‘Do The Right Thing’ or — A King Vidor Hip Hop Remix?

Finally watching Spike Lee’s excellent, colourful, dynamic ‘Do The Right Thing’ (1989) last night I was left shocked. Not by any of the conflict, language or violence on-screen but at how old-fashioned the film felt, despite all the boomboxes and “motherfuckers”.

Now this isn’t a criticism as when I say “old-fashioned” I don’t mean it feels dated. The exact opposite in fact with the movie feeling as fresh and relevant as it must have back in 1989. By old-fashioned I mean I felt like it could’ve been made in the 1930’s with the movie sharing a lot in common with King Vidor’s excellent ‘Street Scene’ (1931): both films take place over the course of a boiling-hot Summer’s day in a Brownstone New York neighbourhood where racial and social tensions rise with the heat only to explode in violence and a teeming mass of humanity.

So this sort of film had been made by Hollywood years back where heat and proximity are pressurised in the autoclave of the city allowing tensions to vulcanise. Lee even has a Greek chorus of three guys commenting on it all along with other similar dramatic devices that hark back to older traditions… despite all the boomboxes and “motherfuckers”. What feels new, though, is Lee’s energy and attitude (although ‘Street Scene’ has got plenty of those too) and his one-two punch of love and hate that makes the film seem it’s made of fire.

A lot of this is down to the cinematography and dialogue, both of which are unrealistically blistering but utterly entrancing. None of it is subtle but boy, are we hooked especially after Sal’s declaration at the start that he’s going “kill someone today” leaving no room for ambiguity as to what’s going to happen. The only questions being — who, how, when and will it even be Sal’s fault?

Until then everything that happens happens to build on that pressure and the sense of the inevitable. The good news is that it’s nearly all hysterically funny! Most of the pressure on Sal comes from Buggin Out and Radio Raheem but their grievances revolve around music, celebrity photos and pizza. Not exactly worth killing anyone over (I actually found Lee’s Mookie to be more of a concern as he’s actively interfering and manipulative). We’re laughing and laughing a lot so when things do kick-off it’s a real shock.

And it is a shocking climax and not just due to the events occurring but also down to how Lee shoots it all. There’s a real feeling of a city-block exploding, of chaos usurping order and a sickening spiraling out of control meaning ‘Do The Right Thing’ suddenly feels extraordinarily dangerous. It’s a remarkable sequence although, again, very similar to ‘Street Scene’ which might be even MORE chaotic than Lee’s.

There’s a lot of cinematic references and homage in ‘Do The Right Thing’ so even though it deals with racial and social tensions it’s also dealing with cinematic ones too. That could be why the most violent image in the film, for me, was seeing the photo of Sophia Loren go up in flames (is this Lee challenging the position of American-Italian filmmaking orthodoxy with a new voice here? I don’t know and I think I could be reaching but I’m having fun doing so).

‘Do The Right Thing’ is fantastic and absolutely worthy of its reputation. It has that ingredient so many films can lack — the pizza sauce of hot life. The script is sharp but it’s the performances that really make it zing with Giancarlo Esposito’s Buggin Out being my favourite and having some of the best lines. And sure, Lee is still working with traditional styles and ideas but the remix he’s given them is startlingly fresh and providing no easy answers. It’s a film that can make you sweat in Winter.