Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY.
Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin’ deejay (Samuel L. Jackson) spins the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro).
In this scene, Pino (John Turturro) «explains» to his employee Mookie (Spike Lee) how he feels about the blacks. Other neighbours use a lot of words of abuse to refer to other races…
ANGLE–PIZZERIA – MOOKIE: Who’s your favorite basketball player?
PINO Magic Johnson.
MOOKIE And not Larry Bird? Who’s your favorite movie star?
PINO Eddie Murphy. Mookie is smiling now.
MOOKIE Last question: Who’s your favorite rock star?
(Pino doesn’t answer, because he sees the trap he’s already fallen into)
MOOKIE Barry Manilow? (Mookie and Vito laugh)
MOOKIE Pino, no joke. C’mon, answer.
VITO It’s Prince. He’s a Prince freak.
PINO Shut up. The Boss! Bruuucce!!!!
MOOKIE Sounds funny to me. As much as you say nigger this and nigger that, all your favorite people are «niggers.»
PINO It’s different. Magic, Eddie, Prince are not niggers, I mean, are not Black. I mean, they’re Black but not really Black. They’re more than Black. It’s different. With each word Pino is hanging himself even further.
MOOKIE Pino, I think secretly that you wish you were Black. That’s what I think. Vito, what do you say?
PINO Y’know, I’ve been listening and reading ‘bout Farrakhan, ya didn’t know that, did you?
MOOKIE I didn’t know you could read.
PINO Fuck you. Anyway, Minister Farrakhan always talks about the so-called «day» when the Black man will rise.
«We will one day rule the earth as we did in our glorious past.» You really believe that shit?
MOOKIE It’s e-vit-able.
PINO Keep dreaming.
MOOKIE Fuck you, fuck pizza, and fuck Frank Sinatra, too.
PINO Well, fuck you, too, and fuck Michael Jordan.
CUT TO: RACIAL SLUR MONTAGE – (The following will be a QUICK-CUTTING MONTAGE of racial slurs, with different ethnic groups pointing the finger at one another. Each person looks directly INTO THE CAMERA)
CLOSE--MOOKIE
Dago, wop, garlic-breath, guinea, pizza-slinging, spaghetti-bending, Vic Damone, Perry Como, Luciano Pavarotti, Sole Mio, nonsinging motherfucker.
CUT TO: CLOSE–PINO
You gold-teeth, gold-chain-wearing, fried-chicken-and-biscuit-eatin’, monkey, ape, baboon, big thigh, fast-running, three-hundred-sixty- degree-basketball-dunking spade Moulan Yan.
CUT TO: CLOSE–STEVIE
You slant-eyed, me-no-speak-American, own every fruit and vegetable stand in New York, Reverend Moon, Summer Olympics’88, Korean kick-boxing bastard.
CUT TO: CLOSE–OFFICER LONG
Goya bean-eating, fifteen in a car, thirty in an apartment, pointed shoes, red-wearing, Menudo, meda-meda Puerto Rican cocksucker.
CUT TO: CLOSE–KOREAN CLERK
It’s cheap, I got a good price for you, Mayor Koch, «How I’m doing,» chocolate-egg-cream-drinking, bagel and lox, B’nai B’rith asshole.
CUT TO: INT: WE LOVE RADIO STATION CONTROL ROOM–DAY CLOSE–MISTER SEÑOR LOVE DADDY
Yo! Hold up! Time out! Time out! Y’all take a chill. Ya need to cool that shit out… and that’s the truth, Ruth.
¤ Spike Lee Biography: Life and Career of the Director ⇓
This American director is no stranger to controversy. Welcome to
WatchMojo.com and today we’re taking a look at the life and career of Spike Lee.
• Early Exposure to Arts
Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee was born March 20th, 1957 and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Since his mother taught the arts and his father played jazz, he was exposed to the arts early on.
• Student Films
After graduating high school, Lee began making student films in college. He already started to make a name for himself during the early 1980s while studying for his MFA at New York University; in fact, the independent film he submitted as his thesis was honored with a Student Academy Award.
• Music Videos
During this period, Lee also began directing music videos and he pursued this avenue of his career for decades. Notable artists he created videos for include Public Enemy, Naughty by Nature and Michael Jackson.
• “She’s Gotta Have It”
His first feature-length movie was 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It.” Lee wrote, directed, co-produced, edited and appeared in the comedy-drama that explored relationships between African-American men and women.
• TV Commercials
Its success at the box office essentially launched Lee into a career directing television commercials. Though Nike was one of the first companies to approach him, Lee later worked with several other brands through his production company 40 Acres & a Mule Filmworks.
• “School Daze”
Lee also wrote, directed and acted in his second feature film, “School Daze.” The 1988 musical drama became a commercial success and raised controversy for its depiction of student life at a historically black college.
• “Do the Right Thing”
Success and controversy once more followed Lee after 1989’s “Do the Right Thing.” Tackling issues such as race, politics and violence, the comedy-drama was recognized with numerous Oscar and Golden Globe award nominations.
• “Mo’ Better Blues”
Lee next directed Denzel Washington in the 1990 drama “Mo’ Better Blues,” and then returned to his examination of socio-political and racial themes with his next two films.
• Race and Politics
1991’s “Jungle Fever” dealt with dating between different racial groups and featured Samuel L. Jackson in the role that truly made him a star. The next year saw Lee explore the life of an African-American Muslim who fought for equal rights in the critically acclaimed “Malcolm X.” Washington’s admirable performance as the title character earned him an Oscar nomination in the process.
• Varied Movies
In 1994, Lee released the motion picture “Crooklyn,” in which his sister, Joie Lee, had a small role. This was followed by the crime thriller “Clockers,” starring frequent collaborator, John Turturro. In 1996, Lee received poor reviews for the comedy “Girl 6,” but things turned around later that year with the positively reviewed drama “Get on the Bus.”
• Oscar-nominated Documentary and Dramas
Lee next earned an Oscar nomination for his venture into documentary filmmaking with “4 Little Girls.” He then returned to fiction with the sports-drama “He Got Game” in 1998. He ended off the decade by entering dark territory with the crime-drama “Summer of Sam.”
• More Films
After opening the new century directing the film “The Original Kings of Comedy” with comedians like Steve Harvey and Bernie Mac, Lee experimented with satire and blackface in the movie “Bamboozled.” 2002 saw the release of “25th Hour,” which was a well-received film based on a novel. Two years later, Lee took the indie route with the comedy-drama “She Hate Me.”
• Success of “Inside Man” and “When the Levees Broke”
Following a few documentaries, some production work and smaller projects, Lee was back in theatres in 2006 with the crime-thriller “Inside Man.” The well-received movie featured respected actors like Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, Willem Dafoe and Denzel Washington, and became his highest-grossing film to that point. Next, he directed the television documentary “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts,” which dealt with life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and won several Primetime Emmy awards for his work.
• More Feature Films and Other Projects
For the next few years, Lee continued working on feature films like the 2008 war movie “Miracle at St. Anna” and documentaries like 2009’s “Kobe Doin’ Work.” Things didn’t slow down the next decade as he continued to write, direct, produce and develop several projects.
• A Talented Director
Sho Nuff, Spike Lee is a talented director. Through his films, he’s always been willing to share his passion for socio-political causes by any means necessary and that is what truly makes them Spike Lee Joints. Ya dig?
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