scenes where confrontations reach a great emotional intensity, the best comes with Snipes going into the crack-house and seeing just the purest dark side of society, what really does bring people down.In the end, Jungle Fever is one of the Lee movies that is worth seeing, that may prove on a repeat viewing to bring even more thought than previous.
Spike Lee made "Jungle Fever" in the era when he also made masterpieces like "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X".
In this case, African-American Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) has an affair with Italian-American co-worker Angela Tucci (Annabella Sciorra), thereby setting off a racially charged chain reaction.A previous reviewer said that Lee throws in so many subplots that the movie gets too confusing.
Lots of hate and not much love is the feeling I get when looking this film up; ironic then that the idea of interracial relationships in 1990s America has much the same stance on the idea  stick to what you know or else people who have long since died will be angry at you, oh and the current parent who hasn't died (the father in both cases) will either threaten to or indeed literally beat you senseless.I don't think Jungle Fever, directed by Spike Lee, is all that bad in fact I found it interesting, engaging and somewhat tragic which means I liked it; I liked it a lot.
I think one of the primary reasons this film works is that it achieves something extremely difficult and that's being able to get across a narrative of love, loss and temptation all the time being able to put across and offer opinions on race and ethnicity whilst also being able to merge in a healthy and satisfying amount of humour which, oddly enough, only really comes along when the film is dealing with its 'tragedy' sub-plot involving Gator (Jackson).
The idea behind the character is tragic but it is Jackson's presence and approach to the material that makes it humorous: a crack addict that turns up at the most inconvenient of times asking for money, often doing a little dance in order to get it; but he does not learn the wrong of his ways and that's the tragic thing.So you see, the fact that Spike Lee has created this universe for all these issues to be digested and be put across all the time keeping you interest with some individual acting performances, good music and a fair amount memorable dialogue moments is extremely impressive  my favourite of which is Spike Lee himself portraying a character who goes up in extremities when he learns of an affair, the fact the wife doesn't know and then that the girl is actually white.
Jungle Fever starts out in pretty humorous yet tragic circumstances, echoing the atmosphere to come for the rest of the film; the pre-film titles have road signs displaying things like 'drugs, left; crack, right' which is a damned if you do, damned if you don't idea that works amongst the upbeat music.
It's this sort of juxtaposition in visuals that works and challenges the viewer as well as possibly being Lee getting across what life is like in these sorts of places 'No matter where you turn, you cannot escape certain failure'.So, to have the rather oddly named Flipper Purify (Snipes) as an architect who is living a good life with a great job with great prospects with a wonderful wife and kid gives us the sense he is an achiever but he cannot live in a district that is pleasant, so that 'tag' that you never escape the ghetto is present.
This is a film in which everybody gets a bite of the cherry; the African-American characters in the film are people who are striving to survive (the credits suggesting the ghetto is a no win place suggests this) doing whatever means necessary no matter how high up you are (crack head or rich architect); Italians are people who perhaps come across as quite needlessly aggressive and yet are the sorts who hold onto values and friendships despite whatever situations arise  they are also people who look out for their sisters.Then there are the women; in what is one of Jungle Fever's more remarkable scenes, a half dozen women sit around and consolidate Drew (McKee) as she comes to terms with the affair.
Jungle Fever is a film that has heart but it has brains to boot; there is another great scene when Frankie Botz (Badalucco) is being wound up over his girl and he slams people who are Aryan, blaming Hollywood (another Spike Lee scripted dig?) for it but this is right after heart of gold Italian Paulie Carbone (Turturro) points out that Italian's several decades ago who paid the blacks equal wages were hung for doing so; this echoes the overall theme of the film in a single scene, that being that "it is the 1990s, things like this happen" says Debi Mazar's character and that the disapproving parents should not be too affected by something that supposedly insults tradition.Jungle Fever is not about 'x' is black and shouldn't date 'y' because they're white; if anything it's about the reason to stick with your partner: if Flipper was curious as to what 'white' would've been like, surely that echoes compliment to Drew because he doesn't consider he so; even though she has been bullied over the light tone of her skin.
As a social commentary, the movie raises many important issues about interracial relationships in a less politically lauded tone than the iconic "Do The Right Thing", which is a wise choice for a movie mostly centered on human relationships.Through Stevie Wonder's titular song, "Jungle Fever" refers to the diagnosis of that strange mutual attraction between two persons from different races.
But the DVD was selling for $2 in a B grade movie pile, which initially put me off, it occurred to me later after watching this brilliant gem how racist our society is that this could be selling for $2.Having said all this the movie isn't without it's flaws, because of it's obvious low budget, which makes some things look a little fake and therefore affects the realism of the scene, but the irony is it was probably difficult for a black filmmaker like Spike Lee to get funding, so I can't blame him for these flaws.
There are also issues about what "well meaning" white people do and how that can actually endanger a black person (e.g. the police scene-this scene made me cry), and that even if a white person/policeman etc is not racist, the problem is black people have to be on their guard because they don't know which ones will be.SPOILER: A few people have mentioned that this movie is against inter racial relationships saying stick to your own but I'm not sure it is, after all the point is made that very few of the characters are "completely" black anyway.
Even less widespread is such mixed couples not being the core of the story told - a notable exception is "Things We Lost In the Fire" by Dane Susanne Bier, where Halle Berry and David Duchovny create a loving couple with race issues never even implied.This speaks volume why "Jungle Fever" and the issues touched remain poignantly important till this day - the concept of mixed race pairs is so innerly counter-cultural to the American society at large, even more so than in Europe or light years behind the formerly racial South Africa.
Already permeating with an unmistakable style, patchy story lines and venturing camera shots, Spike Lee's trademarks came to fruition, but unfortunately with a movie being a far cry from "Do the Right Thing" or "The 25th Hour", proving to be a director renowned for a very uneven film career..
Jungle Fever was a disappointing follow-up to what I consider Spike Lee's two finest films, the celebrated Do The Right Thing and the subtle, underrated Mo' Better Blues, and it turned Lee overnight from one of the most critically acclaimed and promising directors of his generation into the butt of everyone's "has-been" jokes.
The highly stylized camera work with its vivid colors, the extroverted acting and the prototypical characters - all of which worked very well for the morality tale of Do The Right Thing - feel clumsy and distracting in Jungle Fever which is a much more realistic story at heart.That doesn't mean Jungle Fever is a bad movie; Spike Lee has some very interesting things to say about racism in modern culture, and it makes for a very thought provoking and even eye-opening experience.
Jackson is just one of several excellent character actors - Frank Vincent, Anthony Quinn, Ossie Davis and others - who deliver performances so intense that it's hard to focus on any of them.The only actors who show any kind of subtlety are the leads - Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra (also Spike Lee himself and the wonderful John Turturro, but their roles are quite small), and their story is the heart of the movie, as well as the only aspect of it to really challenge conventions and say something original.
When Lee was promoting the film at the time, he implied that people of two different races were only attracted to each other because of stereotypes they had in mind.
Not only have I never seen a Spike Lee film that I haven't liked, but I have hardly seen any that I wouldn't give a rating of 10 on this site.Jungle Fever is a drama about an interracial love affair between self-centered, hyperconfident married black businessman Snipes and humble, sensitive and prudent white temp secretary from an Italian neighborhood and the effect it has on their respective neighborhoods and social lives.
Though Jungle Fever has been knocked for making a point about interracial relationships, for every point it makes it has a counterpoint for contrast.The movie has brash, consistent music, a fiery and impassioned visual effect, and another characteristic Spike Lee touch, which is his knack for drawing from his actors intensely real performances, especially Sciorra, whom I always love..
The movie Jungle fever is pretty good, however I dont think its a good mirror on todays sociaty or even the 90's.I DONT like the term "interracial dating" or talk about diffrent races.
There is only one race, HUMAN.There is A LOT of man and womans who have diffrent colour who are together and they have never felt even 1% of the problems that are shown in the movie jungle fever.I think some people are MAKING it a big issue.
Jungle Fever is a film about interacial dating, black romance, fathers &sons and many other deep issues.
I have since then made it a goal to see as many "Spike Lee Joints" as possible.Jungle Fever is the story of Flipper, a black middle-aged man from Harlem with a large constellation of friends and family.
It seems scores of famous actors portray members of either side's family and friends.Jungle Fever is clearly a similar subject to Do the Right Thing, or any of Lee's films.
This includes a long scene where Flipper is looking for his brother among a warehouse full of crack-heads, and many more scenes with this, all leading up to a horrible ending.I think what happened was Spike Lee tried to cover sex, drugs, and race into one movie, and though attempts were good, it was not a success.
By writing such a story, Spike Lee obviously wanted to broach and denounce racism, a topic that has often been at the core of his movies, as "Do the right thing" (1989) testifies.
Jackson, I mean he´s in almost all the new Hollywood action/war films.But I was really impressed by his acting in this film.Even if the direction by Lee and the music by Stevie Wonder is great I think I like it mostly because of the acting.Stars like:Wesley Snipes,Samuel L.
The first time I watched Jungle Fever, it got me thinking about the views of many people warring with each other over the difference of color and why many families maintain their own cultures rather than integrating as one.
I think not!For me it demonstrates that Spike Lee was portraying a very cynical and depressing outlook of two people from different backgrounds coming together with events increasing from bad to worse and many minorities choosing to reject such a matter rather than accepting a change.Performances were a real turn out for me in this one.
Although it can be lightened up with a sense of humor it did leave a sour taste as to whether people will eventually change their point of views towards integrating than separating?I'm just happy to know that many stars such as Snipes, Jackson and Halle Berry (yes that's right she plays a drug addict alongside cool man Jackson), have managed to sustain such a highly demanding careers for the many roles given to them then and now.
Ok, any true fan of Spike Lee *or* Sam Jackson would know Sam was in Lee's "School Daze", which came several years before Jungle Fever.Now that we've cleared that up....GREAT movie.
But, of course, since this is a Spike Lee Joint, you can bet on the secret getting out, tensions reaching their boiling points, and lives getting destroyed.What I like about this movie-Jungle Fever is my favorite of Spike Lee's films-is there are many more issues discussed than race.
The opening plot hook is an illicit affair between happily married Harlem architect Flipper Purify (not a misprint) and his Italian-American secretary, but other, more urgent problems quickly crowd out the provocative love story, notably an anti-drug subplot involving Flipper's junkie brother (highlighted in the stunning Taj Mahal crack house sequence, easily the most exciting several minutes so far in Spike Lee's filmography).
It's important to stress that while Spike Lee often comes under fire from all sides for allegedly putting his own views across - be it homophobic, sexist, anti-semitic, or most commonly, racist - this is more a measure of the issues his films cover, and a strange excuse to pick holes in great films, than a genuine argument.No, Jungle Fever is a brilliant film that both answers questions of his critics and raises new ones.
Samuel in particular gives such an incredible performance that at the Cannes Film Festival, a 'Best Supporting Actor' award was created especially for him.For those who have seen Spike's previous work - it's similar to Do The Right Thing, in a way.
It concerns sexual myths, and somehow managing not to feel tacked on, drugs (critics demanded to know where the drugs were in Do The Right Thing upon release - Spike responded by asking where the drugs were in Oliver Stone's Wall Street, then obliged with Jungle Fever).If you haven't, expect a look at the issue of mixed relationships, tinged with humour and tragedy, and a rather good soundtrack.
I have always been a fan of Spike Lee ever I seen his best film to date, Do The Right Thing.
The film is multi-faceted and does not follow one story line but follows the lives of all kinds of different people who are related to each other or know each other somehow.Spike Lee plays Flipper Purify, a black architect who has a nice family and a good job living in Harlem.
I wish Paulie's was more developed, because that way we would have seen a bolder contrast between that and the doomed one with Flipper and Angie, but I guess the realistic one is more important.Overall, while Jungle Fever doesn't seem to view that topic as much as the title suggests, it still comes off as a very thought provoking film with many discussions to be had.
Jungle Fever opens with Spike Lee's favorite character of all time, New York.
After which we see a sex scene with Flipper played by Wesley Snipes loudly making love with his black wife.
Flipper and Angie, never having been intimate with anyone outside their race (except for Flipper's half Caucasian wife) work late into the evenings and eventually build an attraction to each other which Spike Lee calls "Jungle Fever".
Example: Flipper and Angie are being ignored at a restruant because they're interracial then at the end of the scene when Queen Latifah, playing the waitress, walks off there's a 3 second cutaway where two bystanders say "She's White!?" "Mhmm Hmm" Jungle Fever is a film that indulgently satisfies itself.
The rest of the movie focuses primarily on the reactions of various people to interracial romance and on a seemingly irrelevant plot line involving Flipper's crack-addicted brother Gator (another good performance, by Samuel L.Jackson), a real character who starts out funny and later becomes terrifying.
So condemning is Lee's treatment of Flipper and Angie's desire for one another, by the film's end, it's rendered as a drug like Gator's crack cocaine.