Brownstein: Spike Lee hopes the U.S. does the right thing in presidential election

Article content

Spike Lee just watched the latest TikTok parody of Haitian immigrants allegedly eating cats and dogs in Springfield, Ohio. All he can do is shrug.

“You’ve got to laugh, otherwise you’ll just cry. … It’s the United States of America,” Lee says in a Zoom interview ahead of his trip north to help launch the 20th Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF), for which he will serve as honorary president.

Article content

“Seriously, though, the mayor of Springfield is going through hell. Politicians lie. They know they’re lying and then amplify the lie. And now lives hang in the balance. The tragedy is that some people could die behind all that bullshit.”

Lee is fired up and concedes he’s apprehensive about the coming U.S. presidential election.

“I really feel this coming election is going to determine the fate of the world. Trump ain’t the only guy doing this stuff. There’s right-wing stuff that’s worldwide. But I really think that once again truth, justice and the American way will (prevail), although it’s going to be close … fingernail close. But like Jesse (Jackson) said: Keep hope alive!

“I’m not going to say that guy’s name again, but he’s already laid the foundation by saying if he loses, he got robbed. We don’t want the sequel of Jan. 6,” says Lee, who recently participated in a fundraiser with fellow Brooklynite Doug Emhoff, the second-gentleman spouse of Kamala Harris.

Conversation segues to the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade on abortion rights.

Article content

Article content

“You’re going to determine what a woman does with her body? Women ain’t going for that. And we have a candidate for president who is a woman.”

Lee will get a reprieve from the lunacy of U.S. election fever for a few days when he heads to Montreal for his fourth visit to the MIBFF.

The festival opens Wednesday at the Olympia with a conversation between Lee and MIBFF founder Fabienne Colas. The event will offer a retrospective of Lee’s extraordinary 45-year career, which has seen him direct or produce more than 100 films, TV series and music videos.

Without question, Lee is one of the pre-eminent filmmakers on the planet. In 1986 he shook up the film establishment with the dramedy She’s Gotta Have It, in which he also starred. Lee’s debut movie netted him the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival and put the cinema world on notice that he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Running until Sunday, this year’s MIBFF will also feature 100 films from 30 countries, with a special focus on Haitian cinema.

On the subject of milestones, this year is the 35th anniversary of Lee’s Do the Right Thing, an unflinching and compelling look at racism set in and around a Brooklyn pizzeria. And as Lee sadly acknowledges, we’re still looking for many to come around to do the right thing.

Article content

“That’s part of human nature. We’re not all the same. We think differently, motherf—ers agree,” he says, letting out a resounding laugh. “I didn’t have to go to Harvard to say that.”

Be they sobering dramas like Malcolm X or dark comedies like the Oscar-winning BlacKkKlansman or a combo of both like Mo’ Better Blues, Lee’s films are invariably viewed through the prism of race relations.

Lee is in post-production on a “reinterpretation” of late Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low, set for release next spring. This is his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington — “the dynamic duo,” as Lee calls them. They previously did Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game and Inside Man together.

“In the Kurosawa film, the central character is a shoemaker. In our interpretation, Denzel is a New York record executive, the best in the business,” Lee says. “But my big wish is that I want people to see this in movie theatres. It will stream later on Apple.

“It hurts to see people watching films on their phones, not even holding them horizontally. I don’t want to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but God damn.”

Article content

At 67, Lee is showing no signs of slowing down. In addition to his film output, he teaches a weekly film class in New York. And for a little levity, he has been teaming up with Charles Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson in a highly quirky series of Capital One commercials during the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament, which have less to do with the actual credit cards than getting goofy with his buddies.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Play Video

Article content

Then there’s Lee sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden to catch his beloved New York Knicks and occasionally having words with opposing hoopsters. And soon he’ll be watching his equally beloved New York Yankees making yet another World Series bid.

“It’s all about time management,” Lee cracks. “That’s my story. It’s laughter with the tears.”

AT A GLANCE

The 20th Montreal International Black Film Festival runs from Wednesday, Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 29. An Intimate Conversation With Spike Lee, hosted by festival founder Fabienne Colas, takes place Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the Olympia, 1004 Ste-Catherine St. E. For tickets and more information, visit montrealblackfilm.com.

bbrownstein@postmedia.com

Article content

Article content