This film is an excellent group show, and Spike Lee's ability to control group portraits is not inferior to Robert Altman. And each piece is independent into a chapter, cordial and humorous, just like a series of excellent short stories. What's more valuable is that the overall feeling is not loose, so many characters and scenes are connected together with the same emotion. The whole street looks like a character. This character is played by Spike Lee. It is both the director and the lead actor. It really belongs to his own movie. There are always surprises when watching American independent films, because these directors have a clear authorship and can get rid of the stable academic habits. Black-directed films are not as book-bagging as New Englanders, and they don't have the yuppies of Yankees, but they have the inherent rhythm and dynamic rhythm of black culture. The whole film is full of crazy raps or sensational blues inside and outside, and everyone gestures in their hands, and talks like a cannon. Also in the film, the combination of the long-range view and the mid-range view seems to switch like a beat, or simply stop and frame two or three characters to show an impressionistic texture. In this blues-like feeling, the characters and activities are also more casual, the characters are not placed in the picture, but freely move in the scene, and even accidentally run out of the camera. But the lens is not messy, it just moves, switches, and zooms with the rhythm, even if it is suddenly zoomed in, or the angle of view is tilted, it brings a strong sense of enthusiasm. So it brings a free mood, because of freedom and true expression. As for the ideas expressed in the film, Spike Lee has been repeating the same motif in his works. In "Malcolm X", he borrowed this most ideal character to achieve the fullest expression, that is, his opposition to violent hatred and his own reflection on the causes of the weakness of the black community. The time in the film is only one day, and the scene is limited to one street, but all kinds of characters become a good epitome, making this hottest day an ordinary and special day. Lee’s role in this film is not only the best symbol, self-indulgence and unenthusiasm, purposeless and impulsive hatred, blind self-esteem and evasive cowardice, becoming a person who is neither satisfied nor self-defeating. The hardworking black man showed on this individual Lee's disappointment with his compatriots. The loyal and kind mayor, ML who keeps making trouble, Smiley who is crazy, Tina who works hard and is full of complaints, and love who is broadcasting Daddy, everyone is engaged in trivial activities, becoming a microcosm of a certain social figure. Similarly, American immigrants of other ethnicities also appear in the film's neighborhoods, Puerto Ricans, Italians, and Koreans, portraying a chaotic voice in this immigrant society. The final climax, the commotion in Sam's pizzeria, is a portrayal and satire of the black civil rights movement in the 1960s, the inexplicable conflict, the hatred of the industry, and the ruins after the riots, there is a kind of absurd desolation. Both King Jr. and X have become symbols of the past society. What Lee hopes is the self-awakening of his own ethnicity and the mutual understanding and tolerance with the society, in other words: don't do bad things. This valuable mentality is worth learning from many "angry youths".
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