“Do the Right Thing”
by Spike Lee was not a popular film to everyone many viewers had mixed feelings
about the actual film, the viewers were bothered and confused by what he was
trying to portray. Spike fused together
political messages, gripping drama and community comedy”(Howe), while creating
a bold, bright stylization film that resembled a Hollywood back lot musical
don’t street style (Emerson). Which goes
in line with what Lee and the cinematographer created making it a playfully
contrast of artificial and the realistic, where the film takes places in a
world that isn’t either but both. This makes this film even harder to
understand which is why I agree with multiple reviews that the film was
confusing. And the reason I believe that
it is so confusing is because Spike made the movie as more of an “open-ended
than most, where it requires you to decide what you think about”(Ebert).
In the film Mookie and Pino who is racists towards blacks are
talking to one another and the camera angle kind of surprised me. It surprised me because the camera angle that
Spike chose to use was point of view, eye level where I would think that he
would use more of an elevated camera shot to show how Pino looks down upon
Mookie and the black race in general. Although the point of view angle worked
very well with the shot so it felt like each actor had something to say and
they were saying it directly to you.
“As in heat of the moment racial flare ups in a black New
York neighborhood where Italians serve pizza, Koreans sell vegetables but
blacks do all the buying”(Howe). And
the particular scene for this statement has many camera angles and cuts to show
the sequence of events that about to take place. Like when Mookie throws the
trash can through the window it shows the trash can hitting and breaking the
glass then cuts the scene to a camera angle inside showing the trash can
continue through the window into the store.
Throughout the movie Spike Lee and Dickerson created a world that was in
between worlds using camera angles and lens to create the feeling.
Worked Cited:
Ebert, Roger. "Do The Right Thing." Rev. of
"Do The Right Thing"27 May 2001: n. pag. Web. 3 July 2013.<
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-do-the-right-thing-1989>.
Emerson, Jim. "Do The Right Thing." Rev. of
"Do The Right Thing"1989: n. pag. Cinepad. Web. 3 July 2013.
<http://cinepad.com/reviews/doright.htm>.
Howe, Desson. "Do The Right Thing." Rev. of
"Do The Right Thing"30 June 1989: n. pag. Washington Post. Washington
Post Company. Web. 3 July 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/dotherightthingrhowe_a0b222.htm>.
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