Bamboozled [DVD] [2000] [2001] by Damon Wayans
Bamboozled is that rarity in Hollywood cinema, a sharp but subtle satire by Spike Lee, America's most important black director. A TV producer trying to expose the racism of his corporation conceives an idea for a new show. It's back to the Black and White Minstrels, reincarnated in glorious colour. He can't believe it when his ironic suggestion is taken up by the company and becomes a huge hit. Lee manages to show us just what's wrong with stereotypes of blacks, and yet acknowledge just how easily even black people themselves can be seduced by them. It's a pity about the ending, which explodes in a hail of bullets, quite inappropriately for such a film, but up till then there are plenty of laughs and much food for thought. On the DVD: the many extras include Lee's informative audio commentary on the film and a 50-minute making of documentary, plus 10 scenes deleted from the final version, some posters, a couple of music videos and the theatrical trailer. --Ed Buscombe