Recently I wrote a review of the film BlacKkKlansman, in this blog I would like to analyze a scene from the film.
Warning there are some graphic images in this blog post.
The scene is a three minute scene that beautifully shows the juxtaposition between the KKK and the Black Power movement.
The scene opens with a medium close up of an elderly black man, he is telling the story of Jesse Washington. He talks about how Jesse was slow, or as they call it in the time of the film mentally retarded.
We see the group of black people surrounding the elderly man. They are all looking at him with great interest in the story he is telling. He continues to talk about how Jesse got blamed for the murder and rape of a white woman. Some of the people in the room shake their head in shock. Jesse got put on trial and he was convicted by an all white jury. When the old men tells the group that the jury only deliberated for four minutes they react with sadness. You hear the groans of pain from the group. It is shot in such a way that it feels like you are sitting their with them, there is a light camera shake, you see just over the heads of people and the lighting is done in such a natural way that it feels real.
Then it cuts to a KKK meeting, they are about to welcome their newest members with their traditional ceremony. The Klan leader talks about nobel prize winner Dr. William Shockley, who’s supposedly had proven that each and every white person has the genes of a superior race flowing through their veins. You can see Flip (the undercover cop) standing next to him, he looks at him with a confusion and a slight disgust. The camera is placed in such a way that we can only see Flip and the Klan leader. We do not know how the rest of the group is reacting but I am willing to bet that they are all agreeing to what is being said. The next shot moves to a total of all the Klan members, they are ordered to put on their mask. During this scene if feels as if the audience is merely standing by, in the previous scene we were a part of the movement and now we are only observing it.
We are back with the Black Power movement, the old man continues to tell the story of Jesse, but this time we also get a look at Ron (Black police officer) we see him enter the hallway where the KKK members were standing moments ago. It cuts back to the old man, the story is getting more gruesome as he tells about the crowd putting a chain around Jesse’s neck. The group of people around the old man is getting louder with their disgust. Ron is being let into another room by a black man, he gets a warning to be careful and he pays the man. The old man continues to tell the story, but now over the footage of Ron walking to a window where he starts watching something. It cuts back to the old man, the story is getting worse and the group around him is listening to every word he is saying. We see some beautifully lit close ups of the reaction of people.
Back at the KKK meeting we see the leader standing with his eyes close, he is praying to god for ”true” white man. During his speech we see a shot of all the Klans members gathered with Ron looking out of the window at the top right of the screen. The connection between the KKK and God gives the scene a creepy feeling, you feel that these people truly believe what they are saying. The scene really puts the leader in the middle of it all, it shows his believes and power over the Klan members. After the speech he calls Ron’s name (Flip) and starts the ceremony.
The old man talks about how the police just stood there whilst Jesse’s fingers were being cut off, and whilst the crowd were doing other horrible things to Jesse.
At the Klan meeting Ron (Flip) is being asked if he is a white non-jewish american, and if he is willing to give his live to advance the white race. The camera is close but it constantly feels like we are watching, we are still not a part of the group.
The old man tells about how there was a photographer who was taking pictures of the torture of Jesse and how these photos were later sold as postcards. The crowd reacts in shock and then slowly falls silent whilst we look at the pictures.
What I love about this scene is that is shows these two different types of styles. In the one story we are a part of the crowd listening to a man telling a horrific story, and in the other part we are looking how one group is talking about how they are better than other races. In both of the stories you feel disgust, but for very different things. In the one it is the act of people that you are disgusted by and in the other it is the mentality of the people. It perfectly shows how these two different groups tell their story. With the Klan they are all looking up at one man in a religious manner, whilst with the Black Power movement they are all sitting and gathered around the one telling the story.
References
BLACKkKLANSMAN. 2020. [DVD] Directed by S. Lee. United States: Focus Features.
Gildersleeve, F., 1916. Lynching Of Jesse Washington, 1916. [image] Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lynching_of_Jesse_Washington,_1916.jpg [Accessed 31 May 2020].