“BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee’s latest joint, is certainly not subtle about making its point.
What it is, though, is compelling, as both a period film and a scathing indictment of extremism in modern America’s discussion of race.
To that end, Lee definitely has a target audience here. If you’re a part of that audience, you’re likely to love what he’s doing here.
If you’re not, or if you happen to align more closely with the portion of America he represents in the film mostly with negative stereotypes, brace yourself. Most likely you’re going to come away feeling put off, if not enraged.
And then perhaps you’ll understand how the filmmaker himself feels.
What’s it about?
“BlacKkKlansman” is based on the 2014 true life account “Black Klansman” by former Colorado Springs detective Ron Stallworth. In the mid-1970’s, Stallworth became that city’s first African-American police officer, and in the course of his career had a “so-strange-its-true” encounter with David Duke and the Klu Klux Klan.
In the film, John David Washington plays Stallworth, who as a rookie officer faced both quiet and overt hostility within his own department. Working a lowly job at first, he deals with all manner of banal tasks until a surprise undercover assignment goes well, and he’s transferred to intelligence.
Shortly thereafter, he sees an ad in the local newspaper seeking people interested in joining the local chapter of the Klan. He calls, and after delivering the most racist bluster he can muster gets invited to meet the group.
From there, things just get stranger.
Of course, Stallworth can’t show up himself to meet them. With the grudging approval of his superiors, he enlists a seasoned undercover officer (Adam Driver) to stand in for him at in-person meetings while he maintains the charade on the phone.
Once the two officers infiltrate “the organization,” they witness how the group’s message is being tweaked for modernity. It’s not just about lynchings and burning crosses anymore – it’s about stoking mainstream America’s fear that the nation has gone astray.
It’s all about making America great again and putting America “first.” White America, that is.
Bringing the present into the past
The script for “BlacKkKlansman” is full of familiar rhetoric from today’s politically charged exchanges about race in America.
The echoing the catchphrases of certain individuals at the heart of the debate in 2018 by characters in a 1970s period film is by design and meant to send a message.
That message is, of course, that very little has changed since the mid-1970’s. The clothes and hairstyles may be different, but oppression as a daily reality remains the same.
Lee frames it all with sardonic humor and no small emphasis on irony. He fills scene after scene with white actors bringing to life the worst stereotypes of white Middle America, fueling their fear and hatred by embracing stereotypes that dehumanize their perceived enemies.
One of the film’s most potent moments comes as Lee shifts between two scenes happening at once: a Klan initiation and a talk delivered by an elder statesman of the Civil Rights movement. Those scenes dovetail into a moment where Stallworth spies on the Klan group as they watch the infamous 1915 film “The Birth of a Nation.”
The effect on both sides is the same by the end of the sequence. It leads to polarization, confirmation of prejudices, and fermentation of hate.
Sly humor sprinkled in
That’s not to say that “BlacKkKlansman” is devoid of humor or moments of lighter introspection.
The film does have its moments of levity. Most of them center around the irony of Stallworth’s situation and the characters he comes in contact with.
Of these, arguably the scenes featuring Topher Grace as a young David Duke are the funniest. Grace’s Duke is both comical and insidious. He’s the man masterminding the changing of the Klan’s approach to recruitment, and he’s good at what he does.
He just doesn’t realize that his new favorite inductee is a black man and a cop. Oooops.
The film also strives for laughs with its portrayal of the wanna-be hate group. These comic beats, however, don’t quite fit.
Yes, playing members of the group as cartoonishly inept as the script does may earn a few cheap chuckles. The absurdity of it all, though, threatens to derail the overall tone and mood.
Worth seeing?
At two hours and 15 minutes, “BlacKkKlansman” does feel overly long and drawn out. Even the most ardent viewer sympathetic to Lee’s stance might start to feel the weight of all those stereotypes wearing on them at the film’s two-thirds mark.
But there’s no denying what’s here is provocative and artfully done. The actors’ performances are stellar, especially those of Washington, Driver, and Grace.
Will the film do anything at all to change the tenor of the conversation about race in America? Probably not, but it certainly will keep that conversation going.
BlacKkKlansman
Starring John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, Laura Harrier, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen, Corey Hawkins, with Alec Baldwin and Harry Belafonte. Directed by Spike Lee.
Running time: 135 minutes
Rated R for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references.