Spike Lee
Do The Right Thing

New York needs no introduction, as we know, it is a vast melting pot teeming with ethnicities and varied humanity, and few like Spike Lee have the insight and experience in narrating its daily events, the internecine racial struggles that have for ages marked the life of this immense and controversial cosmopolitan metropolis.

No one like him has ever depicted the society of African Americans, their marginalization, their desire for redemption, and only he could do it with the right amount of bitterness and rhythm; the first black director to finally have the opportunity. "Do the Right Thing" (1989) is a ruthless film where not only the entire summer day in which it takes place is torrid, but also the dialogues and situations that begin quietly, in an apparent calm and normality, revealing a repressed violence often poorly concealed by the protagonists. A lot of anger, therefore, and a desire to highlight the contradictions of the African American community, always eternally lost in a never-ending battle to preserve their habits and cultural traditions while simultaneously integrating into a typically "white" lifestyle to gain a minimum of consideration and equal opportunity for well-being. But Spike Lee doesn't just describe the community he belongs to, his discourse is much broader and more complete, and in this film, he shows us a world where racial hatred is the order of the day, analyzing it from various viewpoints among different ethnic factions and he does so without indulging in unnecessary sycophancy or cheap moralism, fortunately abstaining from unnecessary and complacent sentimentalism.

The pizzeria of the Italian-American Sal, managed with his sons Pino and Vito, is the headquarters where the entire story unfolds and the film's crucial points develop. The lazy Mookie (played by Spike Lee himself) has the task of delivering pizzas and due to his numerous breaks and his taking advantage of Sal's kindness, he is subject to reproaches and threats of dismissal from the brash and racist Pino who never misses an opportunity to throw in his face the presumed superiority of the Italian and white race. Every reason is valid to argue and quarrel, even over the photos on the walls of the place, all obviously illustrious Italian-Americans like Sinatra or De Niro. In Brooklyn’s black ghettos, in its streets, the lives of curious and psychologically well-defined characters intertwine, like the old man named Zì Peppè, known as "the mayor," a drunkard who lives on small jobs and tips always in search of a bit of attention and affection, or like the DJ of a local radio, whose voice determines the succession of the film's salient episodes. Episodes that prepare the viewer to witness an inevitable explosion of repressed resentments, a desire for redemption and rebellion against any form of repression and provocation. The too loud stereo of a young black client of the pizzeria, not appreciated by Sal, will be the proverbial last straw that triggers the entire story into tragedy. At that point, the inevitable happens, an explosion of violence and anger where everyone, in a sort of hysterical collective frenzy, will bring out the worst in themselves, resulting in a revolt of colossal and dramatic proportions and consequences.

In "Do the Right Thing" Spike Lee reaches his stylistic maturity, his direction is original, dynamic, realistically raw, unadorned, and provocative, and it is no coincidence that he will be unjustly accused by the usual right-minded of inciting further racial hatred. The pace is pounding, incandescent, the soundtrack is appropriate and incisive, composed by Lee’s father, the screenplay lively and straightforward, and the actors a spectacle of skill, including Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ossie Davis. Spike Lee had already demonstrated his talent with works like "She's Gotta Have It," shot in black and white with a ridiculous budget, and this was further confirmation of his preparation and skill.

A must-see film and one to rewatch by a director who has truly experienced hatred, domination, repression, and the street firsthand and on his own skin.