The true story of a black police detective who infiltrated the KKK, Spike Lee’s latest joint has a momentum that slowly, propulsively builds. There is a visceral tension throughout as Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) uses the sheer force of his intellect and cunning to undermine the possibility of a race war.
Interestingly, it is the use of his voice via telephone conversations that Stallworth does most of his covert operating. His real-life stand-in is Adam Driver’s Flip Zimmerman, who lunges headlong into the danger zone of Klan meetings and proposed cross-burnings. Zimmerman’s Jewish heritage is also a bone of contention and has to be constantly suppressed and denied in the presence of Klansmen Jew-haters.
I was expecting Stallworth to be more involved besides over the phone. The poster for the film depicts him donning a Klan hood and I was wanting that to happen. However, the story allows for a real life encounter when Stallworth is assigned as a security officer for Grand Wizard David Duke (Topher Grace). Here, Lee’s use of tension is masterful.
The period detail is great, the acting is formidable. There is a compelling coda that acts as a reminder that the racially-divided times of the early 70’s echoes in the era of the Trump presidency. We’ve had a black president since the time the film depicts, but with the preponderance of police brutality and injustice at the hands of young black individuals, how far have we really come? BlacKKKlansmen iterates the fact that we have quite a ways to go.
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