Controversial
director Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing)
is back with BlacKkKlansman, the unbelievable, true story of role
reversal during the height of the civil rights movement and the resurgence of
the Ku Klux Klan.
Set
in the 1970s, a black man, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), applies to
join the Colorado Springs police force and on a whim calls a newspaper recruitment ad for the KKK posing as a white bigot.
The Klan shields itself as a legitimate organization which belies its racist
agenda and purpose, and when they want to meet him, he must substitute an
undercover white cop, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver). With the constant threat of
being discovered, both detectives must improvise on the fly, and Stallworth
also infiltrates a black student rally while confronting racism in his own
department. This leads to a meeting between Zimmerman and the Klan’s national
director, David Duke (Topher Grace). Meanwhile, radical elements within the Klan
chapter are plotting a major act of violence.
Some of the
narrative is so outrageous (complete with racial epithets) that it borders on
being laughable if it weren’t true.
The film also serves as a time capsule of the civil rights struggle of its time
and a revisionist take on popular culture with its clips from Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. At times it feels
like an independent film which works in its favor; it recreates its period with
contemporary songs and styles.
It’s a fascinating,
engrossing story with eerie parallels to current news headlines (with an amusing intro featuring
Alec Baldwin and a bittersweet postscript). Lee has lost none of his passion and fire and is back to doing what he
does best: articulating his rage against racial and social injustice.
**** of
**** stars
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