Do The Right Thing

Spike Lee's classic joint of race relations in a Brooklyn neighbourhood on a hot hot day, from 1989.
This is an excellent, dazzling, exciting, thoughtful film. We have a great look to the burning shades of orange and yellow, the bright colours and the cool clothes. The sharp sweat and the clean cut people all with those razor wire personalities underneath. The look of the film is actually something akin to late 80's kids TV shows, which doesn't take away weight but does give the film an ultra cool look, even so now twenty-one years later.
The language is genuinely fascinating. At times it can be a little shouty, as in it is difficult to sympathise with anyone if they're just going to be screaming at each other, but a lot of the time the script is sharp, thoughtful, and funny. The uses of slang and chit-chat is downright cool. Especially your DJ. The use of one's speech leading to another, in the crowd scenes, gives a wonderful poetry when required.
Lee's camerawork and pacing is excellent. He is not afraid to break from realsim, the term 'street opera' is often used for this film and that is appropriate, with the choruses and the blocking where characters stand in such positions as to give the greatest theatrical impact and cohesion.
As for the story and the characters, Lee has done something special. The fair minded look at race relations is extraordinary when one considers the undoubted anger that runs through so much of the work. No one is perfect, no one (except Sal's elder son) is fair to say downright evil. Lee's very accurate settings up of distinctly moral siutations within the street context give us exercises to really make us think about the subjects of race and violence. This movie should be shown to everyone with too black-or-white (ho-ho-ho) a view.
The characters aren't always very likeable. It is difficult sometimes to even engage with Mookie, who does seem a bit of a lay about. The sheer anger of all the characters is sometimes difficult to get over, especially to the British viewer, whose expereience of racial problems is perhaps less out in the open, more subtle. This is really a film about American race relations, which isn't a criticism, just a point that this is a film about a very specific atmosphere, with universal themes having to be drawn out rather than immediately present.
But this remians for all to watch a terrific film. Funny, entertaining, colourful, sharp, thoughtful. We are left to ask which thing should you do, what is the right thing? Congratulations to Mr Lee for framing the debate so marverllously.