BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Based on an incredible true story, one of those truth is stranger than fiction deals, BlackKklansman tells the story of an officer named Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) who managed to become a well-regarded and respected member of the Ku Klux Klan, as part of a major undercover operation. That's not so strange in itself. The strange part is, as the title suggests, Stallworth being an African American. Having won people over with his telephone manner, Stallworth gets permission to work with his colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), to create a composite Ron Stallworth. The man himself will continue to have the phone conversations, Zimmerman will act the part of Stallworth in person, at great personal risk. As things start to gather momentum, Stallworth finds out about a major plot being brewed up that might be even more dangerous than the Klan meetings and cross-burnings.

Directed by Spike Lee, who also helped to co-write the script along with three other writers (from the book written by Stallworth - a book I need to buy soon), BlackKklansman is a sensational piece of work. It's both a testament to some incredible, and brave, police work and a damning critique of the state of the world around us today, a world that has not moved on as far as we'd like to think, despite the best efforts of people like Stallworth and Zimmerman. The script has some great lines in almost every scene, and there's a lightness of tone throughout making it easier to enjoy everything in a fairly straightforward manner (more on that later), but it's really that incredible central idea that makes this a riveting watch from start to finish, helped by lively direction from Lee that seems to convey how energised he was while bringing this tale to the cinema screen.

The acting from all involved is super. Washington plays a sharp young man who is confident in himself, no matter how others want to pigeonhole him (be they fellow officers, racist assholes - who are also sometimes fellow officers, or fellow African Americans who view him as an enemy because he's a police officer). He's a hugely charismatic lead, and his mannerisms and ability to move between personas helps to sell the core of the story. Driver, as the other half of his fictional Stallworth creation, is equally brilliant. And, although not relevant to any other part of the film whatsoever, he does one of my favourite evr "slow, surprised, turns" here. There are times when his character seems a bit too smart and confident for the Klan, but that's what makes him a more appealing new member. Laura Harrier is a socially-conscious young woman named Patrice, and she plays her character with passion and wit. It's easy to see why Washington's character is drawn to her, and also why things won't go smoothly as truths eventually have to come out. Topher Grace gives a wonderful turn as David Duke, the (now former) Grand Wizard of the KKK. He's perfectly pleasant and charming and easy to laugh at, and evil in a form that is acceptable to those around him. I've supported Grace for many years, always been a fan of his work, but know that it takes just the right roles to bring out the best in him. This is one of those roles. Elsewhere, Ryan Eggold, Jasper Pääkkönen, and Paul Walter Hauser play the main KKK members who welcome Stallworth into their fold, and Ashlie Atkinson is the wife of Pääkkönen's character, welcoming people into her home with snacks, beverages, and cosy soundbites about how to maintain whites as the superior race. Robert John Burke, Ken Garito, Frederick Weller, and Michael Joseph Buscemi also do great work, portraying a variety of law enforcement officials who either help or hinder the investigation at various times.

But let's get back to that light tone I mentioned earlier. I admit that I was slightly uncomfortable at times while watching BlackKklansman, worried that Lee was minimising the threat, downplaying tension in many scenes that could have really started to have people on the edge of their seat. It was easy to laugh at Klan members, easy to view them as fools that no reasonable people would want to be stuck alongside. And that's another main point that Lee is making, emphasised by everything that happens in the third act. It IS easy to laugh at these people, it IS easy to dismiss them as ignorant idiots looking to blame the wrong people for situations they don't understand, and it IS easy to be bemused by meetings of racist assholes being catered by caring loved ones, discussions of potential acts of racial hatred right beside a full plate of biscuits and a nice cup of tea. We laugh, we ignore, we don't think that anyone else takes notice, and then others DO take notice, some get swept up in the hyperbole and the vitriol, many start to feel that if nobody is taking them to task (because a lot of us are just ignoring them) then they can become more emboldened in their words and deeds, and it builds and builds, until we have "tiki torch" marches in present-day America, we have a media gullibly seduced into thinking that showing a lack of bias also means giving platforms to those who spew their vile hatred whenever they are given the opportunity, and we have peaceful protests marred by violence and death, a fatal backlash from that endangered section of society known as the, ummmm, white male (typically).

BlackKklansman doesn't address every wrong that has, is, and will be perpetuated on black people around the world. Today, off the top of my head, you could look at reports on racial profiling, you could look at the links between various crimes and jail sentences, you could start to count the number of police shootings of African Americans in the USA, and you could go on and on and on. BlackKklansman addresses the complacency that allows all of those wrongs to continue, largely unchecked, and serves as a stark warning that you ignore idiots at your peril. Because idiots can end up being more dangerous than the smarter men who try to stir them up. Why? Because they're idiots. You will rarely convince a smart man to sacrifice himself in an attempt to strike a blow for a cause that is built on nothing more than insecurity, cowardice, and absolute ignorance.

8/10

Here is a link to the main Black Lives Matter page.
Here is a link to the NAACP page.

The disc can be bought here.
Americans can get it here.