“Dis joint is based upon some fo’ real, fo real sh*t” a title card reads as BlacKkKlansman starts.
This title card immediately sets up what is to come for the audience, in the hilarious, yet also disturbing, film directed by Spike Lee.
BlanKkKsman, like the title card states, it based off the true story about how the first African American police officer of Colorado Springs, infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan.
As implausible as this seems the police officer in question Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) achieved this by pretending to be a white man on the phone, while fellow an undercover cop pretended to be him in person.
What follows is an oddly comedic take on the KKK, with the absurdity of their racist beliefs being put on full display.
This leads to numerous funny moments as Stallworth and his partner Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) laugh behind the Klan’s back as they talk to them on the phone.
However, this film does not stray away from the disturbing aspects of the KKK, with one story that was told making me feel sick.
The film even managed to make pillow talk between a Klansman and his wife disturbing. However, even though the film does have a mixed tone with its both comedic and disturbing moments it juggles these moments very well for the most part.
One thing I really appreciated about this film though was how subtle it could be.
For instance, there was one scene where Stallworth is relaying a racist story over the phone to the leader of the KKK David Duke (Topher Grace) and it is heavily implied that this is based off racism Stallworth himself experience.
This is also a very politically charged movie, not only reflecting on the horrid racism of the 1960s but also the racism seen today.
There are even a few jabs at the Trump administration here and there.
The cinematography is also very well done and the only big criticism I have of the film is that its romance subplot gets cut off before it is resolved, although now I think about it, that may have been the point.
Overall BlacKkKlansman is a very well made film with both clever comedy and subtle moments.
It will leave you laughing at the ridiculousness of racism while also creeping you out about it.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 