Do the Right Thing: an Explosion from Within
Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, one of history’s most culturally significant films, brings to light both past and present issues of racism and prejudice. The film explores realistic issues of race and relationships between the people living in a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Brooklyn on the most sweltering day of the year. Throughout the movie, the neighborhood’s people grow increasingly frustrated with each other as the temperatures continue to rise. Tensions soon boil over and eventually explode as a riot breaks out inside of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. The brutal altercation leads to the death of Radio Raheem, making him the victim of police brutality. Director Spike Lee uses realism to emphasize the tensions arising between the film’s characters by exploring different camera angles and shot techniques, and transforms the technical aspects of filmmaking to create a powerful art form. Such techniques used in Do the Right Thing include close-up shots and free ranging movements of the camera to intensify certain significant scenes. The wrestling scene between Sal’s sons, Pino and Vito, and the riot scene at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria are just two important scenes in which these camera movements and shots drastically affect the audience’s experience, thus enhancing the quality of the film. The first time the audience is exposed to close-ups and a free ranging camera is when Pino, Sal’s eldest and racist son, calls his younger brother, Vito, into the back of their father’s Pizzeria. The next thing the viewers see is Pino with his arm wrapped around his brother’s neck as he wrestles his brother while Vito attempts to break loose. Lee decided to use a close-up of the action in order to intensify the altercation. As opposed to having the camera sit on a tripod or a stable surface at a distance, Lee opted to have the camera being hand-held for the purpose of getting up close and personal to the action. Also, by having the camera being hand-held, the bumpy
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