Two rival groups at a black college clash while
an unpopular nerd tries to pledge for one of them. COMEDY
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School Daze (1988)Written and Directed by Spike Lee
Starring Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Kyme, Joe Seneca, Ossie Davis |
School Daze is undeniably Spike Lee's worst film, and I'm including that godawful Oldboy remake in that statement. At least that was watchable. School Daze is a meandering slog through the worst aspects of college life, with every character once again being an irredeemable piece of shit. The film ends with an unresolved rape and every character inexplicably staring at the sun while Larry Fish tells them to "wake up." If Spike hadn't immediately followed this with Do the Right Thing, I don't think his career ever would have had the cultural significance it grew over the years. This is the kind of film that stops a director's career cold.
Larry Fish and Giancarlo Esposito are rival student leaders Dap and Julian. Julian leads the most powerful frat on campus, while Dap leads...well, I don't really know, but I know he's a leader. All the while, Spike Lee plays an unlikable pledger named Half-Pint, who is our focus through the pledging story. He's the one who commits the rape at the end and feels damn proud of it, not even realizing what he did was indeed rape. There's no story to discuss because Spike doesn't really believe in stories. He just films whatever happens in front of the camera and does his best to edit it into a coherent movie. Such is the case with School Daze, which just plain ignores the narrative structure and instead opts to give us a ten minute sequence of random people shaking their asses at the camera. Not even kidding. I think it's safe to say I hated School Daze. Spike tries to get political by mentioning apartheid in South Africa, but nobody ever brings it up again after Larry Fish preaches about it at the start. Mostly, this is a film about college life, just without classes or teachers at any moment. None of the characters are likable, the random songs are annoying, and the entire time, you are constantly reminded that Spike can do better. |