After the
murder of a child by a stray bullet, a group of women led by Lysistrata
organize against the on-going violence in Chicago's Southside creating a
movement that challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and
around the world. (Courtesy of Internet Movie Database)
CHI – RAQ is directed by Spike Lee, written by Kevin
Willmott & Spike Lee, and produced by Spike Lee. As a fan of Spike Lee, his
films and method of telling a story I find sometimes his stance on things has
to be taken with a grain of salt. Whether it is a political stance or just his
point of view on certain issues I find somehow these elements always leak out
into his films. I’m not saying it is a good thing or a bad thing it is just an
observation after having seen almost all of his films. That said CHI – RAQ is a
film modeled after the play called Lysisrtata and how a group of women used
their bodies to stop a war. Having known that cued me into why the dialogue was
done in a sing songy poetic nature. For me at first that was a little jarring,
but as I settled in it seemed to make sense. I found CHI – RAQ to be
entertaining, but at a certain point I just kind of lost interest as it began
to take on the absurd and outrageous and I kind of wanted to see the story told
in a real way without all the metaphor and unrealistic take on a real matter.
Overall not my favorite Spike Lee film, but still entertaining so I give CHI –
RAQ 3 stars
That looks fascinating and I want to take a look, especially with your take on it. I rarely ever think that politics and entertainment should intermingle. It's hard to not color our work with our own agendas, but to be truly successful story teller is to be able to remove our personal prejudice in the interest of a more truthful perspective so that the viewer can make up their own mind. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely check it out, many people from the Chicago area were against this film even with the "hopeful" perspective, but I am sure they were feeling exploited ...GO!!!
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