| Spike Lee, born and
raised in Brooklyn, New York, made his stunning debut into the film world
with
She's Gotta Have It in 1986. Since then, his mostly independent
films have incorporated colorful characters, moody music, and multiple
themes, from racism to love to fidelity.
Lee's films never have just one plot. Critics, as well as Hollywood,
fail to see the beauty or style in his filmmaking because he goes against
the conventional film and challenges the audience to think. Summer
of Sam, one of his best films to date, received mixed reviews because
people were expecting it to be about the Son of Sam killer, when in fact
it was about much more than that.
Filmography and a Quick
Commentary:
In order of artistic ingenuity
Features
Do The Right Thing (1989)
The film that gained Lee praise and got him noticed as an up and coming
independent filmmaker. About the people that inhabit a block in
Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. The hotter it gets, the
more the tension rises. Known for memorable characters like Buggin'
Out, Radio Raheem, Da Mayor, and Sweet Dick Willie. Lee's real sister,
Joie, plays his character Mookie's sister in the film.
Summer
of Sam (1999) Winner of 5 Fidelio Film
Awards
This could have turned out to be
just any old serial killer movie, but not with director Spike Lee.
Lee takes a different turn with his film and concentrates on the city,
the Bronx, and how the tension Berkowitz creates affects the people.
Music stands out as well as the montage sequences.
He Got Game (1998)
Lee has always been a basketball fan, which you can see in some of
his other films like Crooklyn, and this is his tribute. Jesus
Shuttlesworth is a star high school basketball player trying to decide
which college to go to. His father Jake (Denzel Washington) is in
jail and is let out to try and persuade his son to go to Big State.
Examines college basketball recruiting on the surface, with a mystery surrounding
Jesus' mother's death. He Got Game also looks at loyalty and a father/son
relationship. Stars the young Rosario Dawson, also seen in Lee's
2002 film 25th Hour.
Get On the Bus (1996)
On the surface, this is about the journey to the Million Man March,
but really it's about the characters that fill the bus, their lives, their
discussions on the black man's place in society. What's interesting
is Lee touches on not only racism, but sexism, homosexuality, and death.
Bamboozled
(2000)
Winner of 2 Fidelio Film Awards
A dark satire of how the TV industry is run by white executives who
make African Americans out to be buffoons on TV. He shot in digital
which gives it a hazy real quality. This of course will throw off
the average movie-goer, but it adds to the film. It’s about the TV
industry, so why not make it look like TV. One of Lee's most in-your-face
films that really makes you think.
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Lee's tribute to jazz that touches on the themes of friendship, loyalty,
talent, and love. Lee's sister Joie, also seen in Do the Right
Thing, plays one of Denzel Washington's love interests.
Malcolm X (1992)
Crooklyn (1994)
After a line of serious films, Lee made this semi-autobiographical
family drama-comedy about growing up in Brooklyn back in the 70's.
25th
Hour (2002)
"A story of friendship, trust, betrayal and redemption. . . . Richly
textured . . .takes a deep look into the life of a street criminal."
Great performances by Edward Norton and Rosario Dawson.
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Jungle Fever (1991)
Clockers (1995)
School Daze (1988)
Girl 6 (1996)
4 Little Girls (1997)
Documentary about the 1963 bombing of an African American church in
Birmingham during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Four little
girls were killed and this is their story. Consists of different
people's memories of the event, including celebrities.
*The Original Kings of Comedy (2000)
Film School Projects
*The Answer (1980)
*Sarah (1981)
*Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983)
*Haven't Seen
Upcoming Films
Save Us Joe Louis (TBA)
This movie will focus on the long rivalry between boxers the USA's
Joe Louis and Germany's Max Schmeling, starting with their first fight
in 1936. Louis loses that bout, but gets a rematch in 1938 that is promoted,
as the threat of World War II loomed, as symbolic of the coming conflict
between the two countries.
Adolph Hitler was personally interested in seeing Joe Louis defeated
to show German superiority over African-Americans after Jesse Owens was
so triumphant at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Though this movie is being
called the Joe Louis project, it will also show how the facts of Schmeling's
personal life conflicted with the slant that Nazi propaganda put on him
(far from a Nazi, he had many Jewish friends).
After the 1938 bout, the film will show what happened to Louis and Schmeling
in its aftermath. One would become bogged down in tax problems, drug abuse,
and poverty, ending up at Vegas, and the other would be shunned by the
homeland that once loved him.
Danny Glover and Samuel L. Jackson are in talks to play Joe Louis; Maximilian
Schell is in talks to play the older Max Schmeling.
Was originally called The War to Come
Ten Minutes Older (2002)
This project involves 15 famous directors contributing 10-minute shorts
revolving around the common theme of "time", however they want. The directors
announced so far are (those listed as "in talks" were mentioned in earlier
reports, but may no longer be involved):
Bernardo Bertolucci (1900, The Last Emperor)
Mike Figgis (Timecode, Leaving Las Vegas)
Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Alphaville, Éloge de L'Amour)
Jim Jarmusch (Dead Man, Stranger than Paradise)
Chen Kaige (in talks) (The Emperor & the Assassin, Farewell
My Concubine)
Aki Kaurismäki (Juha, Drifting Clouds)
Spike Lee (Summer of Sam, Do the Right Thing)
David Lynch (in talks) (Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man)
Chris Marker (in talks) (Sans Soleil, La Jetée)
Jirí Menzel (My Sweet Little Village, Closely Watched Trains)
Nicolas Roeg (in talks) (Walkabout, The Witches)
Wim Wenders (The End of Violence, Wings of Desire)
Upcoming Films info from: http://www.upcomingmovies.com |
