Screenplay Written by James McBride & Spike Lee
Directed by Spike Lee
*** (three stars)
It is a tremendously sad state of cinematic affairs when a filmmaker of the legend, stature and artistic excellence as Spike Lee continuously and increasingly has difficulty getting a movie made in the 21st century.
Yes, by Thanksgiving, Spike Lee will be releasing his controversial remake of the violent thriller and award winning South Korean film "Oldboy" but that film will be his first major studio release since the well intentioned but muddled and sluggish World War II drama "Miracle At St. Anna" (2008), and frankly, it feels as if this future release is only possible because it is indeed a genre film and nothing like the very personal films that placed his name upon the cinematic map as a creative force to be reckoned with. But, by hook or by crook, Lee has continued to remain as prolific and as challenging (to audiences and himself) as ever, always finding ways to gets films made and released...BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
His latest film, "Red Hook Summer," his first narrative feature since "Miracle At St. Anna," is an audacious return to the guerrilla style filmmaking he pioneered at the start of his career with the groundbreaking "She's Gotta Have It" (1986), as it is a self-financed venture with an 18 day filming schedule that ended up garnering the tiniest of film distribution, making it the second Spike Lee "joint" (after the extraordinary 2008 document "Passing Strange") I was unable to see in a movie theater. Just that factoid is simply depressing to me because if we have reached an era when films about people are in less and less supply and demand, then films about contemporary African-Americans will most certainly be even less so. But, in that way that my man Spike perseveres, the film was indeed made, released and is now currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray formats. I purchased the film this past Winter and due to the thematic subject matter, I felt that NOW, at the end of the Summer, was the time to finally view the finished work, which I have viewed twice over the past week. While not as triumphant as much of Lee's output,."Red Hook Summer" is a sincere, urgent, layered and complex tone poem of a film that despite its flaws, kind of sneaks up on you.
In the latest installment in what Spike Lee has now coined his "Chronicles Of Brooklyn" series, a collection of films that have included "She's Gotta Have It," "Crooklyn" (1994), "Clockers" (1995), "He Got Game" (1997), and of course, the untouchable "Do The Right Thing" (1989), "Red Hook Summer" details the transformative experience of 13-year-old Silas "Flik" Royale (played by Jules Brown), a spoiled, Middle class teenager from the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, forced by his Mother to spend the Summer with his Grandfather, Da Good Bishop Enoch Rouse (the great Clarke Peters), a fiery Baptist preacher of the Li'l Peace Of Heaven church, located near the projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn.
The relationship between Flik (a self-given nickname because of his strict attachment to his iPad2) and Enoch grows increasingly volatile and strained due to the preacher's extreme determination to convert Flik to the ways and teaching of Jesus Christ via relentless sermons at home and at church and also through working in the church basement with the belligerent Deacon Zee (Lee's regular Thomas Jefferson Byrd), a boisterous alcoholic.
Flik's "vacation" begins to see a new light once he meets fellow 13-year-old Chazz Morningstar (played by Toni Lysaith), a brash, loud, asthmatic, fast talking, fast moving girl from the projects and the two begin to formulate their friendship and bond while spending seemingly aimless days and nights wandering through Red Hook, sharing their hopes, concerns, fears for their respective lives and futures.
For "Red Hook Summer," believe it or not, Spike Lee, working again in collaboration with Author James McBride after "Miracle At St. Anna," has cited none other than Director Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me" (1986) as a personal favorite within the genre of films about teenagers and their formative and transformative years and has even utilized that film as a reference point. "Red Hook Summer" serves up a (mostly) child's eye view of the world, is simultaneously nostalgic and up to the minute, and carries a somber weightiness throughout via the merging of seemingly crisp yet saturated digital and Super 8 cinematograpy by Hye Mee Na, the film's evocative score by none other than Bruce Hornsby as well as a collection of songs by Judith Hill, and a meandering tone that fully emulates those Summer days that feel to stretch into infinity. As Flik and Chazz aimlessly wander and play, writing their names in cement and chasing each other with over-sized dead rats found in the church basement, the film often made me think of Stevie Wonder's masterful song, "Village Ghetto Land" as "Red Hook Summer" presents matter-of-fact vignettes of childhood in the 21st century housing projects.
Lee also enjoys utilizing a "Saliner-esque" quality with his body of work as "Red Hook Summer" shares cameo character appearances from a few of his previous films. A police detective from both "25th Hour" (2002) and "She Hate Me" (2004) played by Isiah Whitlock Jr. (the man who utters the classic expletive, "Sheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!") returns for a crucial scene. Even Mookie (played by Lee himself) from "Do The Right Thing" stops by, still delivering pizzas for Sal's Famous. Eagle eyes should keep their peepers out for the return of Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns), the main protagonist from "She's Gotta Have It," now seen in a startling new phase of her life.
In addition to witnessing past characters pepper a new story, "Red Hook Summer" shares serious thematic connective tissue to past films. Certainly, Lee utilizes the Summer season to channel a level of emotional intensity, revelations and explosive confrontations just as he performed with both "Do The Right Thing" and "Summer Of Sam" (1999). Even further, and more importantly, the film carries strong links with both "Crooklyn" and "Clockers." Yes, the plot point of Flik's physical journey from the South to the North is a reverse of a sequence from "Crooklyn" where young Troy (played with a natural inquisitive soulfulness by Zelda Harris) is sent from New York to visit her Southern relatives. But "Red Hook Summer" as a whole is a complete extension of both "Crooklyn" and "Clockers" as this film almost serves as Spike Lee's "State Of The Union" address as he brings us another portrait of the New York African-American neighborhood through themes of gentrification, alcoholism, the never ending presence of playground drug dealers (including one played beautifully by Nate Parker), child asthmatics and the grim child mortality rate in the housing projects, extreme economic disparity and class struggles within the African-American community.
The largest theme within "Red Hook Summer" is easily Lee's exploration of the slow disintegration of the Black church, as well as how new generations are not only openly questioning and challenging the notion of God but decidedly walking away from God altogether. Flik's agnostic and borderline atheist viewpoints stems from his own personal tragedies and the hypocrisy of what he sees around him and yet he is confronted with his preacher Grandfather Enoch which redefines "formidable" over and again, especially through three extended sermon sequences that Clarke Peters performs with voluminous energy and emotion.
The character of Deacon Zee, while utilizes primarily for comedic stretches, illustrates painfully how the church has undoubtedly failed one of its own leaders as Zee is drowning in self-inflicted alcohol abuse, bottomless rage against his own community and quite possibly the loss of (or the lack of access to) what may have been his real calling in life...the world of finance, as depicted through his rants about the economy and his daily reviews of the Wall Street Journal.
Most striking was one of the film's very best sequences which involves a heart to heart conversation between Enoch and Chazz's Mother, Sister Sharon Morningstar (played by Heather Simms), two individuals sharing a slow flirtation and discussing the very nature of faith itself and whether faith without action is meaningless. Aside from the candid nature of the dialogue, which was boldly refreshing to hear, Spike Lee offered up the visual acknowledgment of a societal demographic that is essentially NEVER seen in a motion picture, mainstream or independent--two contemporary middle-aged to elderly African-Americans sharing their viewpoints about the world in which they live.
Clarke Peters, who you may know from David Simon and HBO television's "The Corner," "The Wire" and "Treme" gives a powerhouse of a performance that ranges from demonstrative, hilarious, tender, forgiving, regretful, redemptive, enraging, monstrous, infuriating and glorious.It is the embodiment of a three dimensional piece of work detailing a three dimensional human being. A man who has established himself as a cornerstone (albeit a struggling one) of the community, so much so that even the neighborhood drug dealers allow him to pass unscathed. This quality is extremely crucial as the film does indeed make an extremely controversial tonal shift late in the proceedings, which is supremely jarring and alters everything we have seen previously. Of course, I will go into no further details but reviews did criticize Lee for including an element so seismic in a fashion that was perceived to be so random. Remember, I have seen "Red Hook Summer" twice over the past week and it was during the second viewing where I could see how slyly Lee had laid the groundwork from the very start and also illustrates how Spike Lee is truly one of the most fair minded filmmakers working today, a virtue he has never received nearly enough credit for having.
And so, with all of this praise, I have given the film a somewhat soft three star rating. As I have expressed in the past, star ratings are very arbitrary and at times, they are even meaningless. But with the level of greatness Spike Lee has produced over and over and over again, "Red Hook Summer" simply does not stand as tall at his most incendiary works. First of all, the screenplay by Lee and McBride could have used perhaps one of two more spins through the proverbial typewriter. Yes, I did appreciate the meandering tone of the film overall, but for stretches, it seemed to meander more to its detriment than its success. The film begins abruptly, ends just as abruptly and for a spell, you do have to wonder just what the point of it all was as it never really builds and ultimately feels somewhat anti-climactic, unlike most of Lee's oeuvre.
Most crucially are the performances of the two young leads by both Jules Brown and Toni Lysaith. With respect to both youngsters, I just did not feel that either of them were compelling enough actors to carry precisely what needs to be carried, individually and together, especially as their bond is designed to be the film's centerpiece and core. While Brown fares a bit better in his scenes with Clarke Peters, both Brown and Lysaith especially are obviously struggling when left on their own to carry scenes and dialogue of great complexity and depth. Sadly, both of them are truly out of their elements and while there is a certain charm to seeing young actors who are remarkably untrained and raw, Spike Lee indeed does have a story to tell with certain notes to hit and unfortunately, neither of these two children are up to the task, thus bringing the film down considerably.
But for fans of Spike Lee or fans of cinema that does not adhere to the formulaic rules that have plagued Hollywood and independent features for far too long, Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer" is a film worthy of seeking out and viewing. Not every film can be a masterpiece but how often is it that you get to witness a master filmmaker like Spike Lee at work? We should be thankful for having him and our gratitude can be expressed just by watching something he has created with such purity, skill, passion and heart....the very qualities far too many filmmakers have long ceased to hold dear and to much greater notoriety and box office success.
Spike Lee deserves better. MUCH better.
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