For many movies, the title card will say the director’s title after which “movie,” so, for instance, “A Steven Spielberg Movie” or “A Movie By Quentin Tarantino.” Nevertheless, Spike Lee is a kind of administrators who’s at all times pushing the boundaries of creativity. He’s recognized for his provocative narratives that examine racial themes, characteristic deeply advanced characters, boast galvanizing hip-hop soundtracks, and kinetic visuals — like his signature double dolly shot the place characters seem to drift via scenes. The Atlantic describes his movies as “unabashedly daring and combative.” Nearly all of Spike Lee’s movies have the credit score, “A Spike Lee Joint.”
Why would Spike Lee name his films a “joint” as an alternative of a movie? Let us take a look at the a number of meanings of the phrase. One of many first definitions is a spot of leisure the place individuals collect. That is becoming for Spike Lee’s narratives about New York Metropolis life, the place neighbors come collectively at informal, homegrown spots like Sal’s Pizzeria in “Do the Proper Factor.” Joint might additionally imply a marijuana cigarette, which many Spike Lee characters partake in, or it may very well be so simple as saying it is a synonym for collaboration. However none of those definitions really match the director’s essential cause for this distinctive credit score. There’s one other that means of joint that Spike Lee is drawn to, one that may be a extra summary mind-set about how he makes his movies.
This is why Spike Lee calls his films a ‘joint’
FilmDistrict
In a 2015 interview with The Atlantic, Spike Lee was requested what units “A Spike Lee Joint” aside. He replied:
“I feel it is simply actually all of the components that I put into my movie. No matter movie it’s, no matter material is. Whether or not it is a documentary or a story movie. The connective tissue is that it is coming via me, however all of the tales I really feel are completely different. They’re linked however they’re completely different. Fingers on a hand. Toes on a foot.”
Joint can also be the phrase for a spot the place two issues are joined. Spike Lee sees himself as that connection — the hyperlink between his fervor for racial justice or the grit of city residing, and the electrically-charged approach he wields his digicam.
The one movie with out the unconventional title card is Spike Lee’s remake of “Oldboy,” which felt like an odd mission for him as a result of Park Chan-wook’s authentic is ideal (and, in accordance with /Movie, his finest). One of many essential causes that Spike Lee’s “Oldboy” was a disappointment is that the studio FilmDistrict made main cuts to the movie, whittling it down from 140 minutes to only 105. Lee was so harm that his imaginative and prescient was tarnished that he credited “Oldboy” as “A Spike Lee Movie” as an alternative, thereby distancing himself and declaring that this movie was not his personal.
Spike Lee’s closing credit are simply as distinctive, usually ending with the phrases “By Any Means Obligatory,” “Ya Dig,” or “Sho Nuff,” however “A Spike Lee Joint” lets audiences know they’re in for an incinerating piece of cinema that calls for their full consideration and refuses to slot in with everybody else.
