Ok, ok so nobody cares about the world's hungry. I guess that's my bleeding heart cause to whine about. At any rate, the lack of responses to my blog made me unhappy and so I decided to entertain my mind with a vh1 countdown show. The show was about the one hit wonders of the 80's. All was well and good until I saw EU's "Doin the Butt". I saw the cameo apperance from spike lee and the love of my life commented on how he was one of the great directors of our time. This lead to the first stimulating thought I had had all day. Was Spike really that good, or was he just available? I took a look at some of his earlier works and found that the editing and skill of the actors was not all that great, neither were the camera shots and angles. I came to the discovery that from a cinematographic view point the movies were not good at all. However the stories that were created by Mr. Lee were amazing. We all know and love the classics like School Daze and She's Gotta Have it, but was it what we were viewing, or what we were taking in from the story? It seems to me that Spike was not a great director at all, but a positive black man who knew how to run a camera setup. Since he was one of the first and really the only black director at the time, he is considered one of the greatest. Personally I don't buy the greatness of the man, but will admit that he became a good director later on in his career under the guidance of others who showed him how to truly do the job. Below is a clip of a typical "Spike Lee Joint". Look at it from a quality standpoint and judge for yourself. So what say you smart people of the world? Movie making genius, or available negro that took a few radio/tv classes. Discussion begins you intellectuals... let us begin.
(I don't know how to load this clip on the page but here is the link)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lg8Oq_Sd3Bw
I agree that he may not deserve the acclaim of being a great director, but certainly a great filmmaker. i love cinema and have studied film in college and one of the things we discussed about Spike's style was that it was his own and he was one of the leading independent filmmakers of his time regardless of skin tone. His directing style is uniquely untraditional.
ReplyDeleteanyone who is a true cinephile wants to be visually stimulated when watching a movie. i know i do. when watching School Daze or He Got Game, im not visually stimulated but i am thouroughly entertained because of the story and how it was told. That is what makes Spike great. Spike the writer, producer, the activist, is what makes him great. So i wouldn't waste time reviewing his films to critique his camera angles and lighting. being educated while being entertained i believe is his ultimate goal when shooting a film.
-dara