Director: Spike Lee
Screenplay: Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee, based on the book Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth
Starring: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace
Running Time: 135 minutes
Genre: Crime, thriller, drama
In 1979, Ron Stallworth (Washington) is the first black detective in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Frustrated with his early assignments, and the racism of his colleagues, Ron is inspired when he is sent undercover to investigate a civil rights rally, and becomes close with activist Patrice (Harrier). Ron works out a plan to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan chapter, calling up the leaders, pretending to be a racist white man, and recruiting white Jewish detective Philip Zimmerman (Driver) to pretend to be him in face-to-face meetings.
Based on a true story, this is Spike Lee at his angriest and most powerful. Opening with clips from Gone with the Wind (1948) and the horribly racist The Birth of a Nation (1915), this is a powerful and well-made film with a serious and powerful message about the pervasiveness of racism and how it is bound up in some people's sense of identity. However, this is not a preachy message film, it's an entertaining thriller, exciting, intriguing and often very funny. The film has a lot of contemporary relevance, which is occasionally pushed a little bit too bluntly in the dialogue, considering the film's 1970s setting. Spike Lee is a real visual stylist and, despite, the film's generous run time, it's gripping throughout, and it's well-performed by a talented cast, with John David Washington dominating the screen in the lead role. However, the film doesn't let it's audience off too lightly concluding with heart-breaking images that show how little has changed.
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