Chi-Raq
classified 15Please note: This was screened in Dec 2016
This new Spike Lee joint reimagines Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy Lysistrata as a dazzling modern-day hip-hop musical in its bold, imaginative and incendiary look at gangland war in Chicago’s South Side.
Chicago, present day, and gang violence is out of control. A cesspool of black-on-black violence, gun worship and macho misogyny, ruled by unbreakable cycles of poverty and oppression. Chi-Raq (Nick Cannon) is the leader of the Spartans and the lover of foxy, feisty Lysistrata (Teyonah Parris). They are at war with rival gang led by Cyclops (Wesley Snipes). But when a young girl is killed in the crossfire, Lysistrata decides to take some radical action. On the advice of her activist neighbour she convinces all the sisters, on both sides of the divide, to take an unconventional stand - to swear off sex with their men until the fighting stops.
At its core, Chi-Raq is deadly serious (more Americans have been murdered in Chicago in the last 15 years than have died in Iraq and Afghanistan combined) yet its scorching social analysis comes thrillingly framed as loud, lurid and sexy entertainment. It may feel as if you’ve stumbled into a hip-hop concert, a spoken-word recital and a gospel-choir performance rolled into one but you’ll leave also feeling like you’ve witnessed a sprawling, blistering and searing social satire on gun violence from one of America’s most important directors.