Cineuropa's preview of next Thursday's Cannes Film Festival announcement “(A New Phase For Cannes?“) has all the usual suspects, but adds an interesting American film at the forefront of possible competition titles: Spike Lee's "Black Klansman." A serious possibility is what the magazine is implying are Lee's chances of walking down the red steps of la croisette. Who'da thunk it?
“Black Klansman” is based on on Ron Stallworth’s 2014 novel “Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime.” which was inspired by the true story of a police officer that went undercover within the Klan.
I love Lee's work between 1989-2005. The filmmaker was on a roll with such "joints" as "Do The Right Thing," "Malcom X," "Jungle Fever," "Summer of Sam," "He Got Game," "Bamboozled," "The 25th Hour," and "Inside Man." Not to mention all the great docs he released in between those.
Something happened after that, mediocrity settled in, what else would you call "She Hate Me," "Miracle at St. Anna," "Red Hook Summer," "Oldboy," and "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus." 2015's "Chiraq" was seen as a sort of comeback but I didn't really buy its faux authenticity and the fact that the characters' dialogue was delivered by way of freestyled hip-hop.
Nevertheless, if Cannes head Thierry Fremaux and his committee think Lee's latest film is worthy of competition then there must be something there. A Spike Lee comeback is more than welcome in my books.
I'll have my full preview of 25 titles most likely appearing at Cannes next week.