Like with Do the Right Thing, Lee’s movies can be seen as a sort of litmus test for audiences. Some might empathize with some of the characters and deride the others, while a different audience will feel a completely different way. Lee’s ability to conduct an orchestra of colour, feeling, and passion for his audience is part of what makes him special.
Whether he’s frustrating, comical, angry, or thoughtful, Spike Lee is always interesting. Even at a Knicks game, he might be the most mesmerizing person there. He once said that only white people could be racist because black people didn’t have the power to be racist. He never keeps his mouth shut, never holds his tongue, and never hides his opinion.
With Spike Lee, you either love him or you hate him. You either find beauty in his films or you don’t. There’s not much room for middle ground with him. As he grows older, his movies take on a more poignant feel and something unique appears to be on the horizon. Lee has made most of the movies he’s always wanted to make, or so he says, but he’ll likely never stop being appealing. With Miracle at St. Anna due in October 2008, perhaps a new chapter in his life will be set to film.
Suggested Filmography
- She's Gotta Have It - 1986
- Do the Right Thing – 1989
- Jungle Fever – 1991
- Malcolm X – 1992
- 4 Little Girls – 1997
- Summer of Sam – 1999
- Bamboozled – 2000
- 25th Hour – 2002
- Inside Man – 2006
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts - 2006
Article comments
1 - Dan Schneider
'With Spike Lee, you either love him or you hate him. You either find beauty in his films or you don’t. There’s not much room for middle ground with him.'
Lee is a one dimensional filmmaker w no understanding of narrative nor characterization. He would have been far better as a cinematographer, and let most of the scripting duties fall to competent screenwriters.
And, his direction of actors is not good at all. He coaxes the most facile performances possible- be it actors like Wesley Snipes or John Turturro.
In that sense, he's akin to Steven Spielberg- another filmmaker w a great visual sense, but utterly bankrupt of storytelling powers. Whereas Spielberg goes saccharine, Lee goes moralistic. Either way, w either one, though, the experience after the film is always a disappointment.
So, that's middle ground, and why Spike Lee- save for his status as a black filmmaker, won't be studied in film schools fifty years from now.
2 - bliffle
I agree with Dan. I just reprised "Clockers" last week and while I found it interesting to watch, and thought the Harvey Keitel characterization was interesting, I just couldn't get involved with any of the characters or plots.