91欧美激情

WASHINGTON — “No peace, no piece.”

With one subversive tagline, Spike Lee whacks us with his daring new premise: Can peace-seeking women聽reduce聽gun聽violence by denying sex to their trigger-happy men?

That’s the concept of the urgent new flick “Chi-Raq,”聽a true Spike Lee Joint in every sense of the phrase: gutsy, stylized and聽controversial, less pushing the envelope as it is ripping it wide open.

Cowritten with聽Kevin Willmott, Lee’s聽script is聽adapted from聽Aristophanes’ Ancient Greek play聽“Lysistrata” (411 BC), a comedy about a woman聽who persuades聽the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands until they agree聽to end the Peloponnesian War.

In Lee’s adaptation, an innocent child is killed by a stray bullet on the south side of Chicago, causing Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris) to聽organize a group of women (Angela Bassettt, Jennifer Hudson) to withhold sex until聽rival gang leaders (Nick Cannon and Wesley Snipes) stop the drive-by shootings.

“A lot of people are asleep, a lot of people are not aware of what’s happening in their own country, and hopefully this film will spark dialogue and discussion so we can try to rectify major problems which are killing us, no pun intended,” Lee tells 91欧美激情 in a joint interview with Parris.

While Lee hopes the film will spark social dialogue, it’s important to note that the听蝉肠谤颈辫迟’蝉聽dialogue is often spoken in a poetic, rhyming verse:聽“Cops and gangs, black and brown caught in the middle. Insane! I can hear Nero fiddle.”聽Unlike the more realistic聽“Malcom X” (1992), this highly stylized approach occasionally rings over-the-top 鈥� particularly when Lysistrata seduces a聽general in聽Confederate flag underwear while straddling a cannon 鈥� but the absurdity聽helps to drive home very聽real points.

“We as a country have to do something about guns. I’m not talking about taking away anybody’s Second Amendment rights, but just logical things we can do to make America a safer country and not bow down before the NRA and the gun manufacturers,” Lee says.

As the film’s antagonists聽fire military-style weapons at each other in the streets of an American city, the title “Chi-Raq” speaks for itself. In truth, the term is pulled from聽everyday lingo on Chicago’s streets, as residents聽articulate the gun violence plaguing the Windy City on a daily basis.

“Every day we were surrounded on set by people in the community. They were very supportive. They certainly embraced us. We worked with this organization , which is a bunch of mothers and men who have lost loved ones to gun violence, so having their energy on set with us, it certainly motivated me to make sure I told the story well,” Parris聽tells 91欧美激情.

Lee has taken some heat for using the term聽“Chi-Raq,” but it’s no different from characters in HBO’s “The Wire” shouting “WMD” as code for Baltimore drug deals as the Iraq War raged overseas.聽In fact, several actors from “The Wire” make cameos in “Chi-Raq,” including Felicia Pearson aka Snoop and聽Isiah Whitlock, Jr. aka Clay Davis, who appears briefly to deliver his signature聽line.

The familiar faces聽鈥斅燚ave Chappelle,聽Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson 鈥斅爉ake for a collaborative effort shot in just聽five聽weeks from June 1 to July 9.

“Just being with so many artists who were so excited and eager to not only tell this story, but to make sure we told it well. …聽Being with legends in cinematic and theatrical arts, I certainly learned a bunch from them. … Not only did I learn by simply watching, but by doing,” Parris says.

Despite the obvious starpower in the supporting cast, it is the rising star of Parris that shines the brightest. Parris delivers a modern-day Foxy Brown聽after bursting on the scene as secretary聽Dawn Chambers聽in聽AMC’s “Mad Men” (2012-2015). She then caught Lee’s eye as CoCo Conners in “Dear White People” (2014), where she shared the screen with聽Tessa Thompson聽(“Selma,” “Creed”).

“First I said, ‘Who is this?’ Then I said, ‘I wanna find out who she is and possibly work with her.”

“To聽have this strong female character carry this movie, that’s special. You don’t get to see that often. …聽She finds her courage and her ability to lead in her mentor, Miss Angela Bassett, who plays Miss Helen. I think it’s important to see that it’s necessary to have people in the community, elders in the community, help shape and guide our young people when they get off track,” Parris聽says.

Wise elders have long been the light of Lee’s cinema, most memorably Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis. Bassett knows this territory well, recalling the wise parental figures that she and Laurence Fishburne provided for Cuba Gooding Jr. in John Singleton’s classic “Boyz N The Hood” (1991). Just as Fishburne delivered a gentrification聽聽in “Boyz,” Bassett erupts over insurance in “Chi-Raq.”

While “Boyz N The Hood” opened with a powerful “STOP” sign 鈥� asking us to stop the violence and increase the peace — “Chi-Raq” opens with the flashing words, “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY,” kicking off a motion graphics opening credit sequence set to Cannon’s “Pray 4 My City.” The track’s socially conscious lyrics aspire to the political commentary heights of a聽Kendrick Lamar, brilliantly juxtaposed against an ensuing scene where a聽profane club performance of聽violent lyrics sparks a hail of聽bullets.

Lee’s elders聽have plenty to teach the hormone-raging youth, personified by rival gang leaders Chi-Raq (Cannon)聽and Cyclops (Snipes).聽Sharks & Jets? Bloods & Crips? Meet the Spartans & Trojans.

Cutting through the聽chaos聽is聽John Cusack’s priest, who聽delivers聽a聽rousing eulogy for a聽drive-by victim, a second instance of Cusack “Love & Mercy” this year. “What makes someone a target isn’t the shooter. What makes someone a target is the聽community that surrenders to fear,” he聽proclaims.

“The approach was gonna be, let’s indicate, let’s shed light on the issues that聽put her in the coffin. And John Cusack gives a great performance in that scene. I’d like people to know that his character is based upon a real live person, Father Michael Pfleger, who is a white Roman Catholic priest, and that’s his church in that scene,聽Saint Sabina聽on Chicago’s south side,” Lee says.

The handling of Cusack’s character epitomizes the deceptively fair approach of Lee’s work, which is too often misread by聽close-minded detractors eager to shout “race-baiting.” Rather than merely “playing the race card” — a term that itself has become clich茅 in its ignorance 鈥� Lee’s best films admirably feature colorblind moral messages with a painstaking attempt at fairness amid the chaos, ensuring that there’s plenty of blame to go around and聽all of us,聽quite literally, have skin in the game.

It’s easy聽to credit Lee’s masterpiece “Do the Right Thing” for the聽advancement of聽people of color. Entire textbooks have examined聽the film’s primary purpose聽in this regard, from depicting聽 as a pre-Rodney King victim of , to a pizza-parlor聽debate between Lee and聽John Turturro about .聽It also just happened to be the聽聽of a future President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in 1989.聽A lot can聽happen聽in 20 years.

Yours Truly also聽believes that Lee doesn’t receive聽enough credit for his painstakingly fair depiction of white characters. Look no further than a scene where Giancarlo Esposito (“Breaking Bad”) and Martin Lawrence (“Martin”) ridicule a white neighbor聽played by John Savage (“The Deer Hunter”). The scene is set up as a classic white vs. black clash聽between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird fans, but Lee ironically gives Savage the sympathy, countering calls for him to move back to Massachusetts by stating, 鈥淚 was born in Brooklyn,鈥� as Lee鈥檚 camera symbolically looks down upon the angry group.

This is how you win converts, ladies and gentlemen, by maintaining聽an inherent fairness in your work whilst raging for social change. This same principle applies聽to in-your-face moments, like the film’s seminal聽racism montage as聽multiple ethnicities break the fourth wall to spit offensive stereotypes.

NOTE: Video below聽contains explicit聽and聽offensive language to drive home an important point.

Just as聽that montage聽needed聽Jackson to stop the madness — “Time out! Y鈥檃ll take a chill. Ya need to cool that sh*t out! And that鈥檚 the double truth, Ruth!” — “Chi-Raq” again casts Jackson as聽a smooth narrator with the moral high ground. While “Do the Right Thing” with Jackson telling the audience,聽“Wake up,” Jackson similarly聽closes “Chi-Raq” with an emphatic: “Wake up!”

This final plea shows聽Jackson in front of a giant American flag,聽recalling聽George C. Scott’s iconic scene in聽the superb war biopic “Patton” (1970),聽which won seven Oscars including Best Picture.

“That’s an to my main man Francis Ford Coppola,” Lee says with a smile.

No doubt, when the film history books are written, Lee will be analyzed just as furiously as聽Coppola, two auteurs desperately trying to make sense of senseless violence in the world around them. While Coppola ended “The Godfather” with a symbolic door closing on Diane Keaton, Lee presents聽“Chi-Raq” as a critique on gender politics, opening the door to聽women聽with the power聽to ignite change.

“Spike is a visionary, but he does not always let us in on what that vision is,” Parris says. “That was certainly my most challenging part, having to surrender my ideas of what I thought I needed in order to deliver, and just having to trust this guy who’s been doing this for over 30 years.”

91欧美激情 invited Lee to examine his decades of filmmaking in a closing聽Q&A聽of聽rapid-fire filmography:

‘She’s Gotta Have It’ (1986)

The first film.

‘School Daze’ (1988)

The second film.

‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

The third film! You’re asking me them in order, what am I gonna say? (Parris:聽“Change the order!”)

Alright, ‘Malcom X’ (1992)

Denzel Washington.

‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989)

The first film where I was comfortable directing actors.

‘Clockers’ (1995)

That was a film that was supposed to be directed by Martin Scorsese starring Robert DeNiro, and they decided to do “Casino” instead, and Marty asked me to that.

‘She’s Gotta Have It’ (1986)

Shot in 12 days.

‘Jungle Fever’ (1991)

Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Sam Jackson as Gator.

‘He Got Game’ (1998)

Ray Allen, Denzel.

‘Inside Man’ (2006)

Another great film we did with Denzel Washington, in fact the last one with him. It’s been a minute.

‘When the Levees Broke’ (2006)

It took the United States five days to rescue its own citizens on the mainland of聽the聽continent.