‘BlacKkKlansman’ delivers searing social critique, thrills
BlacKkKlansman’ is a movie unlike any I have seen in recent times. Director Spike Lee tells the tale of Ron Stallworth, an African American undercover police officer in 1970s Colorado.
Stallworth makes a number of phone calls to a local Ku Klux Klan recruiter. With the help of another officer, Flip Zimmerman, to stand in as “Ron Stallworth” for in-person Klan meetings, they infiltrate the white supremacist group and extract vital information.
Lee does an outstanding job of highlighting the complex political and societal struggles that our country has gone through and is still going through today.
Lee infuses his themes neatly into what in many ways is a classic potboiler of a plot. One such theme is the impossibility of finding a true balance, both within and without oneself. Throughout the film, Stallworth is confronted not just with the forces of systemic racism but by his uncertainty regarding his own place in the world.
Adam Driver, John David Washington and Laura Harrier are brilliant in their roles. Driver plays Zimmerman and delivers an extraordinary performance, intricately expressing tension and fear in several high-risk scenarios.
Washington, son of two-time Oscar winner Denzel, plays Stallworth. He manages to come across as charming and suave with some of the comedy sprinkled throughout.
Harrier plays Patrice Dumas, president of a student activist group from a local college.
She becomes involved with Stallworth, but is more ideologically pure.
The score by Terence Blanchard adds greatly to the film. It is infectious yet thrilling.
‘BlacKkKlansman’ is one of the best films of 2018. This is the type of film that provokes serious thought. I see myself going back to it several times.