Bamboozled (2000)
Spike Lee is an absolute master of the craft, we can all agree with that. But when I put Bamboozled into my DVD player i really didn't know what to expect. I was coming into watching it straight from doing some viewing for a festival, so had lots of lo-fi digi-crap rattling around my brain. I was ready for high-intensity colour and black power realness. I did NOT expect a lo-fi Y2K pre-cursor to Get Out, or a film with such huge huge ambition and message. It seems super relevant right now that we're in this super PC culture (not saying that's a good OR a bad thing), and seems to be the super stylish answer to that culture but made 20 years too early.
To give you the low down, Bamboozled is about a man who, in his rage against the white machine, accidentally manages to create the 21st Century black & white minstrel show. Insane, controversial, and v ambitious topic. Obvilously there's a lot of humour in there, both Lee and leading man Damon Wayans bring this in spades, but the humour really is where the elements of Get Out come in. You're laughing because you're horrified. Like horror move Curb Your Enthusiasm.
The Y2K elements come in through these super creepy primitive CGI segments of the show, that are almost like if Frozen had a minstrel show segment. Terrifying, and dated but that really works in favour of the film's aesthetic.
Absolutely loads to love about this film, would love to get other people's takes.
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