BlacKkKlansman

Spike Lee chose an interesting, absurd and almost unbelievable story, which he skilfully and cleverly adapted into a brilliant satirical comedy. His casting choice is also totally accurate and there’s magic between the actors, which, for the viewer, is pure delight. All that is wrapped into a near-Tarantino style. Then, just when you’re thinking how amazing a film you’re watching, Spike Lee throws in a straight superfluous documentary-like epilogue which differs in atmosphere from the rest. It’s like the director decided to make his opinions clear at all cost, being so explicit even the simple-minded can get the message. Fortunately, despite this last-minute blunder, the general feeling remains positive, and I’d say it’s definitely a quality film worth watching. [KVIFF 2018] (07/01/2018)

Spike Lee made a decidedly interesting film about the first black cop and his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan, which is both unprecedented and attractive stuff, but it lacked balls. John David Washington is unexpectedly good and if he becomes a star I won't be angry at all. Adam Driver surprised me as well and Jasper Pääkkönen was a proper sleazeball. The film is a bit too long for my taste and offers no eye candy sequences; it’s emotionally cold, there’s no action empty, and the humour passed me by, but still I wasn't bored and finished it with curiosity without any problems. But I am not the target audience.60% (11/06/2018)

BlacKkKlansman is an understated, feel good movie with some hints of blaxploitation and is sharply critical of Donald Trump. Racism, the black power movement and the KKK are dealt with here, meaning that the film will not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it’s clever, with Spike’s typical light and precise direction, and can score John David Washington some roles that would make him a new African- American star on a level with Denzel Washington. P.S.: Paul Walter Hauser (the fat little “secret agent” from I, Tonya) is an incredible fit for these ultra-redneck characters. [Cannes] (05/17/2018)

The story, despite its great dramatic and meager sociological potential, only tickles its own possibilities and entertains with its graduated, unpredictable ending. The rest of the time (and especially in the disgracefully stupidly pasted-on epilogue), it's Spike Lee at his worst, that is, in the form of a blind preacher shouting at the top of his lungs. I fully agree with the thoughts he wants to convey, but their format is so terribly tired that a week after the screening I have trouble remembering the pleasant dueling between John David Washington and Adam Driver, and all I can recall are the endlessly repeated references to the pop culture of the time and the social clues for the hard-hearted, which is why I am being a bit more strict in my rating this time around. (02/21/2019)

Campaigner Spike Lee is this time (traditionally) a hindrance to filmmaker Spike Lee. And so a good film is clearly ruined by not being satisfied with the hints that are not said between the lines and the viewer's intelligence, but has (traditionally) a need to say everything on its mind and what timeless parallels it wants to outline. And so here and there the characters recite, here and there documentary shots from the present, etc. are incorporated here. However, which (this time) is clearly annoying, because in the core of the film it is all that way anyway. In addition, very nice in terms of keeping on top of things view and from filmmaking as well as acting point of view. (08/19/2018)