Monday, February 11, 2013
Fight the Power!
Choose one director we've studied over the past year and a half and discuss his influence on Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. I want you to discuss this in 2 paragraphs. In your third paragraph, I want to hear your reaction to this film, especially the editing. What do you think Lee is trying to say? Do you think he was successful? How did the film make you feel?
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Jean-Luc Godard was a clear influence on Spike Lee in the production of Do The Right Thing. This is clear in many aspects.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect that was influenced by Godard is the editing. Jump cuts are extremely prevalent in the film. As well, some shots are repeated in the film, such as when the trash can is thrown through the window of Sal's pizzeria. As well, an early scene in Sal's pizzeria where close-ups of the photos of the Italian-Americans on the wall are similar to scenes in Godard's films where close-ups of images are utilized to recreate the style of the pop art of the 60s.
As well, the cinematography in the film is heavily influenced by Godard's films. Lee uses very vibrant color schemes in the film, similar to what Godard does with the colors in films such as Pierrot Le Fou. As well, there is a mix of unusual shot types and camera movements. For example, both Do The Right Thing and Godard's films contain scenes that will switch from serene tracking shots into shaky handheld shots. This is done intentionally to create a somewhat jarring effect, and to give the film a feeling of energy.
Personally, I love this film. Even though it is not necessarily my favorite film, I honestly think that if I had to choose one film that everyone (at least in the USA) had to watch, I would choose this. I would do so because I have never seen another film portray urban American life so realistically, and I have never seen another film depict race relations in America so accurately. I love the editing and the cinematography. Both are a big part of what makes this film so fresh and exciting to me. The flashiness and uniqueness of both techniques make this film still seem modern. I believe that Lee was trying to say that it is impossible to truly know what "the right thing" is. As well, I think that he was trying to say that even if one is not a racist, they will end up being affected by racial tensions at some point (seen clearly when Sal starts screaming racial epithets at Radio Raheem, not because he was racist, but because he was angry and under stress). I think that Lee was successful in communicating these messages. Even though misinterpret these messages, I think that it is a testament to how successful Lee was at portraying his messages, as well as the complicated issue of racism, to see how this film is still controversial and widely-discussed today.
The director that first popped into my head when thinking of who influenced Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing, Nicholas Ray was the first that came to mind. This is mostly due to the fact that we just finished watching his films.
ReplyDeleteThere are many parallels between Nicholas Ray and Do The Right Thing. Ray’s movies such as Bigger Than Life and Rebel without a Cause are two films that I found quite shocking to have come out of the fifties, even though neither were as shocking as Do the Right Thing. To start off, Nicholas Ray uses colors and lights very effectively in his films. This is clearly evident throughout Do the Right Thing, because there are colors everywhere. One of the praises of this film is how the colors make you feel the heat. Lighting is also very effective in this film, conveying the characters’ emotions and moods. Nicholas Ray had to tone down his films due to the audience of the time, but if he did not, I feel he would have made a movie very similar to Do the Right Thing. Although the cinematography and editing were more continuous, there are parallels between the two and how these cinematic elements are used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and on-edge. The use of diegetic music is somewhat similar, although I feel that came more from watching Scorsese movies. The part in Bigger Than Life when the father turns on the TV before he attempts to kill his son. The music is very ‘whacky’ and it shows the strangeness of the situation and how the father has become due to the effects of the drugs. Similarly, Radio Raheem carries around his boom-box and constantly plays “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy, which shows his mentality about authority and how he plays by his own rules. Both characters are portrayed powerfully with menacing-looking close ups at times in the film.
The plots of these films are very similar. These films deal with very dark, serious, and everyday matters that do not an easy solution. In Bigger Than Life, do they have the father stop taking the pills and die or take them and stay alive, but behave psychotically? In Rebel without a Cause, the parental issues and issues of adolescence do not just go away. Do the Right Thing, with the most difficult issues, deals with racial stereotypes, violence, pursuit of happiness, providing for family, and so much more. There are times when the message of this film is not entirely clear to me. In all of these films though, the issues are resolved in a matter of seconds, except Do the Right Thing, where things go back to normal and nothing is really resolved. They also do not provide solutions to the problems, but shows them, leaving the audience to think about the issues. This is a reason why these films are so successful, because they leave the audience thinking, which leads to discussion.
I find this film very difficult to watch. There is so much going on in this film that it is difficult to point out who is to blame for the destruction of Sal’s. One could blame Mookie for throwing the trash can, another could blame the police for killing Radio Raheem, another could blame Radio Raheem for not turning down his music, another could blame Sal for busting the boom box or putting up a few pictures of African Americans, so on, so on. It comes down to; it became hard to watch due to all of the stubbornness of the characters. I say this, because these issues in the film could have been avoided if the characters were less stubborn. Every time I watch this film, I keep thinking that the destruction of Sal’s could have been avoided if someone had made a compromise and it upsets me every time I see that the characters are just as stubborn as before.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to editing, and especially cinematography, it draws attention to itself constantly. It is very clear to the audience that they are watching a movie. This is very important, because it gets the audience to think. They realize they are watching a movie and then they think of real life and begin to see that this film is much like their real lives. It makes the audience uncomfortable, because so many points of views are in the film that the audience’s point of view will be shown in the film and they will see themselves from a new perspective. I know I sometimes feel like Pino, judging the people in my neighborhood and thinking I’m better than them. I notice begin to see me as Pino and see myself in a new perspective. When I thought I was above someone, I realize I am their equal and that I just come off as an angry and hateful person. This film makes people think simply by showing regular day life. I feel Spike Lee; much like Ray’s Rebel without a Cause, is a documentation of the time and simply records what he sees. As a result, people are not happy with what they see. I feel that Spike Lee succeeded in this. I feel very uncomfortable watching this film, because I feel like I am seeing more of who I am, in regards to how I treat other people, and I am ashamed of what I find.
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ReplyDeleteIt’s fairly likely that Martin Scorsese had a significant influence on Do the Right Thing. Mean Streets in particular contains many of the same elements: the New York City setting, the meandering structure, the moral ambiguity, the contentious Italian-Americans, etc. One notable device that both directors use is the long take. In Mean Streets Scorsese frequently uses the camera to reframe a shot rather than cutting such as during the fight scene in the bar. Other times he’ll devote the long take to spend an extended amount of time with a single character like with the low-angle shot of Charlie’s as he walks around a party. Lee borrows this method and gives characters long takes during monologues like when Radio Raheem describes the conflict of love and hate and when various characters in one scene name off racist stereotypes. Both directors rarely keep the camera still during long takes and the shot will dolly in and move around the characters. The use of the long take, which wanders the cinematic space freely and never rushes to cut, corresponds with the hedonistic characters of Mean Streets who freely follow wherever their pleasures may take them and get in trouble with no fear of consequence, and the unambitious characters of Do the Right Thing who wander the same block all day long, only given a sense of purpose by anger.
ReplyDeleteLike Scorsese, Lee uses his urban setting to fill his movie with warm colors. Reds and blues are most prominent in Mean Streets, particularly the bar scenes. Lee uses a somewhat more varied palette with pastel reds, blues, yellows, and oranges that are somewhat different from Scorsese’s darker tones. Both uses of color contribute to a sort of “fun,” pleasant atmosphere that is shattered at the end of each film.
I agree that Do the Right Thing makes the viewer feel empathy for the characters. When Buggin’ Out and Radio Raheem enter Sal’s restaurant in the beginning of the riot scene, the camera films them in a long take that causes the viewer to feel increasingly angry as they approach the counter because they are interrupting such a pleasant scene with an attempt to provoke Sal. The camera cuts between everyone else in the restaurant and the viewer is exposed to multiple reactions to the situation. After Saul smashes the radio and the room erupts into a fight, in most shots the camera captures every character simultaneously and does so in fairly long takes. At this point the viewer (at least I do) feels a strong sense of indignant anger that cannot really be directed at any character in the chaos of the room. When the cop kills Radio Raheem, close-ups show both of their faces: the cop has a look of uncontrollable rage and Raheem has a helpless, pathetic look as he suffocates. Very suddenly the viewer’s anger has shifted and he now feels sad for the tragic death of Raheem. When the riot begins and the camera cuts to a long shot of the crowd outside the burning restaurant, the object of the viewer’s anger has changed once again and it is a sort of confused anger because Raheem should not have died but Sal was not responsible for the cop’s brutality. A pan over the pathetic image of the Fragiones makes the viewer feel sympathetic, even for Pino who has throughout the film proven to be such a hateful character. Spike Lee demonstrates what a tricky thing anger is, that it is based in some sort of justification initially but as a force it can continue to carry someone beyond what is reasonable.
One director we’ve studied whose work comes to mind while watching Do the Right Thing is Nicholas Ray. Both directors use unusual cinematography (utilizing canted and extreme camera angles) and lavish, highly-saturated colors to depict the madness inherent in city life. The two directors also share many themes, including the sinister undercurrents of city living and the way resentment and vitriol build in relationships and come out in explosive ways. The characters in Rebel Without A Cause share the same ambiguous morals as those in Do the Right Thing, driven by contradictory urges and desires that make them complex and hard to predict.
ReplyDeleteDo the Right Thing is essentially a Nicholas Ray film for the hip-hop set. Both directors share a passionate empathy with and lurid fascination with their characters: Nic Ray depicts outcasts and drug addicts as both human victims of their surroundings and larger than life, almost cartoony cinematic creations. While the protagonist of Bigger Than Life is clearly a good man driven insane by drug use, the colors and severe lighting portray him as a psychopath out of a b-movie horror flick. Similarly, in Do the Right Thing the character of Radio Raheem is a troubled teen obsessed with finding an identity through the music of Public Enemy and through menacing people; however, the use of extreme camera angles and harsh lighting depict him as a behemoth more animal than man. Ultimately both Spike Lee and Nicholas Ray combine realism and pulpy cinematic flashiness to depict the complexities of human beings.
Do the Right Thing is in my opinion one of the most powerful and even-handed films of all time. Every character in the film is imperfect and ultimately portrayed as complex and well-intentioned products of their surroundings and unexplainable learned impulses. The white police who would be depicted as brutish monsters in a less capable storyteller’s hands are instead depicted with sympathy and nuance. They are not racist, but simply went over the line in their treatment of Radio Raheem. Similarly, Raheem would be strung up as a martyr in the aforementioned clumsy storyteller’s film; here, he is depicted as mistaken in his bullheaded attempts to cause trouble. Spike Lee boldly depicts how everyone is mistaken to some degree - even his heroes Malcolm and Martin - and how everyone contributes to the cycle of misfortune and hate that silently contribute to outbursts of violence. Everyone is to blame in Do the Right Thing, but at the same time everyone is depicted with sympathy, love, and care. I cry every time I see Do the Right Thing, as it depicts characters I love and care for and by the end shows how their follies and weaknesses contribute to the hate at the bottom of human nature. It is a fascinating, funny, beautiful and powerful film.