Spike Lee

Select an Action

Title:

Spike Lee

Author:

McGowan, Todd.

ISBN:

9780252038143

9780252079610

Personal Author:

McGowan, Todd.

Physical Description:

163 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.

Series:

Contemporary film directors

Contemporary film directors.

Abstract:

Since the release of Do the Right Thing in 1989, Spike Lee has established himself as a cinematic icon. Lee's mostly independent films garner popular audiences while at the same time engaging in substantial political and social commentary. He is arguably the most accomplished African American filmmaker in cinematic history, and his breakthrough paved the way for the success of many other African Americans in film. In this first single-author scholarly examination of Spike Lee's oeuvre, Todd McGowan shows how Lee's films, from She's Gotta Have It through Red Hook Summer, address crucial social issues such as racism, paranoia, and economic exploitation in a formally inventive manner. McGowan argues that Lee uses excess in his films to intervene in issues of philosophy, politics, and art.

Contents:

Confronted with too much. Singular subjects -- Driven by fantasy -- The politics of passion -- Fight the paranoia -- The costs of community -- Depictions of antagonism -- No outside -- Disturbing the spectator -- The effect of Spike Lee -- Interview with Spike Lee / by Lisa Collins.

Subject Term:

African American motion picture producers and directors -- History and criticism.

African American motion picture producers and directors. (OCoLC)fst00799269

Film

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Aurora Downtown	Book	PN1998.3 .L44 M35 2014	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

In this first single-author scholarly examination of Spike Lee's oeuvre, Todd McGowan shows how Lee's films, from She's Gotta Have It through Red Hook Summer , address crucial social issues such as racism, paranoia, and economic exploitation in a formally inventive manner. McGowan argues that Lee uses excess in his films to intervene in issues of philosophy, politics, and art. McGowan contends that it is impossible to watch a Spike Lee film in the way that one watches a typical Hollywood film. By forcing observers to recognize their unconscious enjoyment of violence, paranoia, racism, sexism, and oppression, Lee's films prod spectators to see differently and to confront their own excess. In the process, his films reveal what is at stake in desire, interpersonal relations, work, and artistic creation itself.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

McGowan (English, Univ. of Vermont; Out of Time) takes a solid look at director Spike Lee's often controversial and always -to--the-point films and analyzes several themes accentuated in both Lee's early groundbreaking fiction offerings and his later documentaries. McGowan's main point is that Lee showcases "excess in society" and how it affects community and humanity and its destructiveness when fueled by passion. Calling Lee a "disturbing filmmaker" because he often leaves his characters without any clear way out of their situations, the author maintains that Lee's movies are almost their own genre and should be critiqued as such. Nods are given to Lee's use of his now signature camera shots that allow a character to separate momentarily from his/her environment and the use of whirling 360 angles for accentuation of the moment. Some of McGowan's arguments, especially when discussing Malcolm X and the impetus of racism, leave room for disagreement. For a deeper understanding of this director, try Lee's own autobiography, Spike Lee and David Sterritt's Spike Lee's America. VERDICT A well-thought-out assessment of Lee's body of work, with a target readership of serious film studies enthusiasts.-Richard Dickey, Washington DC (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.