Brooklyn…nobody captures that energy better than Spike Lee. Question, why are all his movies about Brooklyn in the summer? Maybe there’s some serious childhood memories attached to his summers in the city. I’d like to see him do a film about Brooklyn in the winter. An altogether different vibe aesthetically and emotionally, but I digress. Being a PK (Preacher’s Kid) I really can relate to what the protagonist is going through in this film. Course my father wasn’t quite as bad, but his friends were. It’s like Christ was a badge of honor in the hood and knowing you were his right hand man placed you in the upper echelon. Most of the time the high and mightys home life’s were never as perfect as they wanted folks to believe. I would even go as far as to say 90% of them are just as dysfunctional as everyone else’s. This film is going to be quite cathartic for some of us.
Synopsis:
The latest in Spike Lee’s Chronicles of Brooklyn anthology–which also includes “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986), “Do The Right Thing” (1989), “Crooklyn” (1994), “Clockers” (1995), and “He Got Game” (1998)–RED HOOK SUMMER tells the story of Flik Royale (Jules Brown), a sullen young boy from middle-class Atlanta who has come to spend the summer with his deeply religious grandfather, Bishop Enoch Rouse (Clarke Peters), in the housing projects of Red Hook. Having never met before, things quickly get off on the wrong foot as Bishop Enoch relentlessly attempts to convert Flik into a follower of Jesus Christ. Between his grandfather’s constant preaching and the culture shock of inner-city life, Flik’s summer appears to be a total disaster–until he meets Chazz Morningstar (Toni Lysaith), a pretty girl his age, who shows Flik the brighter side of Brooklyn. Through her love and the love of his grandfather, Flik begins to realize that the world is a lot bigger, and perhaps a lot better, than he’d ever imagined.
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