Fighting The Power: “Do the Right Thing” 20 Years Later

John Turturro, Joie Lee, composer Bill Lee, Danny Aiello, Ruby Dee Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, and Spike Lee at the twentieth anniversary screening of “Do the Right Thing” at the DGA Theater Monday night.  [Image courtesy of Dave Allocca / Star Pix]

“Fortunately or unfortunately, none of those things happened,” says Kilik. “But the most important thing did happen: At 6 AM Monday morning, the last week in June, we were shooting.”

“That’s the lesson for all independent filmmakers,” continues Kilik. “The movie has to come first, by any means necessary. If you don’t get the budget, if you don’t get the cast, if you don’t get the studio, none of that really matters, as long as you just keep at it and get your movie made. It means you have to be driven and passionate and even stubborn, like Spike is. But you can’t be so stubborn those obstacles stop you.”

With its infamously provocatively climax—Lee’s pizza-delivery character Mookie throws a trash can through his employer’s window—“Do the Right Thing” was also brazenly political in a way that few American films were at the time. Notably, Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July” was also released in 1989, but that film focused on long-digested 1970s traumas.

Lee, on the other hand, was capturing the present, inspired by recent incidents of racial injustice in New York, such as the police killing of Eleanor Bumpurs, a black woman being evicted from her home, and the murder of an African American man in Howard Beach by local teenagers. The film’s level of social impact, along with accusations that it would incite civil unrest, came as a surprise to executives at Universal. “We thought it was going to be something powerful,” recalls Daniel, “but that was outrageous.”

Industry insiders agree that the Lee had tapped into something vibrant and current. “Whether it was Spike or Michael Moore or the other young filmmakers,” says Kilik, “there was a greater urgency and ability to more quickly reflect what was happening.”

Spike Lee (left) with Danny Aiello in a scene from “Do The Right Thing”.

New York producer Ted Hope, who at the time was producing his first feature, Hal Hartley’s debut “The Unbelievable Truth,” agrees. “Here was a movie that felt right of the moment, about the world that we lived in, that was infused with a level of energy that very few movies were, and had ever been. It was on fire,” he says. “You’ve got to wonder, how do we follow from that? How did we lose our way? Wouldn’t it be nice to see something that fresh today?”

Producer Sam Kitt, an acquisition executive at Universal who championed the project at the time, points out the film’s influence on other filmmakers “of every stripe” remains, “because not only what was said, but how it was said: the boldness of the conception, the design of the movie, and how much could be done and how much impact you could have with a limited amount of money.”

Lee Daniels, director of Sundance winner “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” says “Do the Right Thing” specifically inspired him to “roll the dice” and produce “Monster’s Ball.” “I had an idea of what cinema was about and about what black cinema was about, but this was modernized,” he says. “It was so eloquently executed and had such an unabashed flair, it sort of gave me the liberty that this type of work could be done.”

Brooklyn-based director Jim McKay sums up the thoughts of many filmmakers who were inspired by the movie. “Not only was it an incredibly made film, but politically, it really made you confront a lot of shit,” says McKay, director of “Girlstown” and “Our Song.” “I don’t think I ever left a film with more—more questions, more thoughts, more energy.”

Twenty years on, “Do the Right Thing” still packs a punch. But, perhaps not as much as some had once feared. At Monday night’s screening, Lee joked about the dangers that the new DVD release for the film could cause. “Let’s hope it doesn’t start riots again across the country.”