BlacKkKlansman is a fascinating true story that provides an important look into how the KKK was infiltrated by a black man, the very person they would want to eliminate.
The whole movie draws you in from the beginning and displays what it was like to be black during the time of the KKK and how Ron Stallworth was able to overcome it all to take down the hateful organization.
John David Washington who plays Ron Stallworth and Adam Driver who plays Flip Zimmerman steal the spotlight and deliver top notch performances.
Washington is mesmerizing as Stallworth and shows us how there were moderate black activists during the time.
He captures the essence of the time period, and really embodies Ron’s attitude that he needs to understand the white man to make him understand the black man.
During the time there was the Black Panthers and the KKK which were the two extremes and Ron and Flip really embodied that middle ground that wanted to create change but didn’t want to to incite violence.
The film was able to convey not only a struggle to accept Ron in the police force, but also the personal struggle with Flip to accept his own identity as a Jewish man.
It’s terrifying to see how little has changed from the 70s when the film takes place and how discrimination and racism are still so prevalent in modern day America.
The film does a great job with showing the parallels between then and now. There is a scene at the end before the credits that shows those parallels with Charlottesville images/videos and how people have not denounced those racist acts and it will give you chills.
I think my biggest problem with the film is that they portray the klansman as comedic instead of showing how vile and scary their views actually were.
The KKK was not filled with ditsy members as the movie portrayed and was really evil, and cruel and I was really upset the movie did not display them that way.
While the comedic/ditsy way could have been an interesting take, it didn’t work out well because the material in the movie is so deep and powerful that they should have depicted the KKK as the monsters they are.
The story in BlacKkKlansman is so interesting and the way they’re able to depict the phone scenes, which would be Ron and the in person scenes, which would be Flip creates a dynamic that’s so interesting between Ron and the KKK.
There are some funny elements in the film between Ron and Flip and creates that strong relationship between them and makes the audience connect that much more to the two men.
Spike Lee really is at his best here and uses this story to create a commentary about how we need to do better and take on the issues of racism head on or else it will never get better.
BlacKkKlansman is a powerful story that even though set in the 70s is still relevant today, and is a wonderful film that shows one of the most interesting stories in history.
I give BlacKkKlansman an A-
