BlackKklansman

Reviews from Cannes for this were very positive.
John David Washington (Denzel’s son) plays Ron Stallworth, who along with colleague Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) infiltrated the KKK in the 1970s.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this. It opens here August 24, it’s released in the US on August 10 to coincide with the anniversary of Charlottesville.


https://youtu.be/pFc6I0rgmgY

AMKC

So anyone planning on going to see this movie? It has got very good reviews so far but there is supposed to be a lot of hard to watch scenes in it as well as some comedy. Have also heard it slams Trump which is great. Definitely considering going to watch it and I only found out about it today and it's a decent length too.

wp_rathead

Enjoyed it, definitely recommend it
At times was near a full out comedy, but then wham you'd find yourself in a scene straight from Mississippi Burning
The silence after the end scene in a packed cinema was deafening..

While the end montage of Charlottesville is probably going to be the most talked about moment, for me the most powerful scene was the contrast of the "White Power" chant and the "Black Power" chant when Duke monolgued about what the Klan stood for while watching "Birth of a Nation" and the elderly black activist described lynching of Jesse Washington which was inspired by that film..

Also

I see some people complaining about the scene where they wiretap the Racist Cop and get him fired.
My take on that is it's all fantasy- the scene before with the over the top celebrations made me go "nah", it is what Rod wished happened, and then when the chief came in when the cop got caught, it was all way too farfetched to be believable- almost as farfetched as cops
actually turning eachother in..

Victor

Excellent film. I was going to give it 4 out of 5, but then there are the last two scenes. 5 out of 5.

I really liked it. The whole cast is fantastic. Well worth a watch.

Mr E

Very good movie. During the last few frames, the cinema was so quiet you could hear people swallow uncomfortably.

yabadabado

I read the book a while back and really enjoyed it. Will head to cinema to see soon,good to hear it's getting good reviews.

The Crowman

AMKC wrote: »

So anyone planning on going to see this movie? It has got very good reviews so far but there is supposed to be a lot of hard to watch scenes in it as well as some comedy. Have also heard it slams Trump which is great. Definitely considering going to watch it and I only found out about it today and it's a decent length too.

Isn't it set in the 70's?

nim1bdeh38l2cw

The Crowman wrote: »

Isn't it set in the 70's?

The orangutan was around then too.

The Crowman

The Crowman wrote: »

Isn't it set in the 70's?

The narrative from then matches today’s.

AMKC

The Crowman wrote: »

Isn't it set in the 70's?

Yes it is but I think it makes fun of the current politics in America at the moment too.

Victor

AMKC wrote: »

Yes it is but I think it makes fun of the current politics in America at the moment too.

Because it is the same politics.

Mr E

One of the Klan members mentions making America great again.

Victor

Mr E wrote: »

One of the Klan members mentions making America great again.

Not a new slogan.

AMKC

Victor wrote: »

Not a new slogan.

Was Bush Vice President to Ronald Reagan?

yabadabado

AMKC wrote: »

Was Bush Vice President to Ronald Reagan?

Both terms and succedded him .

AMKC

yabadabado wrote: »

Both terms and succedded him .

That's the way to do it. Must have been a good President. Certainly better than the buffoon that is there now.

johnny_ultimate

Quite dug this, although there was something a tad off about the tone that left me cold at times... basically, don’t think it actually totally landed the comedic side of the material, a few chuckles aside. Worked better as a drama. It’s not a subtle film - as alluded to above, the comparisons to contemporary America are very much worn on its sleeve - but Spike Lee has never dealt in subtlety

Chi-Raq was an interesting and often pretty effective film, but oddly I think Lee (at least after his early classics) is more confident when it feels like he’s adapating someone else’s material rather than going full, hyper-indulgent Spike Lee. This is a good example: despite the racially loaded subject matter that allows it to fit snugly into the man’s filmography, it definitely comes across as material that was brought to the director, and he’s managed to bring just the right amount of his own personality to it. Like Inside Man and 25th Hour, this isn’t necessarily the prototypical Lee joint (even if it is more in tune with his most famous work that those two films) but is actually the better for it.

Surprisingly gorgeous film to look at, with some beautiful 35mm framing suited to the material and time period. Some standout flourishes scattered throughout - the in-awe reaction shots of the crowd during the rally near the beginning; an effortlessly slick and sexy dance scene; a super shot near the end that feels giddily ripped out of a blacksploitation cop film.

Also: I said it when I saw the trailer, but casting Topher Grace as David Duke is totally inspired - there’s something naturally goofy about Grace’s demeanour that shows Duke up as the miserable, ghoulish figure that he is.

Beechwoodspark

Big spike Lee fan here. Was really looking forward to this but it was a bit of a let down. The tone was jarring and seemed to be all over the place.

Playing for laughs one minute then trying to be ultra serious in the next scene. The script went through a lot of redrafts and it shows.

Thought a few ppl were miscast. Adam driver phoned it in.

David duke guy was also poor I felt. And the wife of the kkk guy. Not great.

The lead was good. Denzel Washington’s son I believe?

The guy who played the wackjob KKK man (2nd in command) was very good. Real sense of menace.

It seems it is a heavily fictionalised version of the true story of what happened. There’s a bit of a controversy going on about that online.

The dolly shot -spike’s trademark-stood out a mile and imho didn’t work well.

Music was decent.

Overall a little disappointing considering it was awarded the Palme dor. I’d give it maybe 3/5

heebusjeebus

Tone was all over the place but I really enjoyed it.
Last scene was harrowing too.

Loved the Clay Davis cameo.

Water John

Haven't seen it but the critic in the Irish Examiner gave it 5 stars.

theteal

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

The lead was good. Denzel Washington’s son I believe?

That’s who he is, thank you, I couldn’t quite put my finger on why he was familiar. He’s plays one of the main characters in Ballers.

I’ve not seen this film yet. I was in Ireland last week and the ad campaign for this is fairly relentless

Easy Rod

I enjoyed it and the last scene and the black power/white power scene were incredibly powerful but it just felt a bit ‘off’ at times. Scenes seemed to jump all over the place and didn’t really flow into each other or make sense, especially towards the end with David Duke in town.

homerun_homer

I enjoyed this but didn't think it was quite as amazing a film as reviews have built it up to be. I'd avoided trailers going in, and though I knew it would be funny, I would agree with comments about it tonally being a bit of a mixed bag.

The scenes where the tension is there are quickly released which I found frustrating as they had more potential,

the lie detector scene

for instance.

Spike Lee certainly didn't use subtlety in this, which I found came across a bit like "racism for dummies", or even "comparing Trump & modern politics to the KKK for dummies". That's fine if that is Spike's clear intention, but it was very on the nose, which is maybe what America needs, yet how many Trump voters would bother with this film?

The soundtrack was going great but then the original score kicks in, and it was off and very repetitive. The reverbed guitar solos felt more at home with a bad 80/90s cop movie, where the cop is drowning his sorrows over a bottle of whiskey, or a terribly shot love scene.

I expected a little more from Topher Grace and how David Duke was portrayed as all I'd seen leading up to the film was a bit of his Seth Meyers appearance. He says he prepared for a month, reading his biography, watching all videos of him and getting into a real dark place. That does not come across in the movie. The film screams of there being a longer edit, but this is what we got.

The use of certain visual styles were cool, but then frustrating in their lack of consistency and when they are used. The final pan looks cool, but didn't work for me in between the way the scene led up to it, and what comes after.

The last 'scene' or montage was very effective, and really hits home what was already obvious. I'm not quite sure that it completely works when added right onto the end of the film but it definitely works in leaving you silent as the credits roll.

Victor

homerun_homer wrote: »

Spike Lee certainly didn't use subtlety in this, which I found came across a bit like "racism for dummies", or even "comparing Trump & modern politics to the KKK for dummies".

As I mentioned: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=107890006&postcount=14 the content is not new. The film reflects on the 1860s, the 1910s, the 1970s and the 2010s - the details are different, but the themes are the same.

That's fine if that is Spike's clear intention, but it was very on the nose, which is maybe what America needs, yet how many Trump voters would bother with this film?

I don't think such people are the target audience. I think the targets are victims of bigotry and the middle ground who can be persuaded.

Smegging hell

wp_rathead wrote: »

Also

I see some people complaining about the scene where they wiretap the Racist Cop and get him fired.
My take on that is it's all fantasy- the scene before with the over the top celebrations made me go "nah", it is what Rod wished happened, and then when the chief came in when the cop got caught, it was all way too farfetched to be believable- almost as farfetched as cops
actually turning eachother in..

Enjoyed the film but I found that scene jarring and out of place.

expectationlost

confused by the marketing of this as black man going undercover in the kkk when its adam driver that goes undercover

AMKC

So not long back from seeing this and have to say I thought it was very good. The beginning and the end had me very angry. I did not think there was much humour in it only a small bit. Found it all quite serious mostly. There is a lot of racism in it. I stuck my finger up at the baffoon when he showed him on it. I think even do I had seen them already do that it was the scenes at the end that made me most angry. We should be by things like that now at least in the western world anyway. He makes me angry when we go backwards as a race instead of moving forwards.
It was good to see the cinema was quite full. I was quite surprised by that.There was a good few young people in the cinema too.

JP Liz V1

yabadabado wrote: »

I read the book a while back and really enjoyed it. Will head to cinema to see soon,good to hear it's getting good reviews.

Is this based on a true story

yabadabado

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Is this based on a true story

It is .I've no idea how faithful it is to the book.

mikhail

expectationlost wrote: »

confused by the marketing of this as black man going undercover in the kk when its adam driver that goes undercover

This is fairly generic information, but since the movie is new I'll spoiler tag it.

He makes the initial contact, and continues to speak to them by phone. A white colleague does the face to face meetings.

yabadabado wrote: »

It is .I've no idea how faithful it is to the book.

I've heard it takes a few liberties, but if the man's wikipedia page hasn't been distorted by the movie (it only appeared in May), then the broad strokes are consistent.

Beechwoodspark

yabadabado wrote: »

It is .I've no idea how faithful it is to the book.

In short, It is very different to the actual happenings and is not faithful to the book.

There’s a big controversy going on about it since the film has been released.

Following link goes into it

https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/20/boots-riley-spike-lee-blackkklansman

Easy Rod

Did anyone find the culmination of the main plot a bit all over the place too?

They're at this big meeting with Duke and the KKK guys figure out that there's two cops there. Instead of doing something about it, they play all coy with Flip. Ron then causes a big scene by getting his photo with Duke and everything kicks off and he gets threatened and told to get the f out quickly.

Cut to the next scene and the KKK guys give the wife the bomb IN FRONT OF THE GUY THEY KNOW IS A COP WHO WAS ALSO MEANT TO HAVE JUST BEEN KICKED OUT.

Ron then immediately realises the wife has the bomb and starts chasing her ... but he's still about 10 minutes behind her somehow when she gets to the girlfriend's house

yabadabado

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

In short, It is very different to the actual happenings and is not faithful to the book.

There’s a big controversy going on about it since the film has been released.

Following link goes into it

https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/20/boots-riley-spike-lee-blackkklansman

Cheers for that ,I'll take a look at that once I get to see the film.

PTH2009

Really enjoyed this movie and think it could put a series bid in for an Oscar

Very good story and from seeing it would not like to visit that part of America

callaway92

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it - Maybe it never reached a tension climax for me if that makes sense. Many times you're left waiting and waiting but it never happens.

Favourite scene for me was the dance one. Nicely done

The Klan member they kept focusing on the eye of at the Cross-Burning at the end was hardly Flip I'd assume?

homerun_homer

callaway92 wrote: »

The Klan member they kept focusing on the eye of at the Cross-Burning at the end was hardly Flip I'd assume?

Not a hope.

Collie D

callaway92 wrote: »

Saw this last night and really enjoyed it - Maybe it never reached a tension climax for me if that makes sense. Many times you're left waiting and waiting but it never happens.

Favourite scene for me was the dance one. Nicely done

The Klan member they kept focusing on the eye of at the Cross-Burning at the end was hardly Flip I'd assume?

Just watched this. Very good I thought. Not sure I laughed once though. Will agree that the final montage was quite powerful.

Quoting you because I too was wondering where they were going with that bit in your spoiler.

The Crowman

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

In short, It is very different to the actual happenings and is not faithful to the book.

There’s a big controversy going on about it since the film has been released.

Following link goes into it

https://amp.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/20/boots-riley-spike-lee-blackkklansman

Isn't the Flip Zimmerman character made up?

Sabre0001

callaway92 wrote: »

The Klan member they kept focusing on the eye of at the Cross-Burning at the end was hardly Flip I'd assume?

The Super Smash Bros memes (as a result of the game's trailer rather than linked to this movie) ruined this scene for me!

The Black Oil

This mostly worked, though the tone was a bit choppy, as others have said. It's quite a remarkable story and I had heard the actual Ron Stallworth interviewed by Todd VanDerWerff a while ago. Good cast - Adam Driver and Washington in particular, the former - I almost forgot he was essentially undercover twice - pretending he wasn't a cop and pretending he was the one on the phone. Washington was great on the phone and what can I say, I love rotary phones. I did feel engaged by the KKK characters too. They were human after all and believers. On the downside, I felt it was a little overly satisfied with itself towards the end, for instance the final phone call and the pub scene too. That's quickly dispensed when they bring the viewer back to earth with quite a punch.

restive

I thought this was bland. I kept waiting for it to take of. Disappointing.

lbc2019

Excellent movie- best I’ve seen in a while

is_that_so

lbc2019 wrote: »

Excellent movie- best I’ve seen in a while

A bit uneven for me as Spike has a habit of clumsily loading on the politics but still enjoyable enough. Thought that last segment could have been done as text only.

lbc2019

is_that_so wrote: »

A bit uneven for me as Spike has a habit of clumsily loading on the politics but still enjoyable enough. Thought that last segment could have been done as text only.

Thought it was more striking and real as video

is_that_so

lbc2019 wrote: »

Thought it was more striking and real as video

Yeah, but not part of the actual film's story. It is a thing of his to bluntly wave issues in your face, not always to good cinematic effect.

pixelburp

I think in the environment in which the film was made, Lee was right to draw parallels; there's a not uncommon narrative in America that likes to believe racism is a thing of the past, usually involving waffle about Obama, that kind of thing.

The Charlottesville riots, the murder of that protestor, and the current presidents equivocating over a simple condemnation of white supremacists, was a pretty incendiary moment and Lee made the right decision to highlight that. While it was one thing to watch a darkly comedic film about the KKK, they haven't really gone away.

is_that_so

pixelburp wrote: »

I think in the environment in which the film was made, Lee was right to draw parallels; there's a not uncommon narrative in America that likes to believe racism is a thing of the past, usually involving waffle about Obama, that kind of thing.

The Charlottesville riots, the murder of that protestor, and the current presidents equivocating over a simple condemnation of white supremacists, was a pretty incendiary moment and Lee made the right decision to highlight that. While it was one thing to watch a darkly comedic film about the KKK, they haven't really gone away.

Not really a fan of doing that for the sake of it and was fascinated by the core story. Sometimes films work better IMO when you limit them and make the audience work. If you want to draw parallels make a documentary.

pixelburp

is_that_so wrote: »

Not really a fan of doing that for the sake of it and was fascinated by the core story. Sometimes films work better IMO when you limit them and make the audience work. If you want to draw parallels make a documentary.

Like I said, it was connected to story and IMO worked as a subversive gutpunch at the end, especially as a preemptive retort to those who might suggest such things are in the past. And it was only 30 seconds anyway so wasn't too intrusive all round

is_that_so

pixelburp wrote: »

Like I said, it was connected to story and IMO worked as a subversive gutpunch at the end, especially as a preemptive retort to those who might suggest such things are in the past. And it was only 30 seconds anyway so wasn't too intrusive all round

I didn't think it did and it's an example of what he can't help doing, over-egging the cake. I enjoyed the film but you know there's something he has to get into every film.

yerwanthere123

A very good movie rather than a great one. I loved the dancehall scene with Too Late to Turn Back Now though!

7/10.