I have
been a Spike Lee fan since the 1990s – along with Martin Scorsese, Quentin
Tarantino, the Coens and Oliver Stone, Lee was one of the first filmmakers I
went through to watch all of their films. While it’s true he has had an uneven
filmography over the years, he is also a filmmaker unafraid of style or
controversy, and never seems to be phoning it in.
According
to IMDB, Lee has over 80 directing credits – features, shorts, docs, TV episodes
and just about anything else you can think of. To keep it simple before the release
of BlackKklansman I’m going to watch just his previous 21 dramatic theatrical
features as part of this series. This isn’t to say that his doc work is somehow
lesser – When the Levee’s Broke would be in my top five Lee films easily, and 4
Little Girls would be close as, or even that some of his concert films are weak
either – Passing Strange is wonderful. It’s just to try and keep the watch list
here manageable – how would decide which docs to see and which to skip, etc.?
Below is
the ranking of Lee’s films as I now see them. As always happens when I embark
on these re-watches, I’m almost certain this will be different after seeing
these 21 films again. I cannot wait.
21. Girl 6 (1996)
Lee has
always had trouble when writing female characters – which perhaps explains why
one of the only films to focus almost exclusively on them is the weakest film
he ever made. The film feels like it’s trying to call out the exploitation of
black women, while also exploiting black women. This is the hardest film of
Lee’s to find – probably because it has so few defenders. I’m very curious to
revisit.
20. Oldboy (2013)
Lee
remade Park Chan-wook’s unforgettable masterpiece about a man who was kidnapped
and held captive for years never being told why, and then released with (little
explanation – and then has to piece it altogether. The filmmaking is actually
quite good here – but the film never hits the heights of the original, the
shocks aren’t (shocking when you know they’re coming, and seem more farfetched
this time. Lee just didn’t seem right for this material.
19. Red Hook Summer (2012)
Lee
returned to Brooklyn to make this odd film about a young boy from the South
coming to stay in Brooklyn – and the deeply flawed preacher (brilliantly played
by Clarke Peters) at the local church. The whole thing is a mess – the ending
doesn’t work at all. But (with many of Lee’s messes, it’s always interesting no
matter how farfetched it gets.
18. Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014)
Lee’s
very odd remake of the very odd Blaxploitation adjacent film Ganja & Hess,
about black vampires. Lee turns it into a commentary on class within the black
community. The oddly mannered performances will put many (most?) off – but is
key to its effect. It’s a strange one to be sure – but one I think is
interesting.
17. She Hate Me (2004)
Lee’s
film fully and completely embraces every cliché about the sexual prowess of
black men – and takes it to ridiculous extremes in this satire. Some felt Lee
was being genuine here – with Anthony Mackie (a black stud who gets paid
$10,000 a pop to impregnate lesbians – and brings them all to screaming orgasm.
But Lee is smarter than that – and I think it was a deliberate attempt to make
it all look silly. Most hate this film, but I found it to be immensely
entertaining and engaging when I saw it years ago – and look forward to seeing
it again.
16. Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Lee used
the clout he got after the hit of Inside Man to make this WWII epic, set in
Italy, in which an all-black unit saves the locals. The film is an utter and
complete mess, but an entertaining and provocative one, so it is never boring,
and deserved better than it got.
15. She’s Gotta Have It (1986)
I’ve
always had issues with Lee’s debut film – the female protagonist isn’t (interesting
(the three men trying to woo her, the depiction of the lesbian neighbor is
pretty homophobic, and the climatic rape doesn’t sit right (last year’s Netflix
shows fixed those problems). Still, the importance of this film cannot be
overstated – it showed a completely different kind of film could be made by
African American directors, and at its best, it’s very entertaining. It’s one
of Lee’s most important, but not best, films.
14. Mo’ Better Blues (1990)
Mo’
Better Blues is the rarest of things for Lee – a largely forgettable film. I
haven’t seen the film in years – and while that’s true of several Lee films, I
really don’t remember much about it, other than it’s a fine performance by
Denzel – his first for Lee – and some great music and filmmaking. I look
forward to finding out if it’s better than I remembered.
13. Get on the Bus (1996)
Lee made
this film quickly, set entirely on a bus travelling from L.A. to Washington and
back again to the Million Man March. The film doesn’t shy away from the
politics of its organizer – Louis Farrakhan – but argues that it wasn’t really
about him. This is the kind of low key, low budget film Lee hasn’t made much of
– but I wish he had.
12. Crooklyn (1994)
Lee’s
version of his childhood, put on screen, shows a different vision of the
so-called “ghetto” – where his family is seen (loving, and the streets mainly
safe. It’s probably a little too sentimental and nostalgic at times – but a
welcome corrective to the films of the 1990s that painted those streets (a
violent cesspool.
11. Chi-Raq (2015)
Lee takes
on violence in Chicago by way of an old Greek myth of women going on a sex
strike. The lead performance by Teyonah Parris is great, and the film is a
wild, crazy mixture of comedy, crime, preaching and music that only Lee could
make. Many hated it. They were wrong.
10. School Daze (1988)
As often
happens after a successful indie debut, Lee was given more money, and expanded
his canvas for his follow-up. School Daze remains a fascinating film about life
at a historically black college – full of life and energy, musical numbers, and
complicated conversations about color and relationships. A provocative, entertaining,
fascinating film.
9. Summer of Sam (1999)
10 years
after Do the Right Thing, Lee made another film about a hot summer – this one
in the late 1970s, where David Berkowitz was terrorizing New York, and no one
felt safe. The cast is almost entirely white, and the film is about how this
paranoia of people being different infects every neighborhood. One of Lee’s
most underrated films.
8. Jungle Fever (1991)
Lee
courted controversy in 1991, making a film about inter-racial relationships
that many seemed to think he was against them. He wasn’t – he was against them
if they were based on stereotypes, which the central relationship was (but the
other relationship, between John Turturro and Tyra Ferrell did not). The other
real problem is that the central relationship never really works – everything
else is top notch.
7. Inside Man (2006)
A
surprise hit for Lee back in 2006, this genre film – a bank heist in which
Clive Owen robs a bank, and Denzel plays a (maybe corrupt) hostage negotiator
to try and get him out, and Jodie Foster plays a wealthy fixer. This is a genre
film, and works brilliantly (one, but Lee smuggles in a lot of commentary on
the issues he has addressed into it, and it ends up being one of his most
entertaining – and best – films.
6. Clockers (1995)
Lee has
mainly stayed away from making films about gangs and drugs – but when he did
one with Clockers, he made one of the best the genre has seen. The film is a
complex examination of the economics of drugs, the racism of police, and the
difficulty of avoiding the violence all around you. It is a murder mystery of
sorts, but (Lee always does when he does a genre film, he complicates things
more than normal.
5. He Got Game (1998)
The story
of a star high school basketball player, whose father now in jail for murdering
his wife (Denzel, again), is let out to try and convince his son to go to the
local school. The film is full of love of basketball – while still
acknowledging how it has become a business that uses young black men (little
more than a commodity to be used up and thrown away. This is Lee at his most
clear eyed, and so quietly tragic.
4. Bamboozled (2000)
Lee’s
film got a lot of attention in 2000, but no one really went to see it. I
understand why so many hated it or couldn’t watch it – using black face was a
deliberate provocation on Lee’s part, and some cannot see beyond that. But
Lee’s film is a racially charged version of network – throwing everything at
the wall to see what will stick in terms of black entertainment, and how while
a lot can be blamed on white people, it all cannot be. I don’t agree with
everything in the film – who does – but it remains one of the most memorable provocations
of Lee’s – or anyone’s – career.
3. 25th Hour (2002)
One long
night before Edward Norton’s drug dealer reports to prison to do a 7 year
stretch he may not survive. Lee turned this film into one of (if not the best) examination
of New York in the aftermath of 9/11. A long sad, decline of a film about lives
wasted or unlived. A masterpiece, whose reputation has grown and grown in the
past 16 years – and deserves to grow even more.
2. Malcolm X (1992)
Malcolm X
may just be the best biopic ever made (I’m probably forgetting something, but
off the top of my head, this is it). Denzel gives the best performance of his
career – one of the very best we’ve ever seen – in a complex look at the life
of the controversial Civil Rights leader that doesn’t shy away from the
controversy, or try and portray him (a saint. A long, complex, brilliantly well-made
film. A true masterwork.
1. Do the Right Thing (1989)
Lee’s
masterpiece, and the best film ever made about race in America. Over one long,
hot summer day in Brooklyn, the racial tensions that have long simmered
underneath the surface explode, and everyone has to deal with the new reality
at the end. Sadly, the film hasn’t aged a day in nearly 30 years. An absolute
masterpiece – one of the best American films ever made.
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