TURF WARS:

The Spike and Marty Show – Part Deux



Will LaDuke
Films of Scorcese/Lee
Prof. Shelleen Greene
Tues/Thurs. 6:00-9:30 pm.

THE SPIKE AND MARTY SHOW - PART DEUX:


TURF WARS


“I felt like a kid at Christmastime who’s just been given the biggest, most expensive train set to play with…”

- Orson Welles 1

Hollywood legend has it that Welles made this statement to the press upon learning that he had been given, quite literally, the keys to the kingdom, in his new film contract with fledgling RKO studios – after achieving nationwide notoriety with his WAR OF THE WORLDS broadcast in 1938. The train analogy is being presented here as I feel it works in describing the careers of Martin Scorcese and Spike Lee. And while neither one has exactly been “given” the train set – they have both been allowed to play at being “conductor” on several occasions throughout their long and prolific careers. Both Directors have, like Welles before them, rode into Hollywood on a wave of controversy and notoriety, and both have been at the helm of a train wreck or two. Unlike Citizen Welles, though, is that both have managed to rebound from their creative and box office failures, and continue to ply their trade in the cinematic arts.

In the case of the two films we will be discussing – Scorcese’s GANGS OF NEW YORK, and Lee’s DO THE RIGHT THING, we find these two latter day film auteurs at the peak of their game and the height of their powers as they move from the rich tableau of their multi-ethnic urban environments as seen in some of their earlier films, and strike out for pastures anew. In Scorcese’s film – he remains in virtually the same area geographically as depicted in MEAN STREETS – but he moves his narrative backward through the mists of time to chronicle the rise of Gang warfare and Tammany Hall political corruption in Nineteenth Century Gotham.

Mise -en- scene: The Five Points as recreated by Scorcese and Feretti

By working at the famed Cinecitta Studios outside Rome, both Scorcese and production designer Dante Ferretti were able to recreate the Infamous Five Points section of New York City in extravagant and expansive detail. As the director himself puts it: “In general, the décor isn’t real; it’s heightened or transposed”. And, if these streets seem to appear to be a tad leaner than what we are used to seeing in a Scorcese film – they are not to be considered any less mean. The director goes on to say that; “I wanted to show, in the first part of the film, a world that nobody would recognize if they didn’t know the title of the film…so audiences will think they’re in some medieval society where a breakdown of the civilization has occurred and these people are just battling it out” 2

No Child left behind; The child of Priest Vallon witnesses the carnage.

In GANGS OF NEW YORK – the director has found, in Leonardo Di Caprio, a worthy successor to the mantle formerly worn by Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel as the director’s Everyman/Alter Ego. And it is a delight to have Daniel Day Lewis back in a Scorcese film so many years after the release of AGE OF INNOCENCE. Both actors are locked in a power struggle from which only one can survive. The film is a culmination, of sorts, of many of the themes and leitmotifs that inform the Scorcese canon. Attitudes towards race and sexuality are on display here as is the requisite mount of what Alex in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE referred to as “A bit of the old ultra-violent.” 3 A weak spot may rest in Scorcese’s depiction of women in this story. We go careening from one extreme, in this case, a Celtic warrior from the Dead Rabbits Gang…

"A touch of the auld ultra-violent": A Dead Rabbit claiming her spoils

…to quite another with the introduction of Cameron Diaz as the erstwhile love interest – Jenny. Whatever limitations Ms. Diaz may have as a serious actress, it becomes painfully obvious that she is an acting company whose talents range far over her head.

Shallow Reflection: Diaz out of her depth

Of course, the one topic that galvanizes filmgoers attending a Scorcese movie is the level of violence depicted in the film, and here, the director doesn’t disappoint. He starts and ends the film with climactic urban battle scenes – the second taking place during the notorious New York City draft riots in 1863. The director explains the differences between the two set pieces that open and close the film. “I felt that the opening battle scene is very different from the riot scene. The soldiers are shooting into groups of rioters…it’s a different way of approaching the first battle.” 4

There Will Be Blood: Day Lewis as Bill the Butcher - delivers the coup de' grace

DO THE RIGHT THING

A King at his Castle : Sal works the neighborhood

In DO THE RIGHT THING – Lee examines another side to the urban dilemma that is Bedford Stuyvesant – by shifting his focus to an Italian –American owned business that is slowly being ground down financially and the four individuals who are selling their Pizza on the hottest day of the year. As the director himself puts it; “…the idea for the film arose…out of the Howard Beach incident. It was 1986, and a Black man was still being hunted down like a dog.” 5

In Sal’s Famous Pizzeria – Lee has created an environment unlike any in his previous films. The mise-en-scene becomes claustrophobic as the tension level rises between Sal and his two sons and their pizza loving clientele as the day wears on and the temperatures rises. The crux of the dilemma concerns the Wall of Fame that features photos of famous Italian-Americans but nothing that proclaims the heritage of the pizzeria’s main customers.

Wall of Infamy: What makes Buggin' out - BUG OUT!

Our audience identification factor comes in the form of Lee’s character of Mookie and the film chronicles his day as he roams his neighborhood, encountering the regulars who populate this section of Bed-Stuy, and eventually travels back to Sal’s famous to work the late shift. We witness characters like Radio Raheem, Buggin Out, and Sister-Sister as they live out their lives and play their part in the melee that is to follow. Wahneema Lubiano has criticized Lee in the past and DO THE RIGHT THING in particular for presenting characters that does not represent “real-life” people and questions the standards by which the filmmaker presents his narrative. I fear my reaction to Lubiano’s position is one of skepticism. I mean, did we even watch the same film? We aren’t here to dissect a documentary, but rather to enjoy a piece of cinematic entertainment. DO THE RIGHT THING is, first and foremost, a work of fiction – a story, and most definitely NOT meant to be seen as a social tract!

Batter Up!! - Aiello addresses the film's many critics

Lee’s film remains relevant because the narrative manages to transcend the brutally mundane reality of the Howard Beach incident that inspired the film. Art, is, after all is said and done, meant to be subjective. And Film Directors like Martin Scorcese and Spike Lee continue to bring us their cinematic point of view and, on occasion, have aspired to create just that – ART.

Crash and Burn: Sal's in Flames at the conclusion of DO THE RIGHT THING

THE SPIKE AND MARTY SHOW:

A Tale of Two Directors
















Will LaDuke
Films of Scorcese/Lee
Prof. Shelleen Greene
Tues/Thurs. 6:00-9:30 pm.



THE SPIKE AND MARTY SHOW:

A Tale of Two Directors

At first glance, they would appear to be an unlikely pair of cinematic bedfellows. The one fellow, an asthmatic film geek and wannabe Gangster Priest from Manhattan’s Little Italy, scratching and clawing his way into filmmaking – riding the crest of the “New Hollywood” movement that rose, phoenix-like from the ashes of the old studio system. Whilst the other, a kid straight out of Brooklyn was nicknamed “Spike” (as Aftab notes: “…in honor of the boys’ petulant nature…” 1), and who made his claim to a career in filmmaking against formidable odds in the wake of the “Blaxploitation” genre of films that were popular in his youth. And, although a generation separates them, on the surface it would appear these two filmmakers would appear to have little, if anything, in common. And there, we would be sadly mistaken. For Martin Scorcese and Spike Lee are both proudly defiant “sons of the Big Apple”, who have used the environs of New York City and its culture as a key element in many of their films. As Lee himself puts it: “I’m definitely a product of New York City in my sensibility.”






Both directors have received their fair share of kudos from critics and film goers alike and have been widely acclaimed as Film Auteurs (ala’ Hitchcock), in their respective films.
And, both Lee and Scorcese are acolytes of the cult of Cinema – with the pair of them referencing and appropriating a number of distinctive film styles from the films they had admired in their youth.

In MEAN STREETS, Martin Scorcese draws upon a number of cinematic influences, including the French New Wave cinema of the 1950’s and, of course, the Italian Neo-Realism school of filmmaking. In bringing his violent fable of life on the streets of Manhattan’s Little Italy to life, the director fashions a slightly fictionalized slice of life in the neighborhoods that he grew up in. Near the start of the film, Scorcese uses a long, continuous tracking shot that allows the camera to follow the film’s protagonist – Charlie – into the somewhat seedy bar that he calls his hangout – that is reminiscent of Truffaut’s 400 BLOWS, or perhaps even Orson Welles’ opening shot in the film TOUCH OF EVIL. Later in the film, we see Harvey Keitel (as Charlie); descend into the depths of substance abuse at the bar again. And this time, the camera is locked upon Keitel/Charlie as both are seemingly propelled through the room in a style that mirrors the camera technique of Fellini or Antonioni.

MEAN STREETS is a film that touches upon many themes that are near and dear to the director’s heart - in prejudice with the Italian American community. The most overt example occurs in the faux romantic subplot involving Charlie and an exotic dancer at the bar, named Diane – who just happens to be black. Charlie first makes a date with Diane – but soon loses his nerve en route to their scheduled assignation. We see the director make use of what are referred to as “free, indirect subjective shots” - or as Hull and Viano have characterized as: “…shots in which the film’s director uses the gaze of a character in their films as an outlet for their own way of seeing…”.2
The twin demons of Religious morality and unpremeditated, unmotivated violence rear their respective ugly heads throughout the Scorcese canon. In MEAN STREETS, the issues of religious morality and unbridled Catholic guilt are exemplified in the character of Scorceses’ alter-ego – Charlie. From virtually the first time we see Charlie – we find that he – like the director – is constantly questioning the very faith that he is bound irretrievably to.

In one instance, Charlie places his hand over an open flame to test his resistance to the concept of eternal damnation and hellfire. As Casillo notes: “The images of self-immolation reflect Scorceses’ adolescent experience of a Catholic retreat, when he still aspired to the priesthood and when priests told him to place his fingers in fire so as to comprehend infernal torture.” 3. And religious symbolism abounds throughout the rest of the film, such as in another sequence where Charlie and his ‘social albatross’ of a friend – Johnny Boy- seek refuge from the violence of the streets in a lonely churchyard. It is a tableau rendered straight out of the New Testament that recalls the betrayal of Christ by his followers in the Garden of Gesthamane.
And yet another theme that runs throughout the director’s work is that of the dichotomy of the Madonna/Whore complex. We see this theme manifested in the ill-fated relationship between Charlie and Johnny Boy’s cousin – Teresa. Charlie carries on sexual relations with Teresa, but will not even consider marriage to her – due to her family’s status within the neighborhood, and an infirmity which has further served to isolate and ostracize Teresa in the Italian American community.

We find an examination of the Madonna/Whore complex told in a slightly different manner in Spike Lee’s 1986 film – SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT. The film’s plot is reminiscent of Kurosawa’s masterpiece – ROSHOMON (1946) – in which we have three different suitors giving their perspective on the film’s title character – Nola Darling. As Houston Baker writes: “Nola Darling represents (the) black woman’s desire incarnate. Hers is a vision quest for the elusive “IT” that provides human satisfaction” 4
C
Nola’s bed provides a central fixed locale upon which lies her tale. The image of the bed – juxtaposed with yet another central image in the film – the Brooklyn Bridge – as focal points to characterize Nola’s struggle to maintain her own sexual identity and realize her own journey to self-reliance and independence. Her vocation as a collage artist is given a bit of a spin with regards to the bed motif during a disastrous Thanksgiving dinner, where Nola and her erstwhile suitors seek refuge together there.

Lee also has some cinematic flourishes up his sleeve as well. Shooting the film mainly in Black and White, the filmmaker makes an abrupt transition to color in a birthday sequence that manages to reference BLOW-UP and the WIZARD OF OZ at the same time.

Lee even manages to make reference to a plot device worthy of Fellini when he depicts a dream sequence of Nola’s that features a “Greek chorus” of former girlfriends that rapidly deteriorates into the stuff of nightmares.






Early on in the film, the director uses a cinematic technique of the French New wave in general and Goddard in particular when he employs a number of “jump cuts” to illustrate the variety of inane “pick-up” lines used by Nola’s former

unsuccessful suitors.

Lee will use this technique again later in the film, to slightly more provocative effect in depicting Nola’s lover Jaime’s “near rape” – a sequence where we see Nola with the two other lovers (Greer and Mars) juxtaposed into the scene in a more than slightly disconcerting manner.

Throughout the course of their film careers, both Martin Scorcese and Spike Lee have crafted a body of films that play specifically to their respective cinematic wheelhouses. Both have made inventive use of their oft-times limited resources and anemic film budgets to make highly personalized, yet socially relevant films. Movies that speak not only to the legion of film critics, analyzing their every move – but also display a broad range of appeal to the average filmgoer in their target demographic markets as well as the general movie going public.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Aftab, Kaleem – “ That’s my Story and I’m Sticking to it.” W.H. Norton & Co. 2005 p. 6
2) Hull, Stephanie and Viano, Mauriziano – “The Image of Blacks in the Works of Coppola, DePalma and Scorcese.” (Electronic Reserve) p. 189.
3) Casillo, Robert – Gangster Priest – “The Italian American Cinema of Martin Scorcese.” University of Toronto Press – 2006. p. 189.
4) Baker, Houston A. – “Spike Lee and the Commerce of Culture”. (Electronic Reserve) p. 7

The Spike and Marty Show

Blog Response # 1
Question # 1
Well...quite obviously the use of music to convey a sense of cinematic milieu is of paramont importance to both Scorcese and Lee. Both Auteurs have used popular styles of music in the soundtracks of their respective films to set the mood of that particular piece - as well as to facilitate in the construction of its cultural environment in broad cinematic terms.
In ITALIANAMERICAN - Scorcese uses traditional Sicilian folk music over the opening titles as a form of shorthand - telegraphing to the audience the idea that the gist of the film will be in presenting a personalized view of the immigrant experience in America.
In the Spike Lee joint - JOE BED STUY'S BARBERSHOP - we find the director using several differing styles of American music to capture the mood of the piece and set the tone for the film itself. The "one way ride" fate that befalls the title character in the film's opening moments is choreographed by blaring strains of soul music from a prominent New York radio station. Later in the film, Lee uses a style of Black Southern Country Blues to establish the seemingly hopeless and somewhat seedy milieu of the eponymous tonsorial palace, and its downtrodden owner - Zach Homer. And, in order to convey the sense of apparent hopelessness of Zack's quest to run a "clean" establishment - Lee makes ironic use of easy listening or "smooth" Jazz -(which is nothing short of anathema to Jazz purists such as the director's father - Bill Lee).

Question #2
In JOE BED STUY'S BARBERSHOP, Director Spike Lee's film appears to give credence to assertions made by both Houston Baker and Donna Gabaccia (in their respective articles) for the sense of disconnect the southern black diaspora experienced in following job opportunities and relocating to the indutrialized and predominantly white northern cities. With the character of the wife - Ruth Homer - Lee gives voice to the lament of one who remains dissatisfied with inner city life and who yearns to return to the South and get back to her roots. As Baker puts it, Ruth is characterized by: "...her desire to return to the South and to Southern Blues..." Ruth has property back home in Atlanta, and for her, the South is seen as a place not only for a homecoming, but also signals what could be a fresh start for both her and her "stubborn" husband - Zach. And, after becoming the victim of a brutal purse-snatching, The South is seen by Ruth - in Baker's words as: "...a place that will satisfy her own need for space in which to stetch out". It is the extent of Zach's love that he is willing to risk his life by embezzling the numbers money ( and risking the wrath of Mr. Lovejoy) in order to give Ruth what she desires most.