Sunday, March 9, 2014

DO THE RIGHT THING: The 25 Year Anniversary by Joshua Triliegi


DO THE RIGHT THING ! : 
Twenty - Five Year Anniversary 



by Joshua Triliegi



Motion pictures that are created at the end of a decade 
tend to encapsulate, envelope and regurgitate that time 
and place. Sometimes, they throw the entire experience 
back at us, either in celebration of it, or, as is often the 
case, rebelling entirely against the values of that time 
and of that place. These films, for some reason or another 
are important, they are the ' punctuation mark ' at the 
end of a stylistic sentence. Sometimes a simple period,
other times a question mark and, rather effectively, every 
now & then, the ever defiant: exclamation point ! Looking 
at the decades in a linear fashion allows the viewer to put 
in perspective the decisions being made by the film maker.


In 1939, films like Gone with The Wind, The Wizard of OZ and 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame expressed a certain something 
of the decade that was.  In 1949, it was,  All The Kings Men, 
The Third Man & Twelve O'Clock High. 1959: North by Northwest,
Imitation of Life & Some Like It Hot. In 1969, Midnight Cowboy, 
Easy Rider, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. 1979 gave us: 
Apocalypse Now, Being There and Norma Rae. In 1989, we were 
given films such as Sex, Lies and Videotape, Batman & My Left Foot. 


Though, the film we are discussing is Spike Lee's, opus feature, 
Do The Right Thing. An exclamation point film that entirely coughs 
up the indulgent artifice that we now know as the Nineteen Eighties. 
A completely retro progressive time and place, a decade for the so-
called white man. Conservative values, commercial qualities and 
a return to the 1950' s America, which, deep down inside, was a big 
step backwards from the cultural and ethnic advances made in the 
1960' s and 1970' s, especially for a young African American such 
as Mr. Spike Lee. An outspoken Brooklynite through and through. 
The son of a Jazz purist, raised in the 1960' s & '70' s in New York 
City. The center of defiant cultural celebration and often upheaval.  
" I was raised in a household where we were all encouraged by my 
parents to speak your mind. ", the film maker admits and indeed in 
Do The Right Thing, that is exactly what most, if not every character 
does. A speaking of the minds often leads to some form of friction, 
and with the melting pot experience, the mix of origins, ethnicities, 
values and the long hot summer in the city, friction leads to fire and 
fire leads to ashes, with ashes, there is closure and then a rebirth. 



Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing is indeed an American landmark film.
I recall viewing the film on opening weekend with a rather light skinned 
audience on Wilshire boulevard in West Los Angeles, by the end, there 
was indeed confusion. By the time the ever famous trashcan scene 
ensued, even I was a bit embroiled in a recognization [ new word ] of 
values. Did Mookie, the pizza delivering protagonist, quote-unquote : 
Do The Right Thing ? We had to ask ourselves, what happened here ? 
A man was killed, there was an injustice, no one in authority seemed 
to care, there was a 'cover up' of the facts. There was a history of this 
type of act and someone, somewhere, somehow needed to make a 
statement, Mookie, [ played here by Spike Lee] made the statement. 
Even to this day, it can be debated, wether Sal' s Pizzeria should have 
bit the dust. Which is exactly what makes this film important. All too 
often, films answer the questions that we as humans need to ponder. 
Original, author style films don't answer questions, they ask questions, 
leaving the viewer to delve, wonder and eventually ask and maybe,
even answer, for themselves, what the right thing to do actually is. 


For a film to stand the test of time, there are several criterion. Does the 
film hold up to audiences today?  Does the film still speak to any social 
truth or endearing value ? Does the film encapsulate a time and a place 
as a historical document which is worth preserving ?  Yes.  Yes.  Yes. 
Do The Right Thing is not a 'perfect ' film, in terms of balance or so - 
called structure, or narration, but it is a very original, truthful and 
heartfelt film with a certain ' energy ' that is difficult to describe here.
The film has a visual style not unlike, West Side Story, with rich colors, 
costumes, ensemble cast choruses & of course the clashing of cultures 
on the streets of New York City.  African, Italian, Puerto Rican, Asian 
and indeed White or Anglo Americans vying for their own space to live, 
to walk, to inhabit in equal parts. Add to that rules, mob mindset and 
one long hot summer and you have a great drama with many touches 
of humor, slice of life moments and heroic situations: Such as Da Mayor 
saving the life of a young boy recklessly crossing the street. 




Spike Lee has Woody Allen on his left: humor, love of women, 
family story telling & a 'do it your own way' style. On his right, he 
has Martin Scorsese : bold visual style, muscular camera movements, 
music appreciation & a 'this is the way it really is' style. But no one 
can say he is overly influenced by any director, writer or film maker.
Nor is he the 'first African American director' to have success. Spike 
often sites Charles Burnett and Gordon Parks, but like any great 
director or artist, Spike Lee has an appreciation for film history . 
In that way, he is like Mr. Scorsese, a sort of encylpedic like mind 
for his craft, it's rich history and why we love, make and celebrate 
the art of film making. 




The question rises here as to wether Spike Lee would have received 
the kind of accolades that he did not receive [ Canne Fim Festival ] 
for instance, had he not played the character of Mookie, the person 
who is ultimately responsible for the demise of Sal' s Pizzeria ? The 
connection audience members make on a visceral level can often effect 
the judgement on a larger level. Spike Lee is a writer, director playing 
a character in a movie that he has written and directed. Something 
that he has in common with Woody Allen, another influence on Lee, 
specifically his first film, She's Gotta Have It. Film makers take what 
they know, film history, life experience, social concerns, story telling
and when they step up to the hoop, walk into the ring, take the bat, 
the utilize the skills from previous players / directors and give it their 
all. 



So what if Spike Lee  is outspoken ? Since when has that become 
such a big deal, to speak your mind ? Is that not what we are all 
about here in America ? Did we not, originally enter onto this 
beautiful continent, to have a few more freedoms? And did we 
recently forget that, also brought on ships involuntarily, were a 
group of people who had no say in many of the goings on here ? 
That after a few hundred years we finally have an African American 
President ? And at this years Oscar ceremony Best Picture went to 
Twelve years a Slave directed by Steve McQueen, an African-English 
director. Sometimes it takes an outsider to tell the inside truth. 
So Spike Lee is outspoken, good for him, what's your problem ? 
Cat got your tongue ? People often tell me that I am too outspoken. 
Well, I guess I am in good company then. My people went through 
a form of slavery, years of oppression, even an attempt at extinction. 

Spike Lee's films are inspiring, energetic, funny, outrageous, risky,
engaging, sexy, socially relevant, even dangerous: that's the stuff 
of good story telling. If Spike Lee had been Latin, Asian, or Swedish 
& still made the films he had made, this appreciation of Do The Right 
Thing would still remain the same, with the exception of the previous 
paragraph. I did not graduate from film school, though I am a film 
maker, screenplay writer and film critic or historian, if you will. One 
of my teachers, informally speaking, is Spike Lee. His books & diaries 
published after making, She's Gotta Have It, his first feature, were 
instrumental in helping me to overcome any obstacles that ever stood 
in my way. For many of us, his career is our career, someone from the 
so-called neighborhood made it happen, one of us got to tell our stories.  
Do The Right Thing is turning twenty - Five this year and it is time 
for a new generation to discover this film and ask themselves those 
important questions. 
   

The film also has a cast of actors that will go on to have careers that 
include: Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, John Turturro, Martin Lawrence, 
Roger Guenveur Smith & Giancarlo Esposito. Many already had stalwart 
creds such as Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, John Savage and Danny Aiello .


Another way to test a film for longevity factor is: Do the characters 
still exist in your minds eye ? Where are they today, when you think 
of them ?  Mookie, Da Mayor, Senior Love Daddy, Buggin-Out, Smiley, 
Tina, Sal, Vito, Mother Sister, Jade, Ahmad, Ella, Sonny and much more 
importantly, Radio Raheem, where would Radio Raheem be today ? 
That is the real question. Do The Right Thing doesn't claim to answer 
that question. You have to answer it.  Like Da Mayor tells Mookie 
early on in the film,  " … Always Do The Right Thing. " , and Mookies 
answer back ?, " Thats It ?, I got it, I'm Gone. " 


SCROLL DOWN TO READ MORE BUREAU FILM APPRECIATIONS: 




BIG WEDNESDAY 
" Nobody Surfs Forever " : 35
 Years

UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING : " In The Kingdom of Kitsch " : 25 Years








BUREAU: FILM

BIG WEDNESDAY

" Nobody Surfs Forever " 

A Thirty Five Year Anniversary Appreciation

By Joshua A. TRILIEGI


 It's hard to believe that thirty five years have passed since this classic surf film about
California and specifically Malibu beach surfing culture, characters and history had its debut. 
Upon re watching this classic film recently, I was drawn into a kind of nostalgia that reminded 
me of other classic films from the seventies that seem to define the formative years here in 
California. American Graffiti being the other fine example of a piece of cinema that celebrates, 
defines & indeed explains to outsiders what it was like to be a part of a California subculture 
that has since gone mainstream: Classic Cars. Big Wednesday does the same thing for Surfing. 
These days surfing and its nearest offspring, skateboarding, are world renown industries owned 
by a hand full of companies, corporations, associations and ecologically informed non-profit 
organizations.

 But back in the day, guys like Leroy, Jack and Matt made California surfing. The lifestyle and
its loyalty to expressing ones self with nature was a coveted and special relationship that each 
surfer had on his or her own. It was a private experience one had with the waves, the coast, 
the ocean, the earth itself.  It is a sacred thing to drop in on a wave and ride it as long as one 
is able. Honing a craft, one-second at a time, in unison with mother nature. Simply, a person, their craft and the ocean itself relating to one another. 

 I recently took a bike ride along all the coast passing all best surf spots where much of the
film was photographed. Pacific Coast Highway starting at the County Line, Topanga Canyon &
on into Malibu Beach. Re visiting these historic beaches and film locations is a beautiful way
to understand the art of surfing. Reviewing the motion picture Big Wednesday directed by
John Milius and starring Gary Busey, Jan Michael Vincent and William Katt and thinking about 
their careers & some of the damage done personally was a bit heartbreaking. I guess that's the 
power of film to preserve a time and a place. To express a moment in time, be it, documentary, 
fiction or otherwise. As far as surf films go, when it comes to fictional versions of what surfing is 
about, Big Wednesday, in my book, is simply the best at capturing the philosophy, the lifestyle 
& the character of what it is to be a surfer at that particular time and place: the 1960's and its 
transition into the early seventies. With a cameo by Legendary Lightening Bolt founder and classic surfer, Jerry Lopez. An important casting choice that gives the film a groundedness in reality & boosted its credibility with real surf fans during its heyday & initial release. The red surfboard with a yellow lightening bolt placed directly in a vertical fashion down the center of the board was & will always be as iconic as a Mercedes Benz logo. 

There are the documentaries by Bruce Brown: Endless Summer and the like. As well as a 
catalogue of other classics such as Five Summer Stories & the others within the genre. More 
recently Stacy Peralta' s Dogtown Documentary & subsequent Lords of Dogtown as well as 
his Big Wave Surf documentaries have added more information to surfing dialogue. But still 
and all, Big Wednesday is king. I know because I grew up and witnessed the tail end of this 
particular period and hung out with and admired the older guys who were a part of this 
important period in West Coast & specifically Southern California surf culture.

[ Read the short story SURFERS AND LOWRIDERS on our Website for more on this period]

Big Wednesday captures the music, the friendship, the heroic stature, the generation to 
generation torch passing, the gaining your friends/losing your friends aspect of growing up. 
The original musical compositions by Basil Poledouris and theme songs hold up just fine. 
Nothing is too trendy or dated, The costumes, sets, locations and acting are what we call 
pitch perfect. The props and logos have become legendary. The BEAR logo to this day is 
being reprinted and celebrated on sweatshirts, classic cars and stickers. Big Wednesday 
is a classic film in the Warner Brothers catalogue that helped to redefine a generation of 
West Coast culture: surfing, skateboarding and the California cool that people from all 
over the world appreciate, envy and honor, sometimes more than the locals themselves.

The actors actually did most of their own surfing in this film, which is rare. There are surfing 
doubles, but the editing and cinematography is extremely well done for its time. Shot on real 
film, on location, with a group of actors and actresses, including Lee Purcell and Patti 'Arbanville 
at the very end of a time & place when Hollywood was able to create stories that were highly 
dependent on character, story and emotional content.

This film which was released in 1978, thirty five years ago, stands up against any film of its genre. It's as entertaining as American Graffiti, as honest as Dogtown , as funny as Animal House and ultimately a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about the fleeting moments in life. 
Like a wave: life, friends, careers, loves, memories pass rather quickly. Movies such as Big Wednesday preserve these moments, capture those times, creating a painting of sorts, a photograph, a time, a place that will never be the same again. Cinema has a way of allowing 
us to re-enter history, experiencing life itself to enjoy over and over. This has been an appreciation of BIG WEDNESDAY on the 35 year Anniversary.  An ongoing Series of articles marking the Films, Books & Artworks that  are worth remembering, re-watching, re-reading 
and re-celebrating time & time again.


by Joshua A. TRILIEGI Exclusively for http://www.BUREAUofARTSandCULTURE.com


         
BUREAU: FILM

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING

" In The Kingdom of Kitsch "

A Twenty Five Year Anniversary Appreciation

By Joshua A. TRILIEGI



 In 1988 director Phillip Kaufman brought to the screen a novel by Milan Kundera.
Mr Kaufman has always been at least, a decade ahead of the times. His films have 
constantly created genres, influenced directors and bravely translated literature & 
historical events to the screen. His adherence and loyalty to source material is 
unmatched. The Wanderers, The Right Stuff, Henry and June, to name a few, have 
inspired and set the stage for other films within the genre, consistently raising the 
bar on truth, quality, reverence to the originator and entertainment well beyond the 
current trends. Mr. Kaufman brings to life words with a keen sense of detail and a 
wide world view which brings the viewer into a realm of reality or fantasy that seems 
to punctuate humanity and specifically the boundaries with which life presents.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being might be considered his masterpiece, although,
due to his prolific and influential output in other genres, it is safe to say that Kaufman 
will not be remembered for any one film. He is under rated, in terms of being what 
they call a house hold name. But to directors in the industry, film students and 
international film festivals, associations and aficionados, Mr. Kaufman is heroic. 
The Right Stuff opened the door for a slew of astronaut films including Apollo 13.
Kaufman practically created the genre. By setting an absolute tone, fabulous casting,
flawless research and collaboration with top costumers, photographers and producers 
his influence is felt far beyond the time and the place with which his films are released.

In The Unbearable Lightness of Being a stellar cast of actors bring to life historical 
events. Politics, passion, literature and history meld into a contemporary take on a 
situation which relates to and possibly rivals director David Lean's, Doctor Zhivago. 
Film history relies on itself to continue certain traditions. Film makers grow up watching 
films which inspire works of art that later influence the next generation and so on.
As Zhivago was based on a great novel about love that just so happens to be placed 
in a time of political upheaval, so to does the source material for Milan Kundera's novel.

Daniel Day - Lewis spreads his wings in this production which for the first time truly 
employs his talents to an international audience in a story that juxtaposes his love 
for life, women and country and the complications that arise between politics, change,
revolution and expressing one's self as a writer while making a living at another trade,
in this case : brain surgery. One can imagine Mr. Kaufman's desk covered with book 
options through the years & muttering to his producers cliches' such as, 'It's not rocket 
science.' or 'It doesn't take a brain Surgeon.'  But for Kaufman it definitely is rocket 
science & as far as this writer is concerned, it is brain surgery, for Kaufman is a genius. 
I never use the word and yet there it is on the page. There is something about his films 
that generate a certain amount of passion, interest and bon vivant. His take on life is 
liberated, his characters are on the edge of history, pushing the envelope into a new 
time & place. Sam Shepard' s characterization of astronaut Chuck Yeager in the 
Right Stuff is a perfect example. Characters who break boundaries and later seem to 
go uncredited or under the radar. Or bringing to life the triangular love relationship 
between Henry Miller and his lovers. Source material that few directors would know 
how to approach, let alone, how to raise the funds for and bring to life on the screen.

Unbearable Lightness of Being also visits this type of triangular passion and complicated 
relationship that make for great drama. Kaufman's take on life, love & history are dramatic, 
but laced with a pathos, irony and humor that keeps one interested through out. He has 
a rare viewpoint that illustrates life's issues and relationships in an original & complicated 
way. With stellar performances by Lena Olin and a fresh faced newcomer on the scene, 
Juliet Binoche. Supporting cast includes Stellan Skarsgard. This erotic, yet human feature 
film takes us inside Czekloslavakia during a particularly tumultuous time in their history 
with an oppressive an invasive Russian takeover during the nineteen sixties. Politics, passion 
and provocation abound. Kaufman's films almost never come in at the usual commercial 
time of ninety minutes. He is an artist, most of his features are two hours or more. 
Unbearable Lightness of Being comes in at an epic 172 minutes, just under three hours. 
Every scene, every line, every moment is fresh, alive, undeniably truthful, unabashedly 
human & heartbreakingly real. Originally a part of the Orion Pictures catalogue. Produced 
by The Saul Zaentz Company. A brave and bold historical film well worth celebrating.

This has been an appreciation of UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING on the 25 year 
Anniversary.  An ongoing Series of articles marking the Films, Books & Artworks that  
are worth remembering, re-watching, re-reading and re-celebrating time & time again.

by Joshua A. TRILIEGI Exclusively for http://www.BUREAUofARTSandCULTURE.com
Posted by at
Location: SANTA BARBARA CA