Matthew Percefull
Spike Lee has one of pop culture’s most recognizable names and faces. From NBA fans to cinephiles to fashion connoisseurs, Spike Lee has paved quite a lane for himself as an eccentric figure who is not afraid to express himself in any situation. Despite this level of cultural relevance, Lee doesn’t seem to get enough credit for his bread and butter—filmmaking. Lee had his career breakthrough at a fascinating time for new filmmakers, especially in Lee’s home state, New York. It was the mid-’80s, and wonderkids like Spielberg and Lucas were still proving the career path to director was achievable. Spike Lee burst onto the scene in 1986 with his infamous black and white debut, She’s Gotta Have It. This minted him along with other upcoming filmmakers of the late 80s to early 90s, such as Quentin Tarantino or Oliver Stone, whose work has gone on to completely change the art of film forever. While Lee belongs in this box, he’s seldom brought up in these conversations.
When the most influential director is discussed, you’ll probably see/hear the same names: Scorsese, Spielberg, Hitchcock and a few other names in that vein. These are all absolute masters of the craft, yet Spike is never really seen as being on their level. There are likely multiple reasons for this, one being that Spike Lee has never cared about making a commercial film. Some of his films have had commercial success, but it doesn’t seem to be the only aim. Lee picks projects that he is fully interested in. That could be a crude low-budget take on vampires or a biopic-style film about a black man infiltrating the Klan. Spike Lee was an independent darling who never abandoned the Indie way. He often crowdsources the budgets of his films and has been known to run a looser ship than his contemporaries. He’s a rare glimpse of rebellion in an industry that rewards conformity.
Spike Lee’s filmography is a long and storied one. He has 24 feature films under his belt, all in various genres. With such a huge amount of work under his belt, it’s easy for some of these films to slip under the radar. While his catalog may seem overwhelmingly large, each film is an important piece of the larger puzzle. Here are five of the most underrated Spike Lee joints.
Mo’ Better Blues (1990)
Do The Right Thing was an absolute phenomenon in 1989. With just his third feature, Lee crafted a work of art that is still studied and picked over to this day. It marked his first Oscar nominations and kicked off a rocky relationship between the academy and the director that still holds some tension almost four decades later. After this massive success, both critically and culturally, it’s safe to say Lee was facing some pressure. The next year, he came out with Mo Better Blues—a slower and more personal story compared to his last hit. Mo Better Blues is another attempt at a Spike Lee love story. This time, it’s centered around the world of Jazz music, a world Spike knows intimately as his father, Bill, was a jazz musician.
Mo Better Blues follows Bleek Williams, a successful trumpet player. He contends with hardships in both his career and his love life. Bleek is not only competing with his bandmate Shadow (Wesley Snipes) over who should lead the band, but he also finds himself in the center of a love triangle. The jazzy setting and score (composed by Bill Lee) allow for the romance to flourish. It gives the film a raw and intimate feeling. The jazz club, in particular, is a great location for this story. The live performance scenes are well performed and make you feel like you’re watching them at a club. Spike Lee orchestrates the perfect atmosphere to tell Bleek Williams’s story.
Mo Better Blues was the first of many collaborations between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. This pairing would go on to become one of the most recognizable and profitable in film history, a working relationship that we still see today. Not only is Washington set to star in Lee’s upcoming film Highest to Lowest, but Lee has also worked with Washington’s son. Denzel has never phoned in a performance in a Spike Lee film, and Mo Better Blues is no exception. His natural charisma and star power make Bleek a likable character even through the mistakes he makes. The entire cast is great here. A young Wesley Snipes shines in his role as Bleek’s biggest rival/ bandmate. Joie Lee as Indigo is another standout, as she provides much of the film’s emotional backbone. Even Spike Lee himself is good as the comedic relief in one of his best on-screen performances.
Mo Better Blues isn’t just a jazzy love story. It wouldn’t be a Spike Lee joint without some deeper themes involved. This time around, Lee tackles the complicated reality of chasing your dreams and what that means for your future. Is dedicating your life to music worth it, just for a chance of success? Mo Better Blues doesn’t attempt to provide a concrete answer to this question. What it does do is examine the repercussions faced by everyone in Bleek Williams’ orbit. This is a meditative and thoughtful tale that never loses the authorial touch that makes Spike Lee so iconic.
Crooklyn (1994)
Crooklyn, Spike Lee’s 7th film, centers around a young girl named Troy (Zelda Harris) and her family’s life in 70s New York. This film beautifully conveys the contrast of childhood innocence and the adult sacrifice that allows for that joy to exist. Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard play Troy’s parents and are amazing at conveying the reality of starting a family. The film is a loving and emotional look at the city that raised Spike Lee and provided the backdrop for so much of his art, and is also one of Spike Lee’s most unique joints: great performances, Lee at his most experimental, and an awesome soundtrack make for a truly memorable story.
Crooklyn is one of Spike’s most experimental films, just on a visual basis. There’s a moment where Troy enters her Grandma’s house in a completely different state. Once in the house, the film changes aspect ratios and makes the scene a bit distorted and disorienting, putting us directly in Troy’s shoes. This informs the entire visual language of the film. Lee is always showing us these events from the kids’ perspective. The childlike point of view allows for some fantastical moments that are still jaw-dropping years later. There’s a particular dolly shot in this film of Troy floating that shows Spike Lee has complete control of his craft.
Crooklyn is Spike Lee’s take on a coming-of-age film. Co-written with his sisters Joie and Clinique Lee, Spike and his sisters set out to capture the magical struggle that was their childhood. Crooklyn is also Spike Lee’s most intimate film. He opened up in some ways in this film that he has yet to return to in his work. It feels like a window into part of his soul. Even if Spike Lee’s work isn’t your cup of tea, this is an experience that every film fan should seek out. It may just give you enough understanding to appreciate his other works. Spike and his sisters lay all their cards out on the table, and it pays off beautifully.
Girl 6 (1996)
Spike Lee has earned a reputation as a provocative artist who is not afraid to convey exactly how he feels on screen. Even if the story has the potential to alienate audiences, Spike isn’t afraid to take big swings. One of the biggest swings of his career is his 1996 effort, Girl 6. This is quite an odd film. Coming off a run of personally resonant films, audiences weren’t expecting such a wild left turn. Girl 6 is a brash and in-your-face satire about the sex work industry, particularly in the 1990s. While it’s not perfect and has some glaringly obvious tonal inconsistencies, it’s an interesting piece of the puzzle that is Spike Lee’s catalogue. This film features a cameo from Quentin Tarantino (before the two would enter a public feud) and a stellar soundtrack by Prince.
Theresa Randle takes on a lot with the role of Judy, an aspiring actress-turned-call center employee. She contains the perfect range to keep up with both the emotional needs of the character and the varied tone of the film. Spike Lee meshes ridiculous comedy and serious social critiques here, often in the same scene. Randle does everything she’s asked and more. A film like this could have easily fallen apart without such a strong lead to bolster it. The cast of Girl 6 mainly consisted of lesser-known actors, with most of the big names (like Halle Berry and Madonna) being relegated to cameo roles. This was a brilliant choice, as it allows you to live in the heightened world of the film without being distracted by recognizable faces.
Girl 6 was released at a time when Spike Lee was starting to play with the form. It marks the start of his ‘weird’ era and signals an arc in his career that few directors have emulated. The bravery and confidence that Spike Lee shows with films like Girl 6 is what’s needed to push this art form forward. Even if they don’t turn out as masterpieces, it’s important to tell these transgressive stories in honest and blunt ways. Girl 6 is a mess, but its fearless satire and Randle’s performance make for a must-watch film. Arguably his funniest film, Girl 6 remains an underrated gem.
Chi-Raq (2015)
Chi-Raq is probably Spike Lee’s most controversial film. His 2015 musical dramedy centered around the rise of gun violence in Chicago’s notorious southside area. This film took both a heightened and a light-hearted approach to the subject matter. This disconnects with the marketing of the film, which made it seem like it would be a grounded take on the violence in the city. The marketing and subsequent press tour led to several Chicago natives calling Lee out for his depiction of the city, seeing his approach as disrespectful. Chi-Raq is a clever and outlandish look at a real-life issue that still affects us. It was released at a bad time, but with how turbulent recent times have been, we may never be ready for a film like this. Spike Lee has never cared if the audience was ready.
With Chi-Raq, Lee took inspiration from the Greek play Lysistrata. In this Greek comedy, a war has raged through the lands. To restore peace, the women from this war-torn village have banded together to deny all men sex until the war is ended. Chi-Raq sees this same premise but set in modern-day Chicago. Despite the modern setting, Lee does not shy away from the source material here. The character’s names and much of the dialogue are stylized in a style that matches the period of the play rather than anything contemporary. The stacked cast of performers, led by Teyonah Parrish and Nick Cannon, fully commit to this fantastical style of acting. The addition of Cannon was another common bone of contention. While it may be stunt casting, I think it works. Spike Lee is the only director who could have made this film. It’s both a bombastic musical and a scathing social satire wrapped into one eccentric package.
The early 2010s was a rough time in Spike Lee’s career. He had a run of films that were either poorly received or widely ignored. It seemed like the director had lost his reputation. Chi-Raq was the start of his comeback. It held the anger and observant eye that Spike Lee has always been beloved for. He told a story that needed to be told; he just did it the Spike Lee way. You have to respect that. Whether you agree with his methods or not, you must admit that Chi-Raq is a brave and poignant film.
Da 5 bloods (2020)
After receiving his long overdue first Academy Award in 2018, Spike Lee’s reputation was officially back to where it was in the 90s. He was once again recognized as one of the greats after a long period of being seen as the film industry’s weird uncle. Following this success, he quickly set up his next film at Netflix. Everything seemed ripe for another critical and commercial hit. That was until Covid hit. Suddenly, the film found its release date in the middle of a global pandemic. The pandemic wasn’t the only thing against this film’s release. The shocking and saddening death of one of the film’s stars, Chadwick Boseman, also hindered the film’s appeal. Yet, behind the chaotic release is a fun war film and one of Spike’s best.
Da 5 Bloods tells the story of four Vietnam veterans who reunite in hopes of retrieving the remains of their fallen colleague, Norman (Chadwick Boseman). Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and Eddie (Norm Lewis) bite off more than they can chew, and are thrust into an adventure that forces them to come to terms with their PTSD, their frailty and the prejudice that lives inside of them. Da 5 Bloods moves at a rapid pace. This is as much an adventure film as Spike has ever made. The action is quite thrilling and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Da 5 Bloods cleverly examines how the effects of war last a lifetime, and nobody is immune to that. Spike Lee speculates on his age in an interesting way here, as well. This film is a great meta-story for this stage of his career.
Delroy Lindo puts on a phenomenal performance in Da 5 Bloods. Lindo is no stranger to a Spike Lee joint—he’s one of his regular collaborators. Da 5 Bloods has Lindo in quite a complicated role. Paul is the hardest-headed of the veterans. He suffers the most from PTSD and has had the most trouble entering back into civilian life. He’s not a terrible man, but he’s broken, and his decisions portray that. The war made him angry and bitter. All it gave him was the bravado that he wears as a costume. The character of Paul is one of the most patient yet honest interpretations of the effects of war ever put on film. This is what sets Lee apart from others. He holds a funhouse mirror up to society and tells us what he sees. Spike Lee continuously taps into universal human instincts in increasingly eccentric ways.
