BlacKkKlansman

{{for-multi|the 1966 film|The Black Klansman|other uses|Black Klansman (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox film

| name = BlacKkKlansman

| image = BlacKkKlansman.png

| alt =

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Spike Lee

| producer = {{ubl|Jason Blum|Spike Lee|Raymond Mansfield|Sean McKittrick|Jordan Peele|Shaun Redick}}

| writer = {{ubl|Charlie Wachtel|David Rabinowitz|Kevin Willmott|Spike Lee}}

| based_on = {{based on|Black Klansman|Ron Stallworth}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Terence Blanchard

| cinematography = Chayse Irvin

| editing = Barry Alexander Brown

| studio = {{ubl|Legendary Pictures|Perfect World Pictures||Blumhouse Productions|Monkeypaw Productions|QC Entertainment|40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks}}

| distributor = {{ubl|Focus Features (United States)|Universal Pictures (International)|}}

| released = {{Film date|2018|5|14|Cannes|2018|8|10|United States}}

| country = United States

| language = English

| runtime = 135 minutes

| budget = $15 million

| gross = $93.4 million{{cite web |title=BlacKkKlansman (2018) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blackkklansman.htm |website=Box Office Mojo |publisher=IMDb |access-date=October 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410202750/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=blackkklansman.htm |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |url-status=live}}

}}

BlacKkKlansman is a 2018 American biographical crime comedy-drama film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. The film stars John David Washington as Stallworth, along with Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace. It also features Harry Belafonte's last performance before his death in April 2023. Set in the 1970s in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it follows the first African-American detective in the city's police department as he sets out to infiltrate and expose the local Ku Klux Klan chapter.

The film was produced by Lee, Raymond Mansfield, Shaun Redick, Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, and Jordan Peele. It was packaged by Andy Frances, Stallworth's manager. QC Entertainment purchased the film rights to the book in 2015.{{Cite web |url=https://www.screendaily.com/features/blackkklansman-producers-on-pitching-spike-lee-and-the-films-lasting-impact-/5136976.article |title='BlacKkKlansman' producers on pitching Spike Lee and the film's lasting impact |last=Salisbury |first=Mark |date=February 14, 2019 |website=Screen Daily |language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206205042/https://www.screendaily.com/features/blackkklansman-producers-on-pitching-spike-lee-and-the-films-lasting-impact-/5136976.article|archive-date=December 6, 2019|access-date=December 12, 2019}} Lee signed on as director in September 2017. Much of the cast joined the following month, and filming began in New York State.

BlacKkKlansman premiered on May 14, 2018, at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. It was theatrically released in the United States on August 10, 2018, a day before the first anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Lee's direction, the performances (particularly of Washington and Driver), and timely themes. Critics noted it as a return to form for Lee. It received six nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Lee's first directing nomination), and Best Supporting Actor for Driver. It won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Lee's first competitive Academy Award. The American Film Institute also selected it as one of the top 10 films of 2018. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, it earned four nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Plot

In 1972, Ron Stallworth is hired as the first black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Assigned to work in the records room, he tires of being bullied and applies to be an undercover officer. He is assigned to infiltrate a local rally where national civil rights leader Kwame Ture (a.k.a. Stokely Carmichael) is speaking. At the rally, Stallworth meets Patrice Dumas, president of the Black Student Union at Colorado College. While taking Ture to his hotel, Patrice is stopped by patrolman Andy Landers, a racist officer in Stallworth's precinct, who threatens Ture and gropes Patrice.

Following the rally, Stallworth is reassigned to the intelligence division. After reading about a local division of the Ku Klux Klan in the newspaper, he calls posing as a white man. He speaks with Walter Breachway, the president of the Colorado Springs chapter, but soon realizes that not only did he use his real name, but he must also meet the Klan members. Stallworth recruits his Jewish coworker, Flip Zimmerman, to impersonate him and meet the KKK members while he continues posing as white on the phone. Under Stallworth's identity, Zimmerman meets Breachway, the slightly more reckless and unstable Felix Kendrickson (and later his wife Connie), and Ivanhoe, who cryptically refers to an upcoming terrorist attack.

Calling Ku Klux Klan headquarters in Louisiana to expedite his membership, Stallworth begins regular phone conversations with Grand Wizard David Duke. Kendrickson suspects Zimmerman of being Jewish and tries to force him to take a polygraph test at gunpoint, but Stallworth, overhearing everything on the wire Zimmerman is wearing, breaks the Kendricksons' kitchen window as a distraction. Stallworth begins dating Patrice without telling her that he is a police officer. After passing information to the Army CID about active-duty members, he learns from an FBI agent that two members are personnel stationed at NORAD, a critical, high-security defense facility.

Duke visits Colorado Springs for Stallworth's induction into the Klan. Over the real Stallworth's protests, the detective is assigned to a protection detail for Duke. Once Zimmerman, masquerading as Stallworth, is initiated, Connie Kendrickson leaves the ceremony to place an explosive device at a local civil rights rally. The real Stallworth realizes her intentions and alerts local police officers. When Connie notices a heavy police presence at the rally, she puts Felix's backup plan into action and plants the device at Dumas's house, leaving it under her car when it will not fit into the mailbox. Stallworth tackles her as she tries to flee, but uniformed officers detain and beat him despite his protests that he is working undercover.

The bombmaker, Walker, had recognized Zimmerman from a prior arrest and informed Felix at the Klan reception. He, Felix, and Ivanhoe drive to Dumas's house and park next to her car without realizing that the device is hidden underneath. When they detonate it, the explosion kills all three. Zimmerman arrives, frees Stallworth, and arrests Connie.

While Stallworth is celebrating the closed case that night with Patrice, Landers arrives and drunkenly harasses the two, remorselessly admitting to his assault on Patrice. Stallworth reveals he is wearing a wire, and Police Chief Bridges arrives and arrests Landers for police brutality.

Bridges congratulates the team for their success but orders them to end their investigation and destroy the records. Stallworth receives a call from Duke, and he insultingly tells Duke he is black before hanging up.

Later while Dumas and Stallworth discuss their future, they are interrupted by a knock on the door. Through the window in the hallway, they see a flaming cross on a hillside surrounded by KKK members.

The film cuts to footage of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, the hit and run attack that killed and injured protesters, part of a speech by David Duke, and comments by President Donald Trump. It ends with a dedication to Heather Heyer (who was killed in the attack) and lastly, shows an upside-down American flag fading to a black-and-white American flag, before fading to black.

Cast

{{castlist|

John David Washington as Detective Ron Stallworth
Adam Driver as Detective Philip "Flip" Zimmerman
Laura Harrier as Patrice Dumas
Topher Grace as David Duke
Corey Hawkins as Kwame Ture
Harry Belafonte as Jerome Turner
Jasper Pääkkönen as Felix Kendrickson
Ryan Eggold as Walter Breachway
Frederick Weller as Patrolman Andy Landers
Paul Walter Hauser as Ivanhoe
Ashlie Atkinson as Connie Kendrickson
{{ill|Michael Buscemi|es}} as Jimmy Creek
Ken Garito as Sergeant Trapp
Robert John Burke as Chief Bridges
Alec Baldwin as Kennebrew Beauregard
Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Mr. Turrentine
Nicholas Turturro as Walker
Damaris Lewis as Odetta

}}

Production

=Development and casting=

In July 2015, screenwriters/co-producers Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz discovered the book Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. They interviewed Stallworth and wrote a spec screenplay, then pitched the script to producers Shaun Redick and Ray Mansfield.{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/blackkklansman-writers-david-rabinowitz-charlie-watchel-spike-lee-1201992384/ |title='BlacKkKlansman' Writers On Handing 'Our Baby' to Spike Lee and Finding a Home for Their Screenplay Without an Agent |website=IndieWire |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=August 10, 2018 |first=David |last=Rabinowitz |author2=Charlie Watchel |access-date=August 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815091257/https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/blackkklansman-writers-david-rabinowitz-charlie-watchel-spike-lee-1201992384/|archive-date=August 15, 2018|url-status=live}} They brought the property to QC Entertainment, which had co-produced the successful 2017 film Get Out. QC again teamed up with Jason Blum's company Blumhouse Productions, and Jordan Peele's company Monkeypaw Productions, to produce the project.{{cite web |last1=Kit |first1=Borys |title='Black Klansman' KKK Thriller in the Works From Spike Lee, Jordan Peele (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/real-life-black-klansman-movie-works-spike-lee-jordan-peele-1036526 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |access-date=May 16, 2018 |date=September 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810023435/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/real-life-black-klansman-movie-works-spike-lee-jordan-peele-1036526|archive-date=August 10, 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web |last1=D'Alessandro |first1=Anthony |title=Adam Driver Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' |url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/adam-driver-spike-lee-black-klansman-1202194537/ |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |access-date=May 16, 2018 |date=October 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502140112/https://deadline.com/2017/10/adam-driver-spike-lee-black-klansman-1202194537/|archive-date=May 2, 2019|url-status=live}}

In September of that year, Spike Lee signed on as director and John David Washington was in negotiations to star.{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/spike-lee-jordan-peele-kkk-movie-black-klansman-1202552319/ |title=Spike Lee, Jordan Peele Team Up on KKK Crime Thriller 'Black Klansman' |last=Kroll |first=Justin |date=September 8, 2017 |work=Variety|access-date=November 20, 2017 |publisher=Penske Business Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030912/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/spike-lee-jordan-peele-kkk-movie-black-klansman-1202552319/|archive-date=December 1, 2017|url-status=live}} The following month, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Topher Grace, and Corey Hawkins had joined the cast.{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/adam-driver-spike-lee-black-klansman-thriller-1202599294/ |title=Adam Driver Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' Thriller |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=October 25, 2017 |work=Variety|access-date=November 20, 2017 |publisher=Penske Business Media|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113165402/http://variety.com/2017/film/news/adam-driver-spike-lee-black-klansman-thriller-1202599294/|archive-date=November 13, 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2017/10/topher-grace-spike-lee-black-klansman-movie-1202198395/ |title=Topher Grace Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' |last=Busch |first=Anita |date=October 31, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119124937/https://deadline.com/2017/10/topher-grace-spike-lee-black-klansman-movie-1202198395/|archive-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/corey-hawkins-joins-spike-lees-black-klansman-1053231 |title=Corey Hawkins Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' (Exclusive) |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |first=Mia |last=Galuppo |date=October 31, 2017|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119105109/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/corey-hawkins-joins-spike-lees-black-klansman-1053231|archive-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live}} In November, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, and Ryan Eggold joined the cast,{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/paul-walter-hauser-spike-lee-black-klansman-1202204987/ |title='I, Tonya' Actor Paul Walter Hauser Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' |last=N'Duka |first=Amanda |date=November 9, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119124936/https://deadline.com/2017/11/paul-walter-hauser-spike-lee-black-klansman-1202204987/|archive-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/news/spike-lee-black-klansman-jasper-paakkonen-1202616798/ |title=Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' Adds 'Vikings' Actor Jasper Paakkonen (EXCLUSIVE) |last=Kroll |first=Justin |date=November 16, 2017 |work=Variety |publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119214357/https://variety.com/2017/film/news/spike-lee-black-klansman-jasper-paakkonen-1202616798/|archive-date=November 19, 2017|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2017/11/ryan-eggold-black-klansman-movie-spike-lee-the-blacklist-actor-1202210722/ |title=Ryan Eggold, Who Played Fan Favorite Tom Keen In 'The Blacklist,' Joins Spike Lee's 'Black Klansman' |last=Busch |first=Anita |date=November 17, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120025351/http://deadline.com/2017/11/ryan-eggold-black-klansman-movie-spike-lee-the-blacklist-actor-1202210722/|archive-date=November 20, 2017|url-status=live}} with Ashlie Atkinson joining a month later.{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2017/12/pedro-pascal-if-beale-street-could-talk-movie-ashlie-atkinson-black-klansman-1202219616/ |title=Pedro Pascal Joins Barry Jenkins' 'If Beale Street Could Talk'; Ashlie Atkinson Cast In 'Black Klansman' |last=N'Duka |first=Amanda |date=December 4, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media|access-date=May 14, 2018 |author2=Patrick Hipes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180515032448/http://deadline.com/2017/12/pedro-pascal-if-beale-street-could-talk-movie-ashlie-atkinson-black-klansman-1202219616/|archive-date=May 15, 2018|url-status=live}}

=Filming=

Filming began in October 2017.{{Cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/spike-lee-talks-black-klansman-movie-why-he-regrets-rape-scene-shes-gotta-have-it-1059729 |title=Spike Lee Talks 'Black Klansman' Movie and Why He Regrets the Rape Scene in 'She's Gotta Have It' Film |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |first=Craigh |last=Barboza |date=November 20, 2017|access-date=November 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122125733/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/spike-lee-talks-black-klansman-movie-why-he-regrets-rape-scene-shes-gotta-have-it-1059729|archive-date=November 22, 2017|url-status=live}} Ossining, New York, was one location used in October.{{cite web |title=Spike Lee filming movie in Ossining |last=Matsuda |first=Akiko |date=October 27, 2017 |url=https://www.lohud.com/story/news/2017/10/27/spike-lee-filming-movie-ossining/807069001/ |website=The Journal News |publisher=Gannett Company |access-date=August 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104161218/http://www.lohud.com/story/news/2017/10/27/spike-lee-filming-movie-ossining/807069001/|archive-date=January 4, 2018|url-status=dead}} Filming locations also included the Rockland County hamlet of Garnerville, New York, where exterior shots of one of the Colorado Springs police stations were filmed.{{cite web |last=Traster |first=Tina |date=January 16, 2019 |title=RK Pharma Leases Space AT IRG Site; Film Production Continues Too |url=https://rcbizjournal.com/2019/01/16/rk-pharma-leases-space-at-irg-site-film-production-continues-too/ |access-date=March 22, 2021 |website=Rockland County Business Journal}}

File:2017 Charlottesville vehicle-ramming attack.webm was used in the film's ending sequence]]

Harry Belafonte appears in the film in a cameo (and in his final film role) as an activist recounting the lynching of Jesse Washington; according to Lee, he commanded his crew on the day of filming Belafonte's scene to dress for the occasion in suits and dresses to honor Belafonte.

Lee ends the film with a tribute to anti-fascist counter-protester Heather Heyer, who was killed on August 12, 2017, in the Charlottesville car attack during the Unite the Right rally.{{Cite web |last=Ordoña |first=Michael |date=2019-02-08 |title='BlacKkKlansman': Spike Lee discusses why he changed the original ending |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-blackkklansman-envelope-live-20190208-story.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

=Music=

Release

File:Cannes 2018 14.jpg]]

On April 12, 2018, the film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on May 14.{{cite news |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/the-2018-official-selection |title=The 2018 Official Selection |newspaper=Festival de Cannes 2021 |publisher=Cannes Film Festival |date=April 12, 2018 |access-date=April 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043303/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/the-2018-official-selection|archive-date=April 13, 2018|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-lineup-includes-new-films-from-spike-lee-jean-luc-godard-1202751300/ |title=Cannes Lineup Includes New Films From Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard |work=Variety|publisher=Penske Business Media |first1=Peter |last1=Debruge |author2=Elsa Keslassy |date=April 12, 2018 |access-date=April 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180421032959/http://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-lineup-includes-new-films-from-spike-lee-jean-luc-godard-1202751300/|archive-date=April 21, 2018|url-status=live}} It opened in the United States on August 10, 2018, which was chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville rally.{{cite web |last1=Siegel |first1=Tatiana |author2=Chris Gardner |title=Cannes: Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman' Draws 10-Minute Ovation |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-spike-lees-blackkklansman-draws-10-minute-standing-ovation-1111550 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |access-date=May 16, 2018 |date=May 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516001040/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cannes-spike-lees-blackkklansman-draws-10-minute-standing-ovation-1111550|archive-date=May 16, 2018|url-status=live}}

Reception

=Box office=

BlacKkKlansman grossed $49.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $44.1 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $93.4 million, against a production budget of $15 million.

In the United States and Canada, BlacKkKlansman was released, and was projected to gross around $10 million from 1,512 theaters in its opening weekend.{{cite web |last=McClintock |first=Pamela |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-preview-big-budget-meg-heads-tepid-20m-us-debut-1133093 |title=Box-Office Preview: Big-Budget 'The Meg' Heads for Tepid $20M-Plus U.S. Debut |website=The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |date=August 8, 2018 |access-date=August 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808172047/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-preview-big-budget-meg-heads-tepid-20m-us-debut-1133093|archive-date=August 8, 2018|url-status=live}} It made $3.6 million on its first day (including $670,000 from Thursday night previews).{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/the-meg-chomps-a-huge-4m-on-thursday-night-box-office-1202443644/ |title='The Meg' Bigger Than Expected At $36M... But Is It Big Enough? – Midday Box Office |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media|date=August 10, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |access-date=August 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810163334/https://deadline.com/2018/08/the-meg-chomps-a-huge-4m-on-thursday-night-box-office-1202443644/ |archive-date=August 10, 2018 |url-status=live}} It went on to debut to $10.8 million, finishing fifth at the box office and marking Lee's best opening weekend since Inside Man ($29 million) in 2006.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/august-audiences-get-hooked-on-meg-shelling-out-44m-45m-early-sunday-am-box-office-1202444210/ |title='August Audiences Get Hooked On 'Meg' Shelling Out $44.5M |website=Deadline Hollywood|publisher=Penske Business Media |date=August 12, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |access-date=August 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116072354/https://deadline.com/2018/08/august-audiences-get-hooked-on-meg-shelling-out-44m-45m-early-sunday-am-box-office-1202444210/ |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |url-status=live}} It made $7.4 million in its second weekend and $5.3 million in its third, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/crazy-rich-asians-wednesday-opening-box-office-1202446094/ |title='Crazy Rich Asians' Even Richer On Saturday With $10M+; Weekend Bling Now At $25M+ With $34M 5-Day Debut |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=August 19, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |access-date=August 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816194613/https://deadline.com/2018/08/crazy-rich-asians-wednesday-opening-box-office-1202446094/ |archive-date=August 16, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/melissa-mccarthy-happytime-murders-crazy-rich-asians-meg-weekend-box-office-1202451694/ |title='Why 'Happytime Murders' Reps A Solo Career B.O. Low For Melissa McCarthy In A 'Crazy Rich' Weekend – Update |website=Deadline Hollywood |publisher=Penske Business Media |date=August 26, 2018 |first=Anthony |last=D'Alessandro |access-date=August 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516223440/https://deadline.com/2018/08/melissa-mccarthy-happytime-murders-crazy-rich-asians-meg-weekend-box-office-1202451694/ |archive-date=May 16, 2019 |url-status=live}}

=Critical response=

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on 450 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "BlacKkKlansman uses history to offer bitingly trenchant commentary on current events—and brings out some of Spike Lee's hardest-hitting work in decades along the way."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blackkklansman|title=BlacKkKlansman (2018)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129043700/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blackkklansman|archive-date=November 29, 2018|url-status=live}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{Cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blackkklansman |title=BlacKkKlansman Reviews |website=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive |date=2018|access-date=November 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190201134946/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/blackkklansman|archive-date=February 1, 2019|url-status=live}} Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 85% positive score and a 67% "definite recommend".

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, writing: "It's an entertaining spectacle but the brilliant tonal balance in something like Jordan Peele's satire Get Out leaves this looking a little exposed. Yet it responds fiercely, contemptuously to the crassness at the heart of the Trump regime and gleefully pays it back in its own coin".{{Cite web |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Bradshaw |date=May 14, 2018 |title=BlacKkKlansman review – Spike Lee's clanging rebuke to the New Trump Order |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/14/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-adam-driver-cannes-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520132048/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/14/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-adam-driver-cannes-2018 |archive-date=May 20, 2018 |access-date=May 20, 2018 |website=The Guardian |publisher=}} For IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of "B+" and wrote that it is "far more frightening than it is funny", and "packages such weighty and ultra-relevant subjects into the form of a wildly uneven but consistently entertaining night at the movies".{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-cannes-2018-1201964558/ |title='BlacKkKlansman' Review: Spike Lee Detonates a Funny and Righteously Furious 'Fuck You' to Trump – Cannes 2018 |website=IndieWire |publisher=Penske Business Media|last=Ehrlich |first=David |date=May 14, 2018 |access-date=May 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522042021/http://www.indiewire.com/2018/05/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-cannes-2018-1201964558/ |archive-date=May 22, 2018 |url-status=live}}

A. O. Scott, writing for The New York Times, saw the film as both political and provocative in opening up discussion on timely subject matter following Charlottesville. He stated, "Committed anti-racists can sit quietly or laugh politely when hateful things are said. Epithets uttered in irony can be repeated in earnest. The most shocking thing about Flip's (Adam Driver's undercover detective role) imposture is how easy it seems, how natural he looks and sounds. This unnerving authenticity is partly testament to Mr. Driver's ability to tuck one performance inside another, but it also testifies to a stark and discomforting truth. Maybe not everyone who is white is a racist, but racism is what makes us white. Don't sleep on this movie."{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Anthony Oliver |author-link=A. O. Scott |date=August 9, 2018 |title=America's Heart of Darkness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/movies/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee.html |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820012322/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/movies/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee.html |archive-date=August 20, 2018 |access-date=August 21, 2018 |website=The New York Times}}

In his review of the film for Vulture, David Edelstein found the film to be a potent antidote for previous films that Lee sees as unduly supportive of the racist viewpoint in the past, such as Griffith's The Birth of a Nation. Edelstein stated: "Lee himself has a propagandist streak, and he knows nothing ever sold the message of white emasculation and the existential necessity of keeping blacks down as well as Griffith's 1915 film. It revived the Klan and—insult to injury—is still reckoned a landmark of narrative filmmaking. If there were no other reason to make BlackkKlansman, this one would be good enough."{{cite web |last=Edelstein |first=David |author-link=David Edelstein |date=August 6, 2018 |title=Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman Is an Entertaining and Effective Piece of Melodrama |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/spike-lee-blackkklansman-movie-review.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822145448/http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/spike-lee-blackkklansman-movie-review.html |archive-date=August 22, 2018 |access-date=August 21, 2018 |website=Vulture |publisher=}}

Filmmaker Martin Scorsese praised the film, saying "The picture takes you to a safe place — we're watching a movie, it's up on a screen — and suddenly we're catapulted into now ... Right next to you. Because it's not only real, what you're seeing up there on the screen — it's happening. It is happening. And it's sanctioned by government...It transcends the medium, what he did there in the last 10 minutes. It's cinema and it's beautiful."{{cite news |date=July 15, 2024 |title=Martin Scorsese's Favorite Movies: 82 Films He Wants You to See |url=https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/martin-scorsese-favorite-films-movies/blackkklansman-2018/ |work=IndieWire |access-date=April 11, 2025}}

Filmmaker Boots Riley, whose feature film debut Sorry to Bother You also premiered in 2018, criticized the film for its political perspective.{{cite tweet |user=BootsRiley |first=Boots |last=Riley |number=1030575674447212544 |date=August 17, 2018 |title=Ok. Here's [sic] are some thoughts on #Blackkklansman. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320153600/https://twitter.com/BootsRiley/status/1030575674447212544|archive-date=March 20, 2019|url-status=dead}} While Riley called the craft of the film "masterful" and cited Lee as a major influence on his own work, he felt that the film was dishonestly marketed as a true story and criticized its attempts to "make a cop the protagonist in the fight against racist oppression", when Black Americans face structural racism "from the police on a day-to-day basis". In particular, Riley alleged that the film glossed over Stallworth's time spent working for COINTELPRO to "sabotage a Black radical organization" and objected to the film's choices to portray Stallworth's partner as Jewish and to fictionalize a bombing "to make the police seem like heroes".{{cite news |last=Kaplan |first=Ilana |date=August 19, 2018 |title=Boots Riley pens essay on problems with 'BlacKkKlansman' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/boots-riley-pens-essay-on-problems-with-blackkklansman-713144/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=August 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820111831/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/boots-riley-pens-essay-on-problems-with-blackkklansman-713144/ |archive-date=August 20, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Dessem |first=Matthew |date=August 18, 2018 |title=Sorry to Bother You Director Boots Riley Has a Blistering Critique of Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman |url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/boots-riley-vs-spike-lee-the-sorry-to-bother-you-director-tweeted-a-blistering-critique-of-blackkklansman.html |work=Slate |publisher=The Slate Group |access-date=August 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820175652/https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/boots-riley-vs-spike-lee-the-sorry-to-bother-you-director-tweeted-a-blistering-critique-of-blackkklansman.html |archive-date=August 20, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Shoard |first=Catherine |date=August 20, 2018 |title=Boots Riley attacks Spike Lee over 'made up' BlacKkKlansman |work=The Guardian |publisher= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/20/boots-riley-spike-lee-blackkklansman |url-status=live |access-date=August 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820173241/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/20/boots-riley-spike-lee-blackkklansman |archive-date=August 20, 2018}} Lee responded in an interview with The Times on August 24, stating that while his films "have been very critical of the police ... I'm never going to say that all police are corrupt, that all police hate people of color."{{cite news |last=Edelstein |first=David |date=August 24, 2018 |title=Spike Lee: Trump is a racist. I don't care if you wear a hood or a suit, that's who you are |work=The Times |publisher= |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/spike-lee-trump-is-a-racist-i-dont-care-if-you-wear-a-hood-or-suit-thats-who-you-are-q7fdf6w0l |url-status=live |access-date=September 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015810/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spike-lee-trump-is-a-racist-i-dont-care-if-you-wear-a-hood-or-suit-thats-who-you-are-q7fdf6w0l |archive-date=September 8, 2018}}{{cite news |last=Darville |first=Jordan |date=August 24, 2018 |title=Spike Lee responds to Boots Riley's BlacKkKlansman criticisms |url=https://www.thefader.com/2018/08/24/spike-lee-boots-riley-blackkklansman-criticisms |work=The Fader |access-date=September 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908015752/https://www.thefader.com/2018/08/24/spike-lee-boots-riley-blackkklansman-criticisms |archive-date=September 8, 2018 |url-status=live}}

=Accolades=

BlacKkKlansman won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-film-festival-2018-award-winners-palme-d-or-1202816743/ |title=Japanese Director Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'Shoplifters' Wins Palme d'Or at Cannes |website=Variety |publisher=Penske Business Media |first=Peter |last=Debruge |date=May 19, 2018 |access-date=May 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522030316/http://variety.com/2018/film/news/cannes-film-festival-2018-award-winners-palme-d-or-1202816743/ |archive-date=May 22, 2018 |url-status=live}} It was subsequently nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.{{cite web |author= |date=December 6, 2018 |title='Vice,' 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' lead 2019 Golden Globe nominations |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-golden-globes-2019-nominees-winners-list-2019-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206143125/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-golden-globes-2019-nominees-winners-list-2019-story.html |archive-date=December 6, 2018 |access-date=December 6, 2018 |work=Los Angeles Times}} Lee was nominated for Outstanding Feature Film by the Directors Guild of America and the producers were nominated for the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture.{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/awards/2019/01/08/2019-directors-guild-of-america-award-nominations-full-list/ |title=Bradley Cooper, Spike Lee land Directors Guild of America Award nominations: See the full list |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |last=Nolfi |first=Joey |date=January 8, 2019 |access-date=January 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109215739/https://ew.com/awards/2019/01/08/2019-directors-guild-of-america-award-nominations-full-list/ |archive-date=January 9, 2019 |url-status=live}}{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/awards/2019/01/04/2019-producers-guild-of-america-nominations-full-list/ |title=A Star Is Born, Black Panther, more gain Oscar momentum with Producers Guild nominations |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |last=Nolfi |first=Joey |date=January 4, 2019 |access-date=January 9, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107072309/https://ew.com/awards/2019/01/04/2019-producers-guild-of-america-nominations-full-list/ |archive-date=January 7, 2019}}

The film was also nominated for four Critics Choice Awards, including Best Picture,{{cite web |url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/2019-critics-choice-awards-nominations-the-complete-list.html |title=The Favourite, Black Panther Lead Critics' Choice Awards Nominations |first=Hunter |last=Harris |access-date=December 10, 2018 |date=December 10, 2018 |website=Vulture.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211012930/https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/2019-critics-choice-awards-nominations-the-complete-list.html |archive-date=December 11, 2018 |url-status=live}} seven Satellite Awards, including Best Director for Lee,{{cite web |date=November 28, 2018 |title=2018 Nominees |url=http://www.pressacademy.com/2018-nominees/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129220303/http://www.pressacademy.com/2018-nominees/ |archive-date=November 29, 2018 |access-date=November 29, 2018 |website=International Press Academy}} and is nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for Driver,{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/2019-independent-spirit-awards-nominations-1202021241/ |title=2019 Independent Spirit Awards Nominees, 'Eighth Grade' & 'We the Animals' Lead |first=Kate |last=Erbland |access-date=November 16, 2018 |date=November 16, 2018 |website=IndieWire |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117011630/https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/2019-independent-spirit-awards-nominations-1202021241/ |archive-date=November 17, 2018 |url-status=live}} and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, including Outstanding Male Actor for Washington.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2018/12/sag-awards-nominations-full-list-sag-award-nominees-1202518339/ |title=SAG Awards Nominations: 'A Star Is Born', 'Mrs. Maisel', 'Ozark' Lead Way – The Full List |website=Deadline Hollywood |last=Hipes |first=Patrick |date=December 12, 2018 |access-date=December 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213124408/https://deadline.com/2018/12/sag-awards-nominations-full-list-sag-award-nominees-1202518339/ |archive-date=December 13, 2018 |url-status=live}} The American Film Institute also included it in its Top 10 Films of the Year.{{cite news |last1=Tapley |first1=Kristopher |title='Black Panther,' 'A Quiet Place,' 'Atlanta' and More Selected for AFI Awards |url=https://variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/afi-awards-black-panther-a-quiet-place-atlanta-1203079735/ |access-date=December 5, 2018 |work=Variety |date=December 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003301/https://variety.com/2018/film/in-contention/afi-awards-black-panther-a-quiet-place-atlanta-1203079735/ |archive-date=December 5, 2018 |url-status=live}}

BlacKkKlansman was nominated for six Academy Awards and won Best Adapted Screenplay. Nominations included Best Picture, Lee for Best Director, and Driver for Best Supporting Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Film Editing and composer Terence Blanchard was nominated for Best Original Score.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46917940 |title=Oscars 2019: The nominees in full |date=January 22, 2019 |access-date=February 9, 2019 |website=Bbc.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225061423/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46917940|archive-date=February 25, 2019|url-status=live}}

Historical accuracy

File:El Paso-Ron Stallworth-Black Klansman 1 (47442791502).jpg

Although based on a true story, the film dramatizes several events, and is not entirely accurate.{{cite news |title=Editorial: why the movie 'Blackkklansman' matters |url=https://www.roanoke.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-why-the-movie-blackkklansman-matters/article_d3389e35-06ee-5264-b5d7-e7269b2a640d.html |newspaper=The Roanoke Times |date=August 17, 2018 |access-date=September 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817062644/https://www.roanoke.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-why-the-movie-blackkklansman-matters/article_d3389e35-06ee-5264-b5d7-e7269b2a640d.html |archive-date=August 17, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=What's Fact and What's Fiction in BlacKkKlansman |url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-blackkklansman.html |first=Jasmine|last=Sanders|website=Slate |date=August 10, 2018 |access-date=June 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610135155/https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/whats-fact-and-whats-fiction-in-blackkklansman.html |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |url-status=live}}

References

External links

{{Official website|http://www.blackkklansman.com}}
{{IMDb title|7349662}}
{{Mojo title|blackkklansman}}
{{Rotten Tomatoes|blackkklansman}}
[http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/blackkklansman/ BlacKkKlansman] at History vs. Hollywood

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