Besides really looking for minor details this screening, I also listened to the class’ reactions. I love when something funny or sad happens on screen (like the Italian man getting soaked in his antique car) and I see friends next to me laughing or making some sound of discomfort. These audience reactions let us know that Spike Lee is doing everything right, and that’s something I’m learning how to do right now via my film production major.
One of my favorite scenes from what we saw today is the first one in the movie. It’s the one where Señor Love Daddy, the DJ at the radio station, screams “wake up” at people. This doesn’t give anything away, but those words are mirrored in the end of the film. It’s a really cool technique that Lee implemented; repeating a phrase at the beginning and end of a movie. It really makes a lasting impact and statement about how everyone needs to “wake up” and realize that these cultural, racial and religious clashes help no one.
I think that’s what this film is all about: trying to get people to understand that all this hate is pointless. I won’t give away the final sequence of events, but it instantly became my favorite Spike Lee when I witnessed the events that took place at Sal’s Italian Pizzeria.
I didn’t realize that Love Daddy’s words were actually a message to the characters in the film! Great use of foreshadowing on Spike Lee’s part, without giving away too much about the film.