Set in modern-day Southside Chicago a.k.a. Chi-Raq,
the update sees the neighborhood at war with gang violence. Rapper Chi-Raq
(Nick Cannon, former host of “America’s Got Talent”) and his girlfriend
Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) are in the middle of the fight, a beauty couple
associated with the Spartans. Across town, Cyclops, played by Wesley Snipes
(wearing an eyepatch) leads the Trojans. A nightclub shooting at one of Chi-Raq’s
shows, first set to his home, and the murder of a young neighborhood girl caught
in the Spartan v. Trojan’s gunfight makes Lysistrata to find a solution to the violence
that is putting her home at danger. Her peculiar plan is simple but clever. She
assembles the wives and girlfriends from both the Spartans and Trojans gangs,
and asks them to withhold intercourse from their men until they agree to put
down the weapons and sign a peace treaty.
That’s the basic jest of the story. Richard Crouse
said in his review, “There’s more, including a seasoned community activist
played by Angela Bassett, Jennifer Hudson as a grieving mother, John Cusack as
a fiery priest and Samuel L. Jackson’s flowery-tongued one-man Greek chorus named
Dolmedes but the pieces are stitched together with such daring creativity that
paragraphs of description won’t prepare you for the cheeky experience of
watching “Chi-Raq.” Lee mixes and matches powerful anti-violence statements,
large-scale dance numbers and outrageous comedy in an olio of social commentary
that shouldn’t work, but does.”
When Irene, played by Jennifer Hudson, scrubs her
daughter’s blood from the street, pouring water on the stain only to watch it
spread and get larger, Lee effectively and flowingly makes the figurative point
that no matter how hard you scrub, the bloodshed will increase.
Later as the women take over the National Guard Armory,
the men use romantic songs blasted on loudspeakers to break their will. Just as
they begin to collapse to the smooth sounds of Oh Girl by The
Chi-Lites, Lysistrata gives them earplugs and the intercourse strike goes
unbroken.
Crouse noted, “The tone is all over the place, made
all the more bizarre by the dialogue, which is all in verse.” “The situation is
out of control,” says an adult club owner, played by Dave Chappelle, after his
employees join the strike, “and I’m in front of an empty stripper pole.” It’s
today’s language inspired by Aristophanes, Tupac, and Kendrick Lamar, important
and brave.
“Chi-Raq” is a strong experience. Crouse mentioned, “Lee
is fearless in his handling of the material (he co-wrote the script with Kevin
Willmott), taking chances narratively and visually, to tell the timely and hot
button story of a “self-inflicted genocide.”” It is powerful, preachy, frustrating
but in the end is unforgettable.
As I had stated last week, I read Lysistrata
when I took an Ancient Comedy course in college. It was one of the funniest
plays I ever read. I think everyone should read the play, regardless of how
much you’re into Greek plays. Whether you read it or not, you will love “Chi-Raq.”
I wanted to see this in the theaters with my brother when he asked what I
wanted to see, especially after Spike Lee was promoting it in his interviews.
However, we didn’t see it. The film is available on Amazon Prime, so if you
have that, check it out on there. This is one of the funniest films Spike Lee
has ever done and I think everyone will be laughing nonstop from beginning to
end. Check it out and have an enjoyable time laughing at the film.
Next week we will look at another biographical film
that I looked up to watch for this month when we continue “Black History Movie
Month.”
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