Anthony's Film Review - BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Spike Lee has directed what is perhaps his most daring film about racism yet...

When I first heard of the movie BlacKkKlansman and learned about its premise, about an African-American police officer successfully infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan while undercover, I assumed this was the plot of an outrageous satirical comedy about racism, and I thought it was a bold effort to even make such a movie. But then I immediately discovered something else: it's also based on a true story. That's when I really felt surprised. How is it even possible for a black man to infiltrate the KKK? Naturally, there is great curiosity with this kind of setup, and that led me to check it out.

At the same time, another thing drew me in. BlacKkKlansman was directed and partly written by Spike Lee. This is a filmmaker who has plenty of movie credits, but his best-known ones are those related to race relations. The films Do the Right Thing from 1989 and Malcolm X from 1992 immediately come to mind. If you have seen either or both of those movies, you can tell that Spike Lee is a director who holds nothing back when portraying racial prejudice. Also, he reminds us with Do the Right Thing that racism is not a one-way street. It's not perpetrated by only one racial group against one specific targeted race. Anyone of any race can hold racist views of anyone else of any race. If you think all of that stuff about Spike Lee sounds great, just wait until you see how he handles the material in BlacKkKlansman.

The plot of this film centers on a black man in 1970s Colorado named Ron Stallworth (played by John David Washington, who is one of actor Denzel Washington's sons). He joins the Colorado Springs Police Department even as he is warned that African-Americans like him will likely face racial prejudice while on the force. At first, Ron doesn't see much action, because his first job is being the clerk of the department's records room. But after a few shifts between divisions, he gets to be a detective. And believe it or not, the big job he gets doesn't come from any superior officer. Rather, it comes from one of his own actions, one that seems quite small at first.

Ron is in the squad room when he opens the day's newspaper and unexpectedly comes across an ad for joining the Ku Klux Klan. It is not entirely clear what he is feeling and thinking at the moment, other than curiosity. Whatever the motivation is, he picks up the phone, calls the number, and asks to join the KKK. Doing this is surprising enough. To have the man on the other end of the line actually arrange a face-to-face meeting, without knowing he's talking to a black man, is even more surprising. As a result, Ron now leads an undercover investigation into the local KKK chapter, with him maintaining phone contact with the KKK and Flip Zimmerman (played by Adam Driver), a fellow white cop with a similar enough voice, being the in-person Ron Stallworth who has to meet with the KKK and get himself deep into their activities.

This is where I shall talk about how the KKK is portrayed here. It can be best described as frighteningly realistic. The white supremacist characters here are downright ignorant, hateful, and scary. They may want to live in peace and have a good time, but their ideas related to eliminating non-white people put them on the fringes of society. They are not the kind of individuals whom a sane, rational, and moral person would want to be in the same room with. Because of how these characters are vividly presented, I give much credit to the actors playing them, who I am sure are not racists in real life and who I consider brave to take on such roles. Furthermore, Spike Lee is just as courageous in being a black film director who is still able to handle this difficult material and present it in the brutally honest manner he is known for.

The KKK is not the only race-based organization portrayed here. There is also the local Black Student Union, comprising African-American college students who want to see equal and fair treatment for blacks, and certainly an end to their oppression in the hands of white people. This is where Spike Lee once again reminds us that racism isn't a one-way street. A notable scene in the beginning of the movie features a speech by a civil rights activist who was once a member of the Black Panthers. The speech is a passionate rallying cry for people to stand up to the oppression instead of ignoring it. Even if the people here feel like the victims, there is still the concerning possibility of becoming the monsters they despise. While this is happening, Ron Stallworth is an audience member supposedly interested in the cause, but is actually undercover per the police chief's orders. Ron stays close to the group by dating the student union president Patrice (played by Laura Harrier).

So what you have here in this movie is a presentation of two sides of a racial conflict, each with their own grievances against the other. The story is told very well, because there is a sense of growing tension as it progresses toward a suspenseful climax. There are two concerns that the audience will feel: concern that a race war will break out, and concern that the undercover investigation of the KKK will be jeopardized. For this reason, you will definitely like the late scene in the movie that switches back and forth between a KKK meeting and a BSU meeting, because their similarities and differences are highlighted well, especially as certain parts of one meeting are timed closely with certain parts of the other.

If you've ever watched Spike Lee's film Malcolm X, you will recall that the story took place in the mid-20th century, but the film still included footage from the police beating of Rodney King in the early 1990s. He did this to highlight the relevance of past race issues to the present day. Now he has done it again in BlacKkKlansman, this time having the end of the story transition to footage of white supremacists marching in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, which is followed by raw hard-to-watch footage of violence between the white supremacists and counterprotesters. Not surprisingly, the film shows the worst part of the violence, with a man driving a car straight into the crowd of counterprotesters, followed by President Donald Trump's comments that avoid condemning white supremacy and the reminder that the violence killed Heather Heyer, who had died while standing up to hate. All I can say is that Spike Lee's effort to get people riled up about racism is incredibly effective here.

While BlacKkKlansman is primarily a drama, there are still moments of goodhearted comedy to lighten things up a bit. It's mainly in the scenes where Ron is on the phone with a Klansman, whether it's the president of the local Colorado chapter or the Grand Wizard himself, David Duke (played well by Topher Grace). One cannot help but laugh as Ron manages to keep tricking the KKK into thinking Ron Stallworth is a genuine white supremacist. Some scenes are funnier because a fellow cop is in the same room and trying real hard to stifle his laughter. Basically, it's like watching a well-executed prank call that dupes the victims over a prolonged period. So underneath the serious drama, there's also a bit of satire about the absurdities of racist thinking.

With all of this, I was blown away. BlacKkKlansman is an incredibly powerful film that is simultaneously serious and funny, as well as a great film based on a true story. Now I find myself more curious about the real Ron Stallworth and what he really went through, so maybe I'll check out the book this film is based on. As for Spike Lee, what can I say? His direction and storytelling are so essential in making this film work so well. Of course, give the whole cast a lot of credit, too. So on my 1-to-10 rating scale, this film is definitely a 10. It's an unforgettable Spike Lee joint.

Anthony's Rating:

For more information about BlacKkKlansman, visit the Internet Movie Database.