Overall Score
Rating Summary
Spike Lee has done it all , not only in terms of film making, in which he’s explored many formats , but also as an activist, among many other things. With the release of his newest film, Da 5 Bloods, this Friday on Netflix, KLM will be highlighting some of his best films , many of which are extremely relevant in terms of the racism that’s currently plaguing our society.
Immediately following the release of his magnum opus Do the Right Thing, critics hailed Spike Lee as the voice of a generation and he quickly transitioned from a promising independent filmmaker to one the most prolific filmmakers of his time. Following up a magnum opus is never an easy task, especially one that is as important and relevant as Do the Right Thing, but when Spike Lee immediately followed it up with the jazz-based musical Mo Better Blues, critics were left scratching their heads. Throughout the 1990s, it felt as if Spike Lee was throwing curve balls every chance he could get. He experimented with a variety of genres throughout the decade and while many of these films weren’t successful and aren’t widely discussed today, some of them are certainly worth revisiting.
Perhaps Spike Lee’s most underrated film during this stretch of time is Crooklyn, which was released two years after Lee’s second masterpiece Malcolm X. In comparison, Crooklyn is significantly smaller in scope. Lee co-wrote the film with his siblings Cinque Lee and Joie Lee and it is losely based on their childhood experience.
Crooklyn takes place during the summer of 1973 in a prominently African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The film follows nine-year-old Troy Carmichael (Zelda Harris), who lives with her struggling musician father Woody (Delroy Lindo), her stern but loving mother Carolyn (Alfre Woodard) and her four brothers. Unlike many of Spike’s films, Crooklyn is not very plot-heavy and instead focuses on how a variety of moments over the course of one summer, have a life long impact on a young girl’s life.
Crooklyn isn’t necessarily as important or ambitious as Spike’s most acclaimed work, but what makes it stand out in his filmography is how genuinely sweet and heartwarming it is. Despite tackling heavy themes and ending on a relatively bittersweet note, the film sees Lee reminiscing about his own childhood and at its core it’s a nostalgic, realistic and ultimately hopeful look at childhood through the perspective of an African-American family. Crooklyn is a wonderful film that is one of Lee’s most criminally underrated and is certainly worth checking out.
*still courtesy of TIFF*
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