www.upress.state.ms.us
Spike Lee: Interviews
Edited by Cynthia Fuchs
University Press of Mississippi
2002, 232 pages, $18.00 U.S.
By D.R.Peak
PopMatters Book Critic
A Glimpse at Greatness
Spike Lee has always been an interesting film personality. Controversy follows
him wherever, he goes, whether he intends it or not. He's opinionated, outspoken
and loud to boot. But he's also smart, well read, and honest; admits to his
faults and when he makes mistakes. He also tends to contradict himself. (he's
only human, after all) But most of all he genuinely loves to make people think
(twice), to keep them on their toes, to educate as well as entertain.
And still critics tend to focus on the fact that he's not Caucasian. Some
day critics will stop calling Lee the "black Woody Allen" or an
"African-American filmmaker" (or even a "controversial" one) but simply one of
the most intelligent, articulate, and able filmmakers of our generation. But
people tend to go for the obvious (we're only human after all) and of course Lee
himself tends to bring up the matter of race in interviews quite often.
But there's more to Lee than just that. Much more.
Lee's films are all well written, beautifully photographed, professionally
acted, and are always thought provoking and especially memorable. Some, such as
Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X were instant classics the day
they debuted.
Lee's films are not just about the struggle of black Americans to become
accepted and comfortable in today's America. They are documents of a time, of a
people, of all peoples. Anyone can relate to any of Lee's films, you just have
to peel back the layers to get to the truth of what his films are really about.
And in this collection of interviews, edited by Cynthia Fuchs, an Associate
Professor at George Mason University, we get a chance to see Lee for the gifted,
expressive person he is. In interview after interview--taken from magazines,
Internet sources, and even television talk shows--Lee continues to surprise and
throw one off balance with his comments and observations on human nature.
For instance:
A question of music: Who would have thought that some of Lee's favorites
included classical music composer Aaron Copland's sweeping compositions, the
Beatles, Patsy Cline, and even white bread popsters such as Steely Dan?
About films: You might have guessed that he would count Akira Kurosawa and
Martin Scorsese as major influences. But Billy Wilder and David Lean?
But wait, there's more. (Have I said that already?) One of the most fascinating
chapters in the book is an excerpt from American Cinematographer
magazine, written by Stephen Pizzello, Between "Rock" and a Hard Place.
Pizzello gets the facts from both Lee himself and Malik Sayeed who, at
twenty-six years of age, became the Director of Photography for Lee's film
Clockers. It was Sayeed's first time handling a major motion picture and he
went all out in order to give the film a unique look and feel. He talked Lee
into using Kodak 5239 film stock, a high-speed color reversal film intended for
photography under low-level daylight illumination, which was previously used
primarily by the Air Force and by NASA for their onboard cameras on the space
shuttle. Since 5239 film stock had never been mass-produced for the general
public, Kodak had to make up a special run with edge numbers on it just for the
movie. Even the development of the film was tricky, requiring negative
processing before transferring it to 35 mm, and special care was given to the
set lighting because of the danger of over-exposing the film. Is something as
seemingly trivial as what sort of film stock is used in a film all that
important? Lee thinks so. He considers all of this extra work worth it to make
the film right. The look, texture, and feel of film is important to the mood.
Lee knows that often one must go to great lengths in order to make a great film
instead of a mediocre one.
In editing this excellent book of interviews Cynthia Fuchs has smartly put them
in chronological order. This way we get added insight into how Lee evolved over
the years, his opinions changing as did his outlook on the world. Rarely do we
get to witness something so intrinsic in all of us--one's growth as an
individual--laid out so plainly for all the world to see in black and white.
Witnessing Lee's slow and gradual development from a smart and gifted
personality to an intelligent, caring (he's a father, now), individual
concerned with the well-being, treatment and education of all people is
intriguing and fascinating.
I hope that of all people, Lee himself reads this book cover to cover. He might
be pleasantly surprised as to how he turned out.