The human side of life in the projects

intro = Clockers
Directed by Spike Lee
Produced by Martin Scorsese
Reviewed by Michael Tardif With Clockers, Spike Lee continues in the tradition that has earned him a reputation as one of America's most significant artists. Lee's films have played an important role in documenting the social and cultural realities of inner-city life, especially amongst African-Americans, as it has developed in throughout the '80s and '90s. Clockers, his latest film, explores the struggle of young African-Americans to survive between drug dealers and the law. Set in the housing projects of Brooklyn, Clockers traces the lives of two brothers, Strike and Victor. Strike, played by newcomer Mekhi Phifer, is a "clocker": he's out there around the clock, the street peddler in the front lines of the narcotics trade. From a park bench in the middle of the "projects" Strike, and the small crew he runs, sell crack for Rodney Little, the local barber, real estate agent and narcotics kingpin. When a rival drug dealer is rubbed out, it is Strike's brother Victor (Isiah Washington) who steps forward to take the rap for the killings. For Strike life becomes impossible caught between the obsessed homicide detective, Rocco (Harvey Keitel) who can't accept Victor's confession at face value, and Rodney Little desperate to keep his name as far from the slaying as possible. Clockers continues Lee's distinctive and "in your face" style. The film begins with a series of stills recreated from actual drug related slayings broken only by RIP murals that decorate the New York cityscape. "We did this for the full effect", said Lee. "We wanted people to know, even before they settled into their seats, that we weren't dealing with cartoon shootings, because when you take a life, it's forever." Based on a novel by Richard Price, who also co-produced the film with Martin Scorsese, Clockers, presents a microcosm of life in the projects. Says Price who grew up during the '50s, "The projects used to be launching pads for people that were just starting out their families and needed a safe economic haven so they could concentrate on bettering future generations of their family. However, something happened sometime in the late sixties because instead of people moving on, they were stacked up on the runway. Instead of launching pads, they became terminals, with three generations stacked up in the same apartment." Lee presents the material with the sensitivity of an insider. "It would be a fallacy to say everyone in the projects is on dope or pregnant at 13", he said. "We wanted to show the humanity that these people have, and that's something that you might not necessarily see looking at the six o'clock news." Clockers passes a keen eye over all its protagonists. The justice system and the police certainly don't get off lightly, but then neither do the "clockers and their bosses". However, Lee's films, Clockers included, seem content to present the passage of their characters rather than any role models or neatly-presented resolutions. One can't help wondering whether mere documentation and presentation of realities is enough.

From GLW issue 209