Chi-Raq (2015) dir. Spike Lee
Venue: Harrie Massey LT (25 Gordon Street)
Spike Lee has built an incredible career by consistently creating masterpieces that balance comedy and tragedy. Chi-Raq takes this balancing act back to its traditional roots — Greek theatre.
Based on Lysistrata by Aristophanes, Chi-Raq is one of Spike Lee’s most stylized movies yet. It’s told almost entirely in rhyme and exquisitely narrated by frequent collaborator Samuel L. Jackson. Like School Daze, it frequently integrates music, and definitely feels like a stage play with its colourful costumes and grand sets. Chi-Raq unceasingly shifts between tragedy and comedy, but never runs out of steam. The stylization makes it a love-it-or-hate-it project, but there’s a lot to love once you settle into its rhythm.
This is Spike Lee in his rawest form: a visceral and afflicting joint that screams angrily at its viewer.
“I'm going to talk about a life today. An important life in our community. A life that ends life. The life of a gun.”
Runtime: 2h6m
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Welcome to the Film and TV Society’s weekly screening for the 2021/22 academic year!
The stream will begin a few minutes before the start of the screening.
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