Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) was hired as the first African-American police officer for the Colorado Springs Police Department in the 1970s. After being promoted to the intelligence unit, Stallworth sets out to infiltrate the Colorado Springs chapter of the Ku Klux Klan through phone calls after seeing a newspaper ad for the terrorist organization. After getting an in with Klan through his phone conversations, Stallworth’s fellow intelligence officer Phillip “Flip” Zimmerman (Adam Driver), becomes the physical face of “Ron Stallworth” as the undercover investigation grows. BlacKkKlansman follows the two officers’ attempt to take down the hate group before it can execute its plans for mayhem.
As buzz for BlacKkKlansman has grown following the announcement of its production and its warm critical reception at the Cannes Film Festival, much has been made about the timeliness of the film and how well its characters and story fit into the current state of American society and politics. This aspect of the film was certainly not overblown as BlacKkKlansman’s relevancy is clear in myriad ways. The first is in the idea of occupying two worlds at once, which both of the two main characters in Ron and Flip confront during their work as undercover officers. This is explained by Ron’s girlfriend Patrice, played by Laura Harrier, when she discusses early 20th century civil rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois’ concept of Double Consciousness. According to Du Bois, Double Consciousness is a phenomenon experienced by black Americans due to their being born in a country to which they wish to belong but where they do not wish to view their African ancestry with contempt as their citizenship demands. This dichotomy leads them to feel as if two separate identities are warring within them; “an American and a Negro.” For Ron, the warring factions within him are his blackness and his job as a police officer. This internal struggle is made clear at the onset as he embarks on an undercover mission to see Kwame Ture, née Stokely Carmichael (Corey Hawkins) speak in front a black student union. As Ture calls upon the young students to rise up in revolution and strike out against the system and the police officers that brutalize black people, Stallworth is obviously caught between the two worlds; at once a black man who is a victim of this system yet one who wishes to make a change by working within the same system. Ron’s conundrum is a common struggle for black Americans who at times feel forced to choose between trying to navigate within the system and culture presented to them and wishing to blow the current structure up entirely. Black people have made tremendous strides in America, increasingly earning seats in corporate offices, degrees in higher education, and even the Presidency of the United States. But amidst these accomplishments, black professionals are often the first to be fired in trying times, the last to be hired on even when competing against white applicants with criminal records, and forced to prove their belonging even from within the oval office. When combined with the seemingly regular occurrence of black people brutalized or killed at the hands of authoritative figures representing the state with little to no justice to follow, the marathon toward equal, humane treatment for black Americans where the finish line seemingly always moves away from you the closer you get, understandably creates conflicting emotions for those like Ron who are forced to run it. The saying goes that no one can serve two masters and this conflict between wanting to love the country to which they belong but wanting to fight it for how it has treated them is a longstanding one which black Americans have been expected to balance since 1865.
Flip, who is half Jewish but non-observant, begins the film blissfully unaware of the conflict his own heritage faces in American society but is forced to face it head on the deeper he gets into the Klan and the closer he becomes with Ron. Flip starts out as a dispassionate participant in the undercover sting against the Klan which perplexes Ron once he learns of his Jewish ancestry. Ron confronts Flip about his flippancy (pun intended), accusing him of passing as white as lighter-skinned black people have been known to do. As he goes deeper undercover, Flip begins to think more of his place in a violently racist country as a person with ancestry that has often been the target of said violent racism. He had never considered his place in all of this before the case, content to allow everyone around him just assume he was white Anglo-Saxon protestant, but now it was all he could think about. Flip’s dilemma and come to Jesus moment is reflective of the place of those whose physical appearance allows them to navigate American society without fully confronting the place that race has in our society. The ability to easily assimilate due to having physical features that don’t garner such an immediate visceral reaction that way that a black person’s would allow some from other groups to remain blissfully unaware of not only the travails of black people, but of their own place in our highly stratified society. For white ethnic groups like Italian-Americans and Irish-Americans, assimilation into whiteness has allowed them to completely forget their former status as non-white. For Jewish-Americans such as Flip, while society has progressed to the point where there can be moments where they are allowed to forget, their own history as outsiders and targets of ethnic and race based ire is not too far behind. Theirs is a trickier version of duality; they can exist for long periods as white or white-adjacent, but in times of great conflict, their minority status can again start be made all too clear.
While the exploration of the permanent relevance of the issues presented in BlacKkKlansman mostly pay off positively, there were times where I wondered if the linkage of the story to the present day by director Spike Lee were too heavy handed. One scene, Sergeant Trapp (Ken Garito) explains to Ron how David Duke (Topher Grace) is seeking to change the image of the Ku Klux Klan to one less poor redneck and white robes, to one more mainstream, clean cut, and political. Sgt. Trapp explains that by getting into politics and masking hate through issues of affirmative action, immigration, and tax reform, he can make hate more palatable to the average person and perhaps one day get a sympathizer into the White House. Stallworth responds that America would never elect someone like David Duke as President of the United States. In another scene, Flip and fellow officer Creek (Michael Buscemi) explain to Ron why they do not rat out racist, abusive Officer Landers (Frederick Weller). Flip explains the police are a family and they look after one another no matter what. Ron replies “That reminds me of another group I know.” Upon initial viewing, these scenes standout as a bit too on the nose and obvious. Audiences should be either trusted, or expected, to come to these conclusions on their own about what these descriptions are reminiscent of without the obvious parallels spelled out for them. However, I changed my mind after seeing the powerful ending montage of real life footage from our present day. The footage of the now infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA served as a stark display of the real life existence and consequences of the hate we had just spent over two hours examining onscreen. Seeing the real life David Duke exalt the Presidency of Donald Trump as a chance to retake America and watching President Trump himself describe the neo-nazis present at the rally as “very fine people” made a strong argument that no parallels drawn between BlacKkKlansman and current events can be made too obvious. The film’s final moments of an In Memoriam for Heather Heyer, who was killed during the rally by a white supremacist, and an image of the U.S. flag turned upside down which signals distress also made our current predicament very clear. In this same vein, the juxtaposition presented by Lee in a scene that simultaneously showed a Klan initiation ceremony presided over by David Duke, and a speech at the black student union recalling the infamous lynching of Jesse Washington by a living witness of the mob murder portrayed by the legendary Harry Belefonte was also very well executed. The contrast both played on the film’s theme of duality and made clear that the philosophy and existence of the Klan has a logical conclusion that represents dire and deadly consequences for those who are the target of their ire.
The cinematography in the film has a very vintage, 70s look and feel. From the opening scene, the grainy, textured style really stood out and added to entire aesthetic from Lee and Director of Photography Chayse Irvin. The decision to go with time appropriate film in addition to the time appropriate wardrobe and music was an excellent decision and really makes BlacKkKlansman that much stronger. John David Washington shines as the lead actor, even convincingly providing a voice change for those viewers familiar with his other work. While Adam Driver is his usual great self as the character that shares the second most screen-time, the film mostly revolves around Washington and he is able to successfully carry the load. Topher Grace also turns in a notable performance as David Duke, able to successfully disappear into a notable role as a recognizable actor. Similar to his memorable turn as the comedic, bumbling accomplice in 2017’s I, Tonya, Paul Walter Hauser plays the comedic relief in this film as the bumbling Klansman Ivanhoe. Despite the similarity between the two roles, Hauser is able to play them differently enough to where I had no idea it was the same actor until after seeing the film. His performance provides some great levity that balances the film and is another quality entry to his resume as a funny character actor.
BlacKkKlansman is a timely film that is powerful when it needs to be yet funny both when appropriate and when the viewer may not always expect it. The film is the latest entry in what has fast become a banner year for wide release black film, joining other notable entries like Black Panther, Blindspotting, and Sorry to Bother You. All these releases touch on different aspects of the black experience; Blindspotting and Sorry to Bother You on our current realities of trying to navigate within a country that purposely makes it hard to do so and Black Panther a fantasy of the heights that those of African descent could reach if unimpeded. BlacKkKlansman fits into the former category, mixing Blindspotting’s serious examination of the effects of racism on its lead character with bits of Sorry to Bother You’s comedic assuaging of the pain this causes. While the film could stand a bit more tension and conflict in its first two acts, BlacKkKlansman is a quality study of the American racism and its effects on the country’s inhabitants. Spike Lee has yet another good film to add to his already lofty resume.
Image: Focus Features
