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Why watch this film?
"American Utopia" is a documentary that captures the brilliant and timely show that David Byrne recently presented on Broadway, based on his album and tour of the same name. Curiously, the director of the project is Spike Lee, one of the most acclaimed American directors and known for cinematic masterpieces such as "Do The Right Thing". Here, the filmmaker attempts to transform David Byrne's theatrical show into a cinematic experience. In addition to the entertainment of the show, the film addresses important social issues such as the importance of voting, and at one point in the performance pays homage to black people who have been victims or silenced by authorities (including councilwoman Marielle Franco). It is a highly praised film, with constant entertainment and social messages commanded by one of the great names of American activist cinema.
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Plot summary
David Byrne's American Utopia brings the Talking Heads front man's critically acclaimed Broadway show to a one-of-a-kind film directed by Oscar® and Emmy®-winner Spike Lee. Recorded during its late 2019 to early 2020 run at Broadway's Hudson Theatre in New York City, Byrne is joined by an ensemble of 11 musicians, singers, and dancers from around the globe, inviting audiences into a joyous dream world where human connection, self-evolution, and social justice are paramount. The special includes performances of songs from Byrne's 2018 solo album of the same name, in addition to popular Talking Heads favorites such as "Once in a Lifetime" and "Burning Down the House." The musical numbers accompanied with brief monologues allows Byrne to address various sociopolitical topics from police brutality, immigration, climate change to the 2020 presidential election.
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From the same director
Malcolm X
Malcolm X, alongside Martin Luther King and Medgar Evers, was one of the main leaders for the rights of the black population in the United States. Through the Organization for Afro-American Unity, he intensified the racial struggle in the United States and brought purpose to various issues. In this feature film, filmmaker Spike Lee ("Infiltrator in the Klan," "Do the Right Thing") delves into the leader's history over three hours, showing his childhood suffering with his father killed by the Ku Klux Klan, passing through his activism at universities and even reaching his final struggle for the human rights of the black population. With well-defined ideals and proposals, it helps the audience better understand this struggle that has been going on for years.
Clockers
Based on the novel 'Clockers' (from which it took its original title), written by Richard Price -- who co-wrote the screenplay with director Spike Lee, 'Brothers of Blood' is the ninth feature film in the filmmaker's career, already demonstrating a stylistic maturity put to the service of the story. The production is, in short, a film that goes beyond its drug-dealing characters, corrupt or idealistic police officers, to analyze the complex dynamics that exist in the United States between races, law enforcement and marginal communities (usually African Americans), perpetually trapped in inevitable poverty and criminality. It is perhaps one of Lee's strangest films, as it began as a project by Martin Scorsese. However, the director manages to tell an important and urgent story with his particular vision. It was selected for the 1995 Venice Film Festival.
25th Hour
Unexpected and unusual production in Spike Lee's filmography. After all, the feature film, based on David Benioff's homonymous novel, moves away from the typical racial issue flags of his filmography (at least on the surface), although it maintains its hyperactive visual style. You can recognize the filmmaker in the aesthetics, after all. In the plot, meanwhile, there is a poetic story of guilt and acceptance with morally complex characters that allow a demonstration of talent from Edward Norton ('American History X'), Rosario Dawson ('Total Control'), Philip Seymour Hoffman ('Magnolia'), Anna Paquin ('The Piano') and Brian Cox ('Adaptation'). All with powerful performances.
He Got Game
With He Got Game, go to director Spike Lee (Do the Right Thing) in his third collaboration with great Denzel Washington (Malcolm X), now in a more focused melodrama on the relationship between a father and his estranged son (portrayed by professional basketball player Ray Allen). The characters grapple with complex moral issues of integrity and family loyalty, facing a system that plays with the lives of the marginalized – generally the underprivileged – in favor of a few. It may be less belligerent than Lee's previous films, but it still offers a timely social commentary through a well-written and acted drama.
Chi-Raq
Spike Lee's controversial career film that talks about sexuality. However, unlike 'She Wants It All', 'Chi-Raq' does not exactly talk about sexual freedom, but about sexuality as a weapon. After all, the plot - inspired by the Greek play 'Lysistrata' by Aristophanes - tells the story of a violent Chicago that is increasingly normalizing deaths caused by gangs of black men in the region. Determined to change this, the women of the city unite and decide to go on a sex strike and prevent killings in the region by their boyfriends. Thus, although provocative, 'Chi-Raq' became dated even before it reached the screens, since the feminist struggle already longed for a lesser sexualization of their bodies. However, deep down, it is possible to find an interesting and cohesive film, which takes a lot of risk in setting up a script all based on rhymes. Highlight, mainly, for the performances of Samuel L. Jackson ('Captain Marvel'), John Cusack ('2012') and a captivating Teyonah Parris ('Dear White People'), who takes over the movie.
Pass Over
This contemporary reinvention of Samuel Beckett's absolute classic, 'Waiting for Godot' (with echoes of James Baldwin), is a collaboration born as a play written by African-American playwright Antoinette Nwandu in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin, and directed by Danya Taymor. 'Pass Over' is thus a cinematic adaptation not of the play itself, but of its experience as such, filmed during a performance and directed by legendary Spike Lee ('Do the Right Thing') in collaboration with Taymor. The result is not only the translation of what happens on stage into cinematic language (with Lee's recognizable seal), but also contains audience reactions during the development of the play. It is a work that gives an entirely new meaning to the African-American point of view: the absurdity of living on the margins, in the invisible and inevitable prison of systemic racism.
She’s Gotta Have It
Spike Lee often dares to talk about sexuality here and there. This was the case in 'Chi-Raq' (2015) and in 'She’s Gotta Have It', the director's first feature film which, after many years, ended up becoming a Netflix series. In the story, we follow the loves, disappointments and heartbreaks of Nola, a woman who does not want to live just one love story and ends up relating to three men at the same time. Even today, 'She’s Gotta Have It' could still sound provocative. Imagine in 1986, when sexual liberation was taboo. Although with a weak script and some visual exaggerations, the film surprises with its visionary and provocative story, as well as putting the black woman without stereotypes, filters and other things of the kind. It is a raw movie, clearly of very low budget, but which has its historical importance and warns, from an early age, how Lee is an unusual filmmaker, perceiving topics and needs that arise ahead.
4 Little Girls
In 1997, Spike Lee was already one of the most belligerent African-American voices in the cinematic scene, with films like 'Do The Right Thing' and 'Malcolm X'. His first foray into documentary filmmaking was '4 Little Girls'. The film follows a crime, described by Martin Luther King Jr. as "one of the most vicious and tragic ever perpetrated against humanity," committed by members of the Ku Klux Klan amid racial tension during the civil rights movement, marking an important turning point for the enactment of the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act. Despite being a documentary, Lee maintains his characteristic visual style, putting it at the service of the powerful testimonies of the survivors and the families of the victims. In this way, it is possible to feel a justified anger, as well as to condemn racism and honor the memory of four innocent little girls.
Do the Right Thing
Though 'BlacKkKlansman' made the most noise in Spike Lee's career, winning him an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, there is no higher excellence in his filmography than 'Do the Right Thing'. Impeccable from start to finish, the feature is a portrait of everyday life in a peripheral US neighborhood as it should be: a cauldron of various social and ethnic groups that is always ready to explode. As a narrative line, Lee - who also acts as one of the protagonists - directs the tension seen on the streets between the local black community and the owner of a pizzeria. He, after all, lives off these people, but distances himself as much as possible from black culture. On the wall of the establishment, only photos of white people. From this, the city is divided. One group wants to promote a boycott. Another wants to talk. Another wants to leave the pizza owner alone. Thus, in this conflict, one of the most emblematic scenes in cinema history is born. Also noteworthy is Spike Lee's sagacity in the script, which was able to blend with surprising authority the teachings of Martin Luther King (more pacifist and dialoguer between the black community and higher instances) and Malcolm X (who accepted more violent attacks). It is no wonder that it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1990. More than a movie, 'Do the Right Thing' is a lesson in civility and an impeccable social analysis, which remains current even decades later.
Inside Man
Movie that served as an inspiration for the series 'La Casa de Papel', 'Inside Man' shows Spike Lee stepping out of his comfort zone. After all, until then, he was used to telling more intimate stories, more localized ones and with clearer racial flags. Here, however, he reverses this and sets off to direct a traditional thriller. In the plot, a robber (Clive Owen) sets up a perfect plan to rob a bank. Everything is thought out to the smallest details. Thus, when the investigators and detectives arrive at the scene (a brilliant trio, with Denzel Washington, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor), things never go as planned. The hostages are confused with kidnappers, the conversations with the criminals don't get anywhere and the policy keeps going in circles trying to unravel that group. It's exciting, it's thrilling and, above all, well thought out. On top of that, it's worth saying, Spike Lee finds a space to reverberate some of the flags he previously raised about prejudice and racial equality.
Da 5 Bloods
In his work, filmmaker Spike Lee often warns of the structural racism that exists in the United States -- always with a very particular language and a very distinctive filming style. However, the director has also been concerned with combining this message with the re-signification of some important passages in American history. In 'BlacKkKlansman', for example, he put a black man (John David Washington) as the protagonist of his own story while trying to uncover a cell of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, in 'Da 5 Bloods', Lee turns to the dramas of the Vietnam War and shows the importance of black soldiers in the conflict. Although it takes place in another era and another country, the feature film continues to focus on racial issues in the United States and to show how ethnic differences remain shockingly loud in social treatment. All this backed by a powerful war narrative, reminiscent of Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now', which mixes intertwined narratives at the end. Not to mention the excellent soundtrack, with beats to the sound of Marvin Gaye.
BlacKkKlansman
Based on a true story (though with some poetic license, especially in its last act), 'BlacKkKlansman' tells the story of a black police officer (played by John David Washington, son of Denzel Washington) who infiltrated the extreme organization Ku Klux Klan. During actual meetings, he was represented by another white officer, played by Adam Driver ('Star Wars: The Force Awakens'). Although these events happened in the past, the movie resonates with current events, criticizing the US government (and President Donald Trump) - as well as revisiting the origin of the KKK from the movie 'The Birth of a Nation'. The direction is by Spike Lee ('Do the Right Thing'), bringing his signature style, including references to 'Gone With the Wind'.
Musicals
This Is Me…Now: A Love Story
Coinciding with the release of her album of the same name, this narrative-driven odyssey tells the story of Jennifer Lopez's journey to love through her own eyes.
The Archies
Set in 1960s India, Archie and the gang navigate romance, friendship and the future of Riverdale as developers threaten to destroy a beloved park.
An American in Paris
Jerry Mulligan, a struggling American painter in Paris, is "discovered" by an influential heiress with an interest in more than Jerry's art. Jerry in turn falls for Lise, a young French girl already engaged to a cabaret singer. Jerry jokes, sings and dances with his best friend, an acerbic would-be concert pianist, while romantic complications abound.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Part two in French filmmaker Jacques Demy's informal romantic trilogy (begun with Lola), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg continues the director's experimentation with the idea of a full musical, where songs completely take the place of dialogue from start to finish, in combination with naturalistic performances as a counterpoint to an extremely colorful and artificial, almost saccharine production design. For those accustomed to the Hollywood musical formula, this may seem strange, even uncomfortable. However, the effect achieved by Demy is one of profound emotionality and, paradoxically, feels less artificial, perfect for telling this story about the earnestness of a young girl's (Catherine Deneuve) first love who is separated from her beloved boyfriend (Nino Castelnuovo) by his enlistment for war in Algeria, sending their lives on tragically separate paths. Winner of the Cannes Palme d'Or, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg remains one of the most singular musicals in history.
