Spike Lee's Crooklyn

Crooklyn Dir. Spike Lee

Feat. Zelda Harris (Troy), Alfre Woodard (Carolyn), Delroy Lindo (Woody), Spike Lee (Snuffy)

Universal Pictures, 1994

What is immediately different about Crooklyn, which seems to be shot in the same area as Lee’s Do The Right Thing, is the tone of joyous innocence of these times. There are no serious racial conflicts, crimes or tensions depicted. Sure the kids get into a fair share of mischief with friends and tease other neighbors, but what more do you expect of kids? They do, however, inhabit a world mostly of fun and good times. In the past, director Spike Lee has held black politics, black on black racism and interracial sex under a microscope, but don't look for that in this film. In fact, don't even look for plot. That's not to say Crooklyn is a bad movie. I personally feel that Crooklyn is a wonderful little gem that doesn't need a plot because it's a pictorial of real life. If there is some semblance of a plot, it's the films 10-year-old heroine, Troy (Zelda Harris) and her experiences growing up in Brooklyn during the early '70s with four brothers. Troy's father (Delroy Lindo) is an unemployed jazz musician and her mother (Alfre Woodard) is a homemaker who's gone back to work as a teacher in order to provide for her family. Dad is a quiet, loving man, but Mom tempers her love with outbursts of shouting, spanking and strict adherence to her rules. This reminds me of my upbringing in which my mother played the "bad guy". She was the enforcer while my father was laid back and cut us a lot of slack.

In one scene, Woodard wakes the kids in the middle of the night, when she comes home to find that they didn't clean the kitchen as she instructed.The kids still have it pretty good. It's a carefree life filled with days of hopscotch, jumprope and stickball. A time when parents didn't have to worry about their kids being killed by drug dealers of gang members. This movie basically just takes the viewer back to a simpler time, which is different for me especially because I never lived in a neighborhood this lively and compressed. We live in a completely different time now and it's crazy to think that about 40 years ago life was completely different. No matter where you grew up, most adults who have siblings, can relate to this family. The fights, the carrying on and squealing to Mom and Dad about each other and the bonding together when tragedy strikes, is very familiar. The movie also demonstrates Lee's skill. The middle of the film gets a bit odd when the Troy visit relatives in the South. Here Lee shows, in an interesting and humorous way, the distorted world of middle class suburbs. The scenes are shot with thin, elongated figures and give the movie a different feel.

Lee accents the film perfectly with dozens of popular ‘70s rhythm and blues tunes by Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five and others. Delroy Lindo and Alfre Woodard portray caring, struggling parents in a most realistic manner. Young newcomer Zelda Harris is a remarkable talent who tugs on viewers’ heartstrings as Troy. This heart-warming film proves to many that Lee is a very personal filmmaker while it tells the tale of a loving African American family and displays Black Love. This is a film everyone should watch and actually pay attention to atleast once. It'll be worth it. Spike Lee took his time with this one.