Jungle Fever (1991)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer:

Spike Lee (writer)

Release Date:

7 June 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Friends and family of a married black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.

Plot Keywords:

Black Man | Architect | Secretary | Racial | Racial Slur

Awards:

5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Wesley Snipes	...	Flipper Purify
Annabella Sciorra	...	Angie Tucci
Spike Lee	...	Cyrus
Ossie Davis	...	The Good Reverend Doctor Purify
Ruby Dee	...	Lucinda Purify
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Gator Purify
Lonette McKee	...	Drew
John Turturro	...	Paulie Carbone
Frank Vincent	...	Mike Tucci
Anthony Quinn	...	Lou Carbone
Halle Berry	...	Vivian
Tyra Ferrell	...	Orin Goode
Veronica Webb	...	Vera
Veronica Timbers	...	Ming
David Dundara	...	Charlie Tucci

MPAA:

Rated R for sensuality, strong language, drug content, and for violence.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Australia:M | South Korea:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Finland:K-14 | Germany:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks

Trivia:

Samuel L. Jackson had just undergone treatment for drug addiction and had only two weeks from his discharge from rehab to the start of filming. Jackson has gone on record as saying that Gator's ravaged look was not make-up, but actually the result of Jackson's own detoxification.

Quotes:

Flipper Purify: Of course not. It is a myth. I think.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chez Whoopi (1991) (TV)

Soundtrack:

If She Breaks Your Heart

This was the era when Spike Lee got as good as he ever got.

Spike Lee made "Jungle Fever" in the era when he also made masterpieces like "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X". I will admit that the subject matter here is nothing that we haven't seen many times (an interracial love story), but Lee knows how to do without getting idiotic or manipulating emotions. In this case, African-American Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) has an affair with Italian-American co-worker Angela Tucci (Annabella Sciorra), thereby setting off a racially charged chain reaction.

A previous reviewer said that Lee throws in so many subplots that the movie gets too confusing. I agree that the various subplots do this to an extent, but I think that Lee mainly wanted to show how people's lives were getting affected by the series of events portrayed. There were some clichés, namely the bigoted Bensonhurst residents, but this is certainly a well done movie. Watch for a young Halle Berry as a crack addict, and I believe that Queen Latifah appears as a waitress.