HOOD-WINKED
Undercover black cop gains entry into KKK group in Spike Lee’s ‘BlacKkKlansman’
It’s been a long time since one of Spike Lee’s feature films seemed torn from the headlines. But “BlacKkKlansman actually ends with footage from the 2017 demonstration in Charlottesville, Va., that prompted President Trump to declare that there were “fine people on both sides” of that clash between white supremacists and neo-Nazis on one side and anti-racist demonstrators on the other.
“BlacKkKlansman,” which was produced by Jordan Peele and Jason Blum of “Get Out,” is a real-life horror film — with a “Get Out”-like racial angle — and amazing true crime story from the artist who brought us “Do the Right Thing” (1989), “Malcolm X,” “4 Little Girls” and “Inside Man.”
Based on the 2014 book “Black Klansman” by former Colorado Springs police officer Ron Stallworth, the film tells the story of a 1979 undercover investigation into the Colorado Springs branch of the Ku Klux Klan by African-American rookie cop Stallworth (John David Washington of TV’s “Ballers,” the son of frequent Lee collaborator Denzel Washington) and his white partner Philip “Flip” Zimmerman (Adam Driver). Before taking on the Klan, Ron, who sports a large “’fro,” is sent undercover to an event featuring Black Power firebrand and Panther Prime Minister Stokely Carmichael (Corey Hawkins), who talks about African-Americans being shot down in the streets by racist cops.
This is where Ron meets the beautiful student activist Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) and begins an undercover relationship with her. Noticing an ad in a local paper for Klan membership, Ron calls, using a “white voice” (a subject also raised in “Sorry to Bother You”), and rails in graphic, racist language about African-Americans and Jews and gets an offer to meet the group.
To meet face-to-face with the “Invisible Empire,” the police chief (Robert John Burke) sends Ron’s partner Flip, a strapping, dryly funny young man, who just happens to be a Star of David-wearing Jew. Ron eventually even gets to talk on the phone to KKK Grand Wizard and aspir-
ing politician David Duke (Topher Grace, TV's “That '70s Show”).
“BlacKkKlansman” is a real-life “Mod Squad” and a deliberate evocation of the “blaxploitation” films of the “grindhouse” era, complete with a tasty soundtrack featuring regular Terence Blanchard and classics such as “Oh Happy Day” and “Say It Loud — I'm Black and I'm Proud (Parts 1 & 2).”
Like most Lee “joints,” “BlacKkKlansman” uses dark humor to expose just how rooted racism remains in the United States of America. We're not quite back to when photos of lynchings were sold as postcards, but close. With his natural charisma and effortless charm, Washington is a natural. Driver once again makes an Everyman character goofy and yet heroic. You will feel just how close Flip comes to getting caught in his deceit by these killers.
Also in the fine cast of “BlacKkKlansman” are Alec Baldwin, Michael Buscemi, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Nicholas Turturro and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte. Right on. (“BlacKkKlansman” contains profanity, racial epithets, violence and sexual references.)