Chi-Raq, 2015.
Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Nick Cannon, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack.
SYNOPSIS:
When an 11 year old girl is caught in the crossfire of gang warfare on Chicago’s South Side and dies as a result, the women decide it’s time to put a stop to gun culture. Their weapon? A sex strike.
Spike Lee isn’t holding back. Not that we’d expect anything less, but in Chi-Raq he’s taken present day problems, fused them with a piece of classical theatre and created a dazzling, angry piece of cinema. With balls.
Those theatrical origins go back to Ancient Greece, in the shape of Aristophanes’ comedy, Lysistrata. The main problem is in our faces from the outset: 7,356 gun related deaths in Chicago between 2001 and 2015, more than number of Americans killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined over the same period. And Chi-Raq is no mere pun: it’s what the people in the South Side call their part of the city.
It’s also the street name for Demetrius (Nick Cannon), leader of the Spartans. Together with rival gang, the Trojans, led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes, with a bling eye patch), they’re responsible for the street warfare, and for the death of the 11-year-old girl who gets caught up in one of their battles. Which is when Chi-Raq’s feisty girlfriend, Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) decides to take action, bringing all the local women together to make a stand for peace behind their rallying cry of “no peace, no pussy.” It’s a strategy designed to bring their men to their knees, as well as the peace table.
This is Lee at his most political. Gun crime is his major concern, but this is also a searing social commentary, with unemployment, deprivation and overall poverty on the agenda as well, and he uses dialogue, song lyrics and on-screen captions to push his messages home. He keeps faith with Aristophanes by making his cast speak in rhythmic, punchy rhyming couplets that are just a heartbeat away from the hip-hop soundtrack. And he’s held on to the Greek convention of a chorus, this time a sharp-suited, cane carrying Samuel L. Jackson, who comments on the action and links the scenes together. Just like any self-respecting chorus, but he does it all by himself.
Vibrant, sometimes funny and always sharply observed, this is raucous, raunchy entertainment. But after every moment of humour comes something darker: just watch grieving mother Jennifer Hudson clean her daughter’s blood from the pavement. Lee has set out to use that entertainment value for a serious purpose, using it to make his messages even more memorable. Add to that some powerful scenes – the little girl’s funeral, with its tub-thumping rhetoric from priest John Cusack, is a real show-stopper – an unflagging narrative and a terrific ensemble cast and what you have is a piece of cinema that grabs you by the throat and refuses to let go.
The declaration at the start is that “this is an emergency”. And Chi-Raq is full of that urgency, made on grand scale but full of the smaller details that give it a humanity all of its own. You won’t have seen anything quite like this before, which is one good reason to see it. But it’s just one of many in what is a perceptive and important piece of contemporary cinema.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Freda Cooper – Follow me on Twitter, check out my movie blog and listen to my podcast, Talking Pictures.
Originally published December 2, 2016. Updated November 14, 2019.
