On Sunday 13 December regular LWLies contributor Ashley Clark will introduce a 35mm screening of Bamboozled Spike Lee’s scathing entertainment industry satire from 2000. Clark is the author of ‘Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee’s Bamboozled’, a new book exploring the film’s impact and legacy, which is available to buy from amazon.co.uk
We asked Clark why he feels the film is still relevant 15 years on: “I think it’s a great and important film, certainly one of Lee’s best. How many other major American films have questioned Hollywood’s racist past, present, and (whisper it) future as fearlessly and aggressively? Very few, if any. When I first saw it aged 15, I didn’t know what to make of it, and defaulted to the prevailing critical view that it was an unfocused failure. And it sure it is messy. But, after having spent time unravelling its mysteries, I’m convinced that its so-called flaws – the raggedness of its form and content, Lee’s daring aesthetic choices, like filming on digital video – are what make it so brilliant.”
Bamboozled screens at the Ritzy Cinema in Brixton at 4pm and tickets are available from picturehouses.com
Published 7 Dec 2015
By Helen Reid
Four titles playing at Film Africa in London showcase African filmmakers finally telling their own stories.
Watch the latest episode of our weekly review show, featuring Justin Simien’s witty college comedy.
The trailer for Gods of Egypt suggests Hollywood is in no rush to break one of its most repellent habits.
Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. We believe in Truth & Movies.
