Spike Lee is a legendary filmmaker known for pushing boundaries, speaking his mind, and delivering no-holds-barred political commentary. Enter his latest film “BlacKkKlansman.” Early footage of the film was shown at CinemaCon where audiences were surprised to learn that the tone is apparently closer to a buddy comedy rather than a bracing and intense drama. Our own Gregory Ellwood said that “Lee appears to have shot the film in almost a pseudo comedic ’70s blaxploitation style…The film is clearly poking fun at how idiotic racists like the KKK can be…”
That early chatter from CinemaCon coupled with the official synopsis has skyrocketed our expectations for this film at Cannes.
From visionary director Spike Lee comes the provocative story based on Ron Stallworth’s real life as Colorado Springs’s first African-American police officer who went undercover to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan. Unbelievably, Detective Stallworth (John David Washington) and his partner Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) penetrate the KKK at its highest levels to thwart its attempt to take over the city. Produced by the team behind the Academy-Award® winning “Get Out,” Spike Lee uses his trademark take-no-prisoner style and humor to tell this story often missing from the history books.
Washington knows how relevant and timely this film is to today’s society. He mentioned to EW that “it’s almost like now we can see how far we’ve come, and this film can maybe help us gauge how the progress is coming along in this country. Are we doing any better, are we opening up conversations, can we have people with different opinions still communicate? That’s what I’m hoping for, too, after seeing this film. We’ve got to start somewhere.”
In addition to Washington and Driver, the film stars Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, Corey Hawkins, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Paakkonen, Ryan Eggold, and Ashlie Atkinson.
“BlacKkKlansman” will make its’ world premiere competing for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Those not at Cannes will have a chance to see it starting August 10.
