Comparisons Of Spike Lee Films

Spike lee, is an American film director, producer, writer and actor. His producer company, 40 acres and a mule filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983. Lee's movies have examined race relations in the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. He has received two academy award nominations. Spike Lee often has an acting role in his movies, such as 'Do the right thing.' 

'Do the right thing' is a 1989 american comedy-drama film, which is produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. The film is two hours long and set in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Mookie (Spike Lee) is the main character in the film. He works in a local pizzeria for Sal (Danny Aiello) with his older son Pino (John Turturro) who intensely dislikes blacks, and does not get along with Mookie. His youngest son however is friends with Mookie. Smiley and Raheem try to get Sals pizzeria shut down because of how they're being treated by Sal and his son Pino. Smiley is trying to get the pizzeria shut down because on the wall of fame it's just white people, and he thinks because it's a neighbourhood with an increasing black population there should be black people on the wall of fame. However, Sal doesn't agree with Smiley. Raheem is also trying to get the pizzeria shut down, this is because he is known as 'radio raheem' and he plays his boombox when he goes into Sals pizzeria. This creates some conflict between them as Sal asks him to turn it off but he refuses. Their protest then leads to Raheems death. The onlookers blame Sal and his sons for the death of Raheem. This then causes Mookie to throw a bin through the pizzeria's window, followed by a crowed of people rushing in and destroying it. It then cuts to the last scene where you are shown Sal (who thinks Mookie broke his trust) and Mookie. Mookie is saying that he thinks he still deserves his weekly pay, Sal eventually gives him his money. The film ends with two quotes, one from Martin Luther King and the other from Malcom X.
Spike Lee wrote the screenplay in two weeks. The film was shot entirely on Stuyvesant Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn. The film was shot over eight weeks, however they made it look like it was filmed in one day. The colour scheme of the film was heavily altered by the production designer, who chose red and orange to connote the sense of the heatwave. The film wasn't made to cause any controversy, however a couple of critics claimed that it would cause riots across America. This statement made by the critics was wrong. It was nominated for an academy award for best original screenplay in 1989. Many people also believed it should have won best picture.

'Chi-Raq' is a 2015 American satirical musical drama film, which is produced and directed by Spike Lee and co-written by Lee and Kevin Willmott. The film is two hours and seven minutes and is set in Chicago. The film focuses on gang violence prevalent in neighbourhoods on the city's south side, particularly in Englewoof neighbourhood. After a child is accidentally killed in a gang shooting, a group of women led by Lysistrata organise against the ongoing violence in Chicago's south side. This film had some controversies, they argued that before the film came out Chicago deaths occurring nightly in local hospitals were used for the purpose of entertainment.

'Do the right thing' and 'Chi-Raq' are both produced, written and produced by spike lee. 'Do the right thing' is a comedic drama whereas, 'Chi-raq' is a musical drama. This means the target audience for both films are different. Both the films are set in America. Both films lead to a cycle of violence 'Do the right thing' leads to violence because of the way Sal is treating them. Whereas, in 'Chi-raq' it leads to violence as a young girl is killed in a gang shooting. Even though the films were released in different years 1989 and 2015 both films also include some sort of protest. In 'Do the right thing' it's when Raheem, Mookie and other characters turn up to Sal's pizzeria and start protesting about how they're being treated. However, in 'Chi-raq' the 'protest' is organised by Lysistrata, who wants the violence to stop, so she wants every women who's involved with a gang member to deny his access to sex, until they agree to stop the violence and put down their guns. Both these films show a romantic relationship, where the women is fed up of how the man is acting. In 'Do the right thing' Mookie's girlfriend is fed up that he is never around anymore. Whereas, in 'Chi-raq' Lysistrata is fed up of how violent her boyfriend is being. 'Do the right thing' had a budget of $6 million and box office $37.3 million. Whereas, 'Chi raq' had a higher budget of $15 million but box office was only $2.7 million. Both films have been best sellers and have been nominated for awards, however 'Do the right thing' has been nominated for a lot more and have won 6 awards, 'Chi-raq' however hasn't won any awards yet, but have been nominated for three. Both these films have included the actor Samuel L. Jackson. Both these films have a affinity for the theatrical, where the have a character centre of the shot.

'Do the right thing' and 'Clockers' have lots of similarities and differences these include: 'Do the right thing' is a comedic drama whereas, 'Clockers' is a crime drama. This connotes that the target audience will be different. Both the films have Spike Lee acting in them, in 'Do the right thing' he plays Mookie, in 'Clockers' he plays Chucky. The films both have the theme of violence in them, this is shown in Do the right thing when the riot starts, it's shown in Clockers when Andre brutally beats Strike. 'Do the right thing' had a budget of $6 million whereas, 'Clockers' had a budget of $25 million this meant that the production of Do the right thing wasn't as good as Clockers. They're different as the violence in both films aren't for the same or similar reasons, in 'Do the right thing' it's because of the way that they're being treated and they want that to change, so the result in violence. Whereas, in 'Clockers' the violence is triggered because Rodney tells Strike that another drug dealer (Darryl) is stealing from him and wants him dead. The films end in very different ways as well 'do the right thing' ends with quotes from famous influences and 'clockers' ends with Strike looking outwards on a moving train. 

All three of these films 'Do the right thing' 'Clockers' and 'Chi-raq' have a recurring theme of violence in them. However, the violence in these films is all triggered by something different. 'Do the right thing' and 'Chi raq' have similar triggers with someone being killed. Spike Lee acts in both 'Do the right thing' and 'Clockers' but however doesn't act in 'Chi-raq.' 'Clockers' and 'Chi-raq' both had very similar budgets whereas, 'Do the right thing' had a very low budget compared to them. In conclusion you can tell Spike Lee has a lot of recurring techniques in all of his films.