Following a brilliant streak of socio-politically charged movies such as "Do the Right Thing", "Jungle Fever" and "Malcolm X", "Crooklyn" comes as a Spike Lee joint in the same vein than "Mo' Better Blues", a lighthearted slice of African-American life in New-York neighborhood centering on a protagonist coming to terms with his personal demons and in the same time, inspiring us in our own real-life situations
another gem that makes me believe that, directing-wise, Lee's "gotta have it."
And Spike Lee movies never imitate one another and "Crooklyn" works on its own level, a "N" that evokes both Nostalgia and Neighborhood, Brooklyn where Spike Lee grew up in the 60's and 70's, a Brooklyn misled by that pun in the title, for there's no crook in this Brooklyn, the closest characters to criminals spend time sniffing glue, the closest moments to confrontations are family arguments and the closest to an act of violence is an accidental punch in the face of a noisy neighbor. I don't think I'm spoiling the film by inviting you to lower your guard and stop being afraid, this is a nostalgic film, a coming-of-age story whose heroine is 10-year old Troy (Zelda Harris).
It seems like a decade starts to induce nostalgia when it's 20 years old, and like "Dazed and Confused" one year earlier, the 70's started to tickle the mind of nostalgic film-makers, "Crooklyn" is set in 1973 according to some researches, a time where soul music, TV sitcoms, in fact TV and candies defined the most of childhood culture. In one strike of film-making simple genius, the opening credits feature all the games kids were playing at that time and the trivia says that none of the child actors knew how to play these games anymore
these are the devastating effects of the video game generation, to which I belong. But being born in the early 80's, I remembered some of these games and I don't think I got interested in video-games that early, there is more to explain their sinking into oblivion.
And the reason has to do with my preconceived ideas about the film, being a Spike Lee movie set in a African-American neighborhood, I expected scenes of violence to punctuate the film, I expected seeing one of the children being confronted to drugs or the use of a gun, I thought that Troy shoplifting and lying to her mother would ultimately lead her to a dangerous descent into crime, I thought the father would be an abusive alcoholic man who'd abuse his wife, and if one thing, it was Alfre Woodward, as the mother, who got on my nerves more than the cool and surprisingly sweet and tender Woody, played by a great Delroy Lindo. No disrespect to Alfre, she just reminded me of my own mother, you have fun with your Dad but not moms and apparently this was still true in Lee's years.
Once again, Spike Lee comes with a surprise and shows his capability to be warm and tender, funny and sweet, conveying the real feelings of childhood, but it's not the kind of magic resuscitated through childhood memories, Spike Lee was a teenager in the 70's and didn't sugarcoat his memories or those of his sister Joyce who co-wrote he film, those were really innocent times where kids could be left near the home without fearing getting a stray bullet or something else, kids could play outside, could dance, their only homemade distraction were eating and watching TV, which left plenty of room for imagination. Times have changed, and video-games and violence-oriented TV programs say more about the changes of mentalities and environment that confined kids in the TV room.
A film like "Crooklyn" can appeal to any kid who's grown up in any neighborhood, basically, all of us, because it simply tells the story from a grown-up's perspective of how great were these years, when family made one, when our parents were young, where each year featured a new step forward into life. I remembered when I was a kid, each birthday, each number had something special 7, 8, 9, 10 etc. etc. Now, I'm 32 and I couldn't care less
I guess childhood is the magical part of our lives because we can't be nostalgic as kids, we don't have any references from the past, and the future is like in light-years, like stuck forever in childhood, we cherish the present and embrace life with all the fun and all the greatness. And this is what Troy' story is about.
Troy is a little girl who tries to make her place in a family full of boys, she's bullied but she always has a comeback, she's sweet and curious, and through her journey, we turn the pages of all inner childhood diary, remembering these days where adults were untouchables or when we had to spend time in a stranger's house. The film features a chapter set in the South where Troy spends some vacation I her Uncle's family, we take a cool breath of fresh air with a cute friendship with a girl. Spike Lee would shoot the scene in a panoramic views but I agree that was unnecessary for the film didn't need these stylistic tricks, it was a novelty on its own. Anyway, after that vacation, you'd expect things to change for Toy, it will but not as you expect, and again, Spike Lee knows how to surprise you.
The film is served by a wonderful casting, a great soundtrack reviving all the classics of the 70's, some nice supporting performance, from David Patrick Kelly as the constantly bullied neighbor weirdo to Isaiah Washington and a scene-stealing Aunt Queenie
I still have a soft spot for the performance of Delroy Lindo as a sweet and caring father.
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