BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Directed by: Spike Lee | 135 minutes | biography, comedy | Actors: John David Washington, Adam Driver, Alec Baldwin, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Robert John Burke, Brian Tarantina, Arthur J. Nascarella, Ken Garito, Frederick Weller, Michael Buscemi, Damaris Lewis, Ato Blankson- Wood, Corey Hawkins, Dared Wright, Faron Salisbury, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen

Films often, consciously or unconsciously, are a reflection of the zeitgeist. The chaotic and polarizing Trump era therefore seems to be slowly but surely coming to fruition in recent American film offerings. For example, films like ‘Lean on Pete’ and ‘The Rider’ were penetrating glimpses into the ‘forgotten America’, and Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Post’ was an urgent warning against dealing with the media. With racial tensions escalating again (with the so-called low point being the violent confrontation between the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and the Ku Klux Klan in Charlottesville), it was time to wait for a director to dive into this hole. And who better suited for this than Spike Lee?

Why not try to change the system from within instead of going up the barricades? When Ron Stallworth (a strong John David Washington) sees a call asking for black applicants, he decides to report to the local police force. In an impulsive mood, he decides to contact the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan. On the phone he confirms everything the Klan members (who don’t realize they have to do with a black man) want to hear: he hates Jews, immigrants, but above all blacks. When invited to meet, he asks his colleague Flip (a very successful role by Adam Driver) to pose as Ron, after which the two embark on a dangerous and uncontrolled undercover mission within the Klan.

It is not surprising that Spike Lee saw in Stallworth’s memoir material to make a film about racial tensions in the 1970s, in which the parallels with the present are inescapable. It already manifests itself in a rather brilliant opening scene, in which a xenophobic man lists all the reasons why black citizens are inferior. It is of course no coincidence that this figure is played by Alec Baldwin, whose Trump impersonation in ‘Saturday Night Live’ now seems almost less of a parody than the president himself. ‘BlackKklansman’ breathes in every fiber the Trump zeitgeist of paranoia towards strangers. The film therefore fits in the same row as ‘Get Out’, and it was not for nothing that it was ‘Get Out’ director Jordan Peele who brought Lee the story of Stallworth into view.

Lee offers enough space to laugh in ‘BlackKklansman’, although the humor here also functions as a painful mirror for the viewer. We can laugh at the gullible KKK leader David Duke or the disastrously simplistic prejudices of the Klan members; The fact is that this ideology is still very much alive and in a terrifying revival under Trump. ‘BlackKklansman’ is therefore an inky satire with a grim undertone; the incompetence of the Klan members is laughable, yet terrifying at the same time. For example, you can defend the statement that Klan member Felix (Jasper Pääkkönen) and his wife are very simplistic and caricatured, but on the other hand you can wonder whether these kinds of characters need more depth at all. At a time when frantic efforts are being made to understand the Trump voter, Lee leaves few questions: figures with these ideas may not be worthy of being more than a caricature.

Also interesting are the parallels that Lee draws between white and black activism, with an illustrative example of a montage in which an initiation ritual of the Klan (including the screening of ‘Birth of a Nation’) is alternated with a monologue by an equal rights icon. Lee is not afraid to consider other moral issues: for example, is it justified to shoot racist cops if necessary, or are black activists guilty of the same kind of faulty thought pattern? This doubt is united nicely in Ron Stallworth: on the one hand fighting for change from within, on the other hand confronted with the far-reaching activism of his girlfriend Patrice (Laura Harrier). Precisely because of Lee’s choice to also expose the flaws of the black activists, the director does not fall into simple moralism.

However, Lee’s message is best expressed in the closing piece. While the story apparently ends less grimly than expected, this is only apparent. In one of the last scenes, try not to draw a parallel between the local police chief’s response and Trump’s response to the Charlottesville riots. In his conclusion, Lee is crystal clear: danger is still lurking and has not lost any of its strength. The fact that current reality is thus more grim than fiction reinforces his message.

Spike Lee delivers his best work in years with ‘BlackKlansman’. The film includes a diverse palette of tones, and Lee manages to connect these almost seamlessly: the film works as a thriller and comedy, but above all as a frightening topical satire. ‘BlackKklansman’ is in every respect a parable about the present time and gives little hope about the near future. A film that more than once manages to generate a painful laugh, but in which it is the ever-present threat that lasts.