“Chi-Raq” Film Analysis

            Spike Lee’s films always seem to cover a controversial topic and one of his most recent “Chi-Raq” isn’t an exception. From stopping gang violence to promoting world peace, this film covers a variety of topics. Lee’s choice of storytelling was very interesting within the film for unlike most modern films where you are thrown into a story and you watch it unravel in front of you, in “Chi-Raq” it is presented as an event that had already happened and you are being retold the story by a narrator which happens to be Samuel Jackson. When the narrator appears normally with a zoom shot or voice over, it generally signifies an ending of one act and the beginning of another similarly to a play. In addition, to the film being broken into acts the entire screenplay is in meter so almost every other line rhymes creating a unique Shakespearean atmosphere, which is no longer present in modern storytelling unless used for a remake of a Shakespeare play; but this film doesn’t tell a story of Shakespeare, but instead an ancient Greek play known as Lysistrata, and it is revamped to cover modern topics. Lee’s style of storytelling within the film is the main selling point, for its told in his own unique film universe that Lee had created while also encompassing elements from different types of film. For example, for a good majority of the film it felt like a Woman’s picture due to the gender topics that were present, while another part of the film felt like a war film due to the vast amount of voyeurism and shooting that was present due to the gang conflict that created the main plot of the film. On the other hand, the film could also be classified as apart of Transnational Cinema for its message for peace over violence had spread to multiple countries. The film as a whole was phenomenal with its use of time lapse and narration making it very fluid and clear to understand, while also adding in a meter rhyme scheme to the script in order to show that what is being depicted isn’t real, but very much could be. In the end, the film almost feels like it was college video project that was uploaded to YouTube, but this weird style is what will keep you entertained throughout the majority of the film. Thus, if you havn’t seen “Chi-Raq” it will leave you with discomfort while thinking how you can help you community and stop conflicts within the future generations.