Chi-Raq

Release Date: December 4th, 2015
Running Time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Spike Lee
Written by: Spike Lee & Kevin Willmott (based on the 411 BC play Lysistrata by Aristophanes)
Starring: Teyonah Parris, Nick Cannon, Angela Bassett, Wesley Snipes, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Hudson, John Cusack, Michelle Mitchenor, La La Anthony, D.B. Sweeney, Dave Chappelle

Spike Lee has explored themes surrounding sex, sexism, gender roles, and feminism before—most notably in Jungle Fever (1991), Girl 6 (1996), and She Hate Me (2004)—but perhaps never so boldly as in Chi-Raq. Alternately funny, creative, weird, disjointed, and at times brilliant, Chi-Raq isn't an ordinary Spike Lee film, or an ordinary film period. It's satire first and foremost. And did I mention it's a musical? There are numerous R&B, rap, soul, and gospel numbers performed throughout, and the dialogue is almost exclusively spoken in rhyme. This is great, although it's not entirely consistent; the majority of the dialogue is delivered in a kind of old school rap or jazz scat style of cadence, but inexplicably the rhyming is periodically abandoned. This is one of the uneven elements of the film that feels as if Lee and/or his co-screenwriter got a bit lazy at times. It's unfortunate, because making a HipHop musical in which all lines rhyme is a great idea, and one that I don't believe has been executed before—and they do it most of the time here so I would've liked to see them go for broke, tighten it up, and do it consistently throughout the film. Nonetheless, for the most part the tone and style of the movie are congruent with the wacky story content.

Chi-Raq is a loose adaptation of the classical Greek comedy play Lysistrata, written by Aristophanes circa 400 B.C. In that work, the female protagonist Lysistrata persuades the women of Greece to withhold sex from their male lovers and husbands as a means to force them to negotiate peace, and put an end to the Peloponnesian War. This strategy inflames the battle of the sexes, and I assume (because I've never seen nor read Lysistrata) that hilarity ensues. Chi-Raq follows this basic plotline, but is updated to the present day urban gang territory of Chicago's southside. The title is a portmanteau of "Chicago" and "Iraq", a nickname given to the city by its residents due to the high level of war zone-like street violence.

To some degree Chi-Raq is thematically linked to the aforementioned She Hate Me, which likewise takes a satirical look at sex, power, and gender roles in a story about a man forced into prostitution by a female pimp. And the feel of Chi-Raq is reminiscent of Lee's similarly ingenious but messy satirical film Bamboozled (2000). But where that film focused primarily on race and racism in show business, this one focuses on sex and gender roles in the context of street gang violence (although race is in the mix here too, as with many Lee films). While set in Chicago, it's a commentary on the modern American phenomenon of the violence faced by usually young black people in major cities across the country, perpetrated by the police or by other young black people. But while police brutality and murder is definitely highlighted, with references to many victims that have been in the news in recent years (Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and others), the film's focus ultimately remains on black-on-black street gang violence, and the socioeconomic conditions that it results from.

Like in the ancient play that the film is adapted from, the protagonist is named Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris), the girlfriend of a local rapper and gangster who takes the moniker of his city, Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon). Chi-Raq is the head of a gang called The Spartans, who are perpetually at war with another gang, The Trojans, headed by Cyclops (an eyepatch-wearing Wesley Snipes). Following a rash of recent shootings including one in which a 7-year-old girl is killed by a stray bullet, Lysistrata is encouraged by the girl's mother (Jennifer Hudson) and an older woman who previously lost her child to gang warfare (Angela Bassett) to pressure Chi-Raq to stop the violence. Lysistrata takes it to heart, and comes up with the idea of launching a "sex strike". She first rallies her friends—the other girlfriends of Chi-Raq's gang members—and then approaches Cyclops' woman Indigo (Michelle Mitchenor) and her crew. Through several lively musical numbers Lysistrata succeeds in convincing all the female partners of gang members to join her in the cause.

The women start out sceptical but soon become empowered by the noticeable effects of their sex appeal, and before long it becomes a citywide, then nationwide, then worldwide movement. And the men grow increasingly flummoxed and frustrated as the strike gains momentum and continues for days, to weeks, to months. Scores of women protest on the streets, and Lysistrata and her crew occupy an armory as the protest expands to not only gang members, but to all male perpetrators of war, violence, and misogyny. City and state officials, politicians, and the police quickly get involved. The women have a slogan, "No peace? No pussy!", and in perhaps the film's most awesome sequence crowds of women in cities all over the world are shown shouting this chant in their own different languages.

In some respects Chi-Raq is kind of an amped up feature length film version of Beyoncé's "Formation" music video, as black-on-black crime, police brutality and murder of unarmed black people, and the Black Lives Matter movement are all touched on. While the film's concept, details like the "No peace, no pussy" chant, the rhyming dialogue, and the musical, satirical approach are all imaginatively executed, the overall message may not be entirely clear. With so much going on, it's sometimes fascinating yet sometimes also a muddled mess. But better to have too much going on than too little, and there's enough here to leave viewers with something to think about.

Themes of feminism, sex, sexism and misogyny, gender roles, race, and class are prevalent throughout, but are explored in such an exuberant, stylish manner that the central message gets somewhat muddied. As much as the film has a feminist theme in some respects, the focus is less on male-to-female violence and more on male-to-male violence—which is of course also obviously a serious matter, but the lack of emphasis on female victims of male violence is a bit perplexing given the feminine sex-focused theme. Perhaps the film is suggesting that female sexuality, when used in an organized, conscientious, intelligent manner, is/can be more powerful than any male aggression, violence, or warfare, and can in fact be used as a tool to achieve peace and force positive, progressive change. Maybe the film is suggesting that (a specific, toxic form of) masculinity is linked to and the cause of male aggression, violence (against each other and against women), and war. The story remains compelling throughout as the women continue pressuring the men to end war and sign a peace accord. And they take it even further, also seeking truth and reconciliation for the victims of gang violence including for the families of children who died from stray bullets in drive-by shootings. It's a cartoonish urban fairy tale; a thoroughly unique film.

Spike Lee is the writer-director of two of my favourite movies of all time, Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X. Many veterans from those and other Lee films are present here, including Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Wesley Snipes, and Roger Guenveur Smith, as well as new additions to his cast such as Teyonah Parris, Nick Cannon, and Jennifer Hudson. Even Dave Chappelle appears in one scene. And it's a pleasure to see so many of Lee's old gang, and the newcomers, united around such saucy material. Chi-Raq has echoes of Westside Story, Romeo & Juliet, and of course Lysistrata from which its adapted, tied together with some familiar Spike Lee flourishes, and some new ones as well. Lee has expanded his repertoire in recent years, branching out into genres that he hadn't before as he explored the bank robbery film with the outstanding Inside Man (2006), the war film with Miracle at St. Anna (2008), the crime film with an American remake of the cult Korean film Oldboy (2013), and even a vampire love story with Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014) (a remake of the 1973 cult film Ganja & Hess). The results of such branching out are usually interesting if not always wholly successful. With Chi-Raq he continues that exploration with this bizarre and wildly satirical musical adaptation.
Rating (out of 5): ★★★½
• Nik Dobrinsky / Boy Drinks Ink
January 21st, 2016