Controversial. Mischievous. In your face. These days, with all the talk of mavericks in the media, one stands out who truly carved out his own politically charged space in the late eighties, just by being himself…and having the ‘nerve’ to express that against real opposition. Love him, fear him or cuss’ him out, Brooklyn native Spike Lee got on the bus and never looked back, changing the face of filmmaking for the new wave generation, and beyond.
Over the years, with She’s Gotta Have It, Jungle Fever, Crooklyn and Do The Right Thing, his name became synonymous with offbeat, indie filmmaking–particularly, but not exclusively (Summer of Sam, 25th Hour) conveying a black, New York kinda world–which, most should understand equals a world where Italian, Jewish, Latino, Irish roots converge and often ignite into scenes of war…and romance.
Reserved yet affably wily, the other director–besides Martin Scorsese–whose eye-wear is about as subtle as Joe Pesci‘s Jersey accent, smiled broadly as he made an observation about the Italian- and African-American connection: “I’ve learned a lot, because we’re so similar.”
Thus, it’s no surprise Spike Lee has taken his craft abroad, flashing back in time to investigate more deeply, those exposed roots connecting different ethnicities; a topic he so aptly explored in his earlier work–that often put him in the hot-seat. This time he does so by way of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division stationed in Tuscany, in the adapted period war drama, Miracle at St. Anna starring Derek Luke and Michael Ealy, based on James McBride‘s 2002 novel.
After hearing my suggestion, Lee confirmed, “Yeah. One could do a big article about it [tying in Miracle], if you look at the first two films I did, Do The Right Thing and Jungle Fever…and then there was Summer of Sam; they all dealt with the interaction African-Americans and Italians-Americans.”
Yup, my fellow Brooklynite got where I was taking this article–placing it in the zone of his other works, as Miracle could almost be considered the elegant period piece prequel to his earlier works, in spirit and theme. *Speaking of period piece, a Spike Lee Joint viewer’s MUST: re-visit Rosie Perez throwin’ down with a mean ‘running man’, in bright ’80s leotards, under the opening credits of Do The Right Thing.
READ ON to hear more in our exclusive with the maverick filmmaker on his new buzz film Miracle at St. Anna:
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Hollywood.com: Coincidentally, I just bought a VHS copy of Do The Right Thing at a black cinema video sale in Harlem. Amazing again.
Spike Lee: [Sly, Incredulous Laughs] Wait, you still have a working VHS player, daaaamn??
Hollywood.com: [Laughing] I know, I know–a little old school, it’s true … Well yeah, having watched it so recently, it’s so clear the connection to Miracle. How do you see Do The Right Thing playing into this film?
Spike Lee:You have to remember that I wrote Do The Right Thing right in the height of Howard Beach [1986 hate crime murder of Michael Griffiths in Queens]; that really prompted Do The Right Thing. At that time, NYC was racially polarized. I think Mayor Ed Koch had a lot to do with that. So, the idea was simple, I wanted to do a film on the hottest day of the summer that takes place on one block, and use this one block as a microcosm of the very strain at that moment. Is that [racial polarization] the case now? No. I think we’ve evolved. I think even with the Sean Bell case–I applaud how Mayor Bloomberg handled … And African-Americans were responsible with peaceful reactions. But also, Barack Obama wasn’t possible back in 1989 either? I think that Do The Right Thing has really captured that [alarming] moment and we’ve moved on, thank God.
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Hollywood.com: So you’re charting part of that shift where blacks were more embraced by European-Italians rather than American-Italians back during WWII?
Spike Lee: You go to this film–now this is historical–Italians for the most part in World War II loved the black soldiers. First of all, they [Italians] were not really inundated with the [American] racism and the prejudices and all that stuff. Also, they saw them [black soldiers] as their liberators. They wanted to get out from under the tyranny of Mussolini, the fascists, and also the Nazis; and the majority of soldiers were black Americans. While we were shooting this film in Italy several elderly Italians made the point to tell me how many fond memories they had of the black soldiers they had from World War II.
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Hollywood.com: When I was little, my old Polish-Jewish neighbor would speak of being thankful to see black servicemen arrive at the concentration camp. Was there a WWII specific tale you heard over there?
Spike Lee: True story–one lady who could speak a little bit of English told me how when she was an infant, she was dying, and her mother took her to the camp where the soldiers were staying; and the black doctors gave her the shots of penicillin and she pulled through. Then she started crying because she was telling me this story and said, “I’m alive today because of the black soldiers that came to liberate our country.” Realize though [uncomfortable laugh/sigh], Italian-Americans are different from Italians. The same way African-Americans are different from Africans. There’s that bond, the heritage, the blood [they share] but a different socialization and a different way of life. Look at how people get along in this film versus Do The Right Thing or Jungle Fever.
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Hollywood.com: Simply put, the ensemble cast rules!
Spike Lee: Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller–the credit goes to two people really. James McBride, James understood that these four people had to be very distinct, different aspects of African-American men in 1944. I’d also like to thank my casting director Kim Coleman, she was great, we got the best people we could get. It really became a cohesive unit during the two-week boot camp prior. They all did wonderful performances.
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Hollywood.com: A lot of the reason that Barack Obama‘s campaign can exist as a reality today is because of the mediated messages that have helped prepare and remind ‘closed’/doubtful people across the board that, “Yes, hello. Black Americans can lead, and have positions of power too.”
Spike Lee: Did you watch–um, The State of the Union by Chris Rock? What’s it called again? No, it’s um, Head of…
Hollywood.com and Spike Lee: Head of State. Yes!
Spike Lee: [Shaking his head] There you go.
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Hollywood.com: Well, do you feel like you’re a part contributor of helping to put those images, particularly of black male leadership and strength out there?
Spike Lee: That’s not something I think about. Barack’s in this position because of Dr. King, Malcolm [X], W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, Shirley Chisholm, J.F.K, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Harold Washington, David Jenkens, Carl B. Stokes…that’s the stuff that has made Barack possible. Whether people want to hear it or not, this country has evolved…racism and prejudice–not that it is eradicated but the fact that our next president is going to be a man whose father was born in Uganda–ah, Kenya–this is huge. And it’s [a possible reality] because of the American Patriots–these black men that had fought in World War II, World War I, Vietnam and Korea.
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Hollywood.com: Does Miracle‘s look at WWII give people a window into how people can take violence and cruelty past the edge of reason?
Spike Lee: I think an actor who plays that provides insight but for me, I can’t comprehend it actually. But, there still comes a responsibility with that–the massacre [based in history] that we shot in the film, we filmed it in the exact location where it took place. We were very respectful and we shot that scene in two days and you could feel the sprit and the souls of those men, women and children who were slaughtered. You could feel it. I’m not talking about any hocus pocus stuff. The cast, everybody, felt their spirits and souls when we were shooting that scene. The hardest shot was that baby shot. That was a hard shot.
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Hollywood.com: So do you feel that the timing is ‘right’ for Miracle to arrive now?
Spike Lee: I believe timing is everything and it wasn’t the right time before. I read James‘s (McBride‘s) novel and consequently went on to do Inside Man and then a documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts…so, we’re just happy that it’s out!
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Hollywood.com: It’s Lyrical. The young boy is perfectly cast. A strong sensibility of the Italian neorealism film movement comes to life in this film; unlike film after film that have tried it, but haven’t quite gotten it. Is that film movement something you were/are connected to?
Spike Lee: Very connected. Those are some of my favorite films: Open City…Shoe Shine…Piasa…those are the great films [by] Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica.
Hollywood.com: Why do you think these films worked so well?
Spike Lee: Because they took the camera out of the studio and shot and documented what people were going through right after the war. Another great thing, out of all the films I mentioned, one of the main characters is a child; and all of this [film] shows the affect of war on children. James (McBride) was smart enough to have the intuition to put a kid, a lone orphan, at the center of the story.
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Hollywood.com: Amazing tension and focus, but oh so hard to watch–how did you do those harrowing battle sequences?
Spike Lee: I had never done a war or any sort of battle sequences before. The military advisor–Billy Bud who worked on Saving Private Ryan and HBO’s Band of Brother–was really helpful; he held my hand, and let me know what we can do and what we can’t do. We also watched a lot of battle sequences. These battles for these guys are not going to determine the outcome of the war like D-Day. It’s not just the battle sequences but the massacre that took place.
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Hollywood.com: Like Scorsese, in a way, particular gems of your body work have been overlooked by the Oscars. Is it something you think about?
Spike Lee: [Confident chuckle] Other people may think about it, but that’s not why I make films. The work is what matters and in my experience, people that go into [filmmaking] thinking, “I’m doing it. I’m directing this film to get a nomination. I’m taking this role to get a nomination.” That’s dealing with the devil. With me, I’m just trying to do the best I can at that particular moment, with the story that we have and the resources we have. Any type of awards, recognition or acknowledgement that comes from that work–it’s always good to be recognized–but that is not first and foremost. That is not paramount. You never put awards in front of the work.
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Hollywood.com : From the beginning of your career, you were known to consistently work with a multi-racial production team…do you feel like that extra fight was worth it ultimately?
Spike Lee: It was definitely worth it. I’m not trying to say I was doing anything abnormal, I was doing what I needed to do. That was a constant battle going back and forth, we had to go to the mat a couple of times but it was worth it because now there are many, many people working today, behind the camera, in an industry–and unions–that, historically, has not been as open. I felt that the little power I had should be used to try and get as many of us in there. It’s not just African-Americans, it’s Hispanics, women…you know? Latinos, Asian-Americans…I really wanted to add diversity to the ranks of the filmmakers here in NYC. It was not common to see on these sets a black P.A. [production assistant]. That’s changed now and that didn’t happen over night. We really, really had to put our foot down in many instances.
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Hollywood.com: I couldn’t help but smile when the Italian boy would use the term ‘Chocolate Giant’ to describe his black friend. The layered use of language–Italian, German, American-English–is sooo compelling even when it skates near being offensive. What’s the balance?
Spike Lee: You know, I have to keep going back to the source. Therefore, I have to keep thanking my main man James McBride who wrote a great book and a true story and we ended on this. I was looking for something to read. There are many books on the shelf. The spirits told me to take this book off the shelf. There could’ve been another book. Hello! That’s why the fact that this film got made is a miracle. The fact of Barack Obama is a miracle. I think that anyone who believes in God, who believes in religion, that alone makes miracles.
