DIRECTOR/PRODUCER/SCREENPLAY: Spike Lee
PRODUCTION CO: 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
PHOTOGRAPHY: Ernest Dickerson
EDITOR: Barry Alexander Brown
MUSIC: Bill Lee, featuring Branford Marsalis. "Fight the Power" performed by Public Enemy
WITH: Danny Aiello (Sal), Ossie Davis (Da Mayor), Ruby Dee (Mother Sister), Richard Edson (Vito), Giancarlo Esposito (Buggin Out), Spike Lee (Mookie), Bill Nunn (Radio Raheem), John Turturro (Pino), John Savage (Clifton) 
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FESTIVALS: Cannes 1989

REVIEWS

“Spike Lee’s tale of the complexities of race exacerbated by the police, those enforcers of state-sanctioned white supremacy, may now be considered a classic, almost thirty years after its initial release, but that status has not dulled the film’s cathartic anger nor its controversial edge. The film follows the goings-on on a single block in Brooklyn over the course of a single, sweltering summer day, from a morning of simmering tensions, focusing on a white-owned pizzeria, to a night of violence. Do the Right Thing teems with life, thanks to an extraordinary ensemble cast and a soundtrack that brings together hip hop, jazz and R&B.”

— Harvard Film Archive

“Effortlessly moving from comedy to serious social comment, eliciting excellent performances from a large and perfectly selected cast, and making superb use of music both to create mood and comment on the action, Lee contrives to see both sides of each conflict without falling prey to simplistic sentimentality. Best of all, the film – at once stylised and realistic – buzzes throughout with the sheer, edgy bravado that comes from living one's life on the streets. It looks, sounds, and feels right: sure proof that Lee's virtuoso technique and righteous anger are tempered by real humanity.”

​— Geoff Andrew, Time Out

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Canterbury  
Monday, 15 February, 7.00pm

​Wellington   
Monday, 22 February, 6:15pm

​Auckland   
Monday, 8 March, 6:15pm
Open to the public – members free,
all public tickets $10  (AFS only)
available now at Academy Cinemas

Hamilton   
Monday, 15 March, 7:30pm

Whanganui  
Monday, 29 March, 7.00pm

Carterton   
Friday, 9 April, 7.00pm

Queenstown
Tuesday, 4 May, 8.15pm

Palmerston North
Wednesday, 19 May 6.00pm

New Plymouth
Wednesday, 26 May, 6.00pm

Tauranga
Tuesday, 8 June, 6.00pm

Nelson     
Tuesday, 6 July, 6.00pm

Dunedin
Wednesday, 28 July, 7.30pm

Timaru
Monday, 9 August, 6.00pm
SPIKE LEE selection >>