CROOKLYN

US, 1994, 115 minutes, Colour.
Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, Patrick Kelly, Zelda Harris, Isaiah Washington, Spike Lee.
Directed by Spike Lee.

Crooklyn is a semi-autobiographical written by Spike Lee’s two sisters, Cinque Lee and Joie Lee. It is set in Brooklyn of the 1970s.

The film focuses on a husband and wife, the wife being a schoolteacher, her husband being a jazz musician. They have five children and try to cope with all the pressures of living in Brooklyn at the period. While there are scenes of happiness, the focus is on the young daughter, Troy (Zelda Harris), and her interactions with the other children. There is some tenderness, there is some harshness, there are scenes of glue-sniffing … the atmosphere of the period.

The film is also strong on the soul music of the period which pervades the whole film.

Technically, the film disturbs people because they think that the lens is out of focus but Lee uses the device of different lenses to show different perspectives on the action.

The film is also set in the deep south when Troy goes to visit her relations – with some harsh criticism of life in the south. Spike Lee made a great impact in the 1980s with his film She’s Gotta Have It. He then went on to achieve world fame with his Do the Right Thing. During the 1990s he made quite a number of films including the jazz film, Mo’ Better Blues as well as the interracial themed Jungle Fever. In 1992 he released his biography of Malcolm X.

He became much more prolific from the mid-90s on, with mixed results in films like He Got Game, Summer of Sam. He also did documentaries like The Original Kings of Comedy and Get On The Bus. He also made a great impact in 2006 with his four-hour documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His most popular film was also released in 2006, Inside Man with Denzel Washington.

1. Response to the film as a Spike Lee film? His reputation? His films? His black perspectives? His critique of white America? A tribute to black America? Life in Brooklyn, the 1970s?

2. The focus on family, the film as a memoir, a contribution to consciousness, heritage? The technique of using the wide screen and the different lenses?

3. The atmosphere of Brooklyn, the homes, the streets? Calling it Crooklyn? The twenty to twenty-five years of change?

4. The streets of Brooklyn, the children, crowded, playing, glue-sniffing, the adults? The pervasive music? The drugs, the shops? Neighbours? The feel of Brooklyn? The soul music and its pervading the film?

5. The Carmichael household, the house itself, meals, the different rooms, the children watching television, the need for discipline?

6. The film as Troy’s story, her perspective? Her age, experience, hopes? Assessments? At home, looking after the other children? Her visit south, her return? Her mother’s illness? Death? Her father? The aftermath?

7. The portrayal of Carolyn Carmichael, Alfre Woodard’s presence, her style? As a teacher, her work? Her relationship with her husband? Her love? Fiery, the need for discipline? Getting the children up, getting them to eat their peas …? Her relationship to each of the children? Her relationship with Troy? The husband leaving? Her illness and its effect?

8. Woody Carmichael, his music, love, support of the family? Weakness and stubbornness? The ice cream episode? Trip, leaving?

9. The various children and their characters, the boys and the girls, watching the television, meals and food, their friends? Their mother’s illness and their grief?

10. Troy and the effect of life, her visit, her aunt and the fussiness, the touch of the caricature in the presentation of these characters? The cousins, the south? The difference between Crooklyn and the look of the south? The presence? The letter, Troy’s return? The effect of the visit south on her?

11. Her aunt, her style, the cousins, adopted, fussiness? The uncle?

12. The neighbours, the music, garbage, the clash – and the police?

13. The sadness of illness, death, the grief for the children, the repercussions and their having to stand on their own feet?

14. The supporting characters, their influence on the family, interactions?

15. A portrait of the United States in the 1970s, black America?