Film Of The Week

In an effort to maintain a steady pace of writing, I am imposing on myself a column known as Film Of The Week. In this column I will write about the movie I loved most or felt was most important of that week. Since it is Tuesday I will be starting with a movie from last week and then I'll post a new one this Friday and every Friday thereafter. I doubt anyone will ever read this but, what the hell?

In this, the maiden voyage of this new column, I'll be talking about the Spike Lee film Bamboozled (2000). Years ago, before my love for film blossomed and became an obsession, I knew little of Spike Lee. I knew his reputation: a racially oriented filmmaker, adored by many, hated by just as many. A mainstay at Knicks games. It wasn't until I bought a Spike Lee movie collection for only $15. After watching these films, I really liked Spike. He's not afraid of being personal. His films are recognizable as 'Spike Lee' films, using rarely seen camera angles and a love for color. My only problem was that I always felt that he was yelling at me. He's never willing to compromise: these movies don't meet you halfway. This is cinema at gunpoint. I took offense to this; I'm here for a conversation, not a lecture. All this until Bamboozled.

Bamboozled's strength is in its subtlety. The movie is about a television writer, Damon Wayans, who creates a minstrel show for his network. After years of writing shows that don't pander to the negative stereotypes of race, Wayans' producer pushes him to writing something stereotypically black. In an effort to stick it to his boss and also get himself fired, he creates a minstrel show for the new millenium. The show takes place on a plantation and is hosted by tap dancing Man-tan (played by Savion Glover) and the joke cracking Sleep-n-eat (played by Tommy Davidson). Unfortunately, the show is not only loved by the wanna-be-black producer (played by Michael Rappaport) but is a huge success. Blackface becomes the new trend, in line with beanie babies and Pokemon. There are those who don't approve, such as Al Sharpton and Johnny Cochran and an underground group concerned with the state of blacks in America headed by none other than the Mighty Mos Def.

I'd also like to note that the movie was filmed with digital camcorders as opposed to film. At first it is jarring and uncomfortable, but as the movie progressed the style grew on me. The choice of camcorders allowed for Lee to have many cameras which lead to many angles that most movies are not shot from. The camcorders also brought a dramatized style to the story, like those dramatizations on Unsolved Mysteries. The dramatized cinematography adds to the satire in its seeming separation from reality. The film doesn't seem real in its own context, but rather a series of exaggerated events meant to provoke the viewer.

If perhaps my analysis of the film is poor, I say to you, Go See It! This is a great movie that says more about race and race relations and what the legacy of racism is in this country than any documentary you're likely to see. The best part of the movie: not knowing whether I should laugh at the minstrel show, because it was funny.