February 9th: SCHOOL DAZE (Spike Lee, 1988)

Spike Lee found success while attending New York University as a graduate student, his thesis film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads winning a Student Academy Award. His debut feature She's Gotta Have It was an early success story of the 1980s independent film movement, and led Lee to working with Columbia Pictures with a considerable budget.

Lee's sophomore film was inspired by his undergraduate days attending various all-black colleges in the South where he hailed from, particularly Morehouse and Superman colleges and Clark Atlanta University. He was interested in portraying not only black campus life, but racism within the community and the class dynamics of the Greek fraternity/sorority organizations.

In the lead role was Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), already a veteran, having appeared in Apocalypse Now when he was only 17 years-old. Also in the cast are Giancarlo Esposito and Bill Nun (both also in Do The Right Thing) stage and screen legend Ossie Davis, singer Jasmine Guy, Lee's sister Joie Lee, jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and Samuel L. Jackson. Other lesser-known actors would go on to appear in The Cosby Show spin-off A Different World, also set on a college campus.

With Lee behind the camera are frequent collaborators cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, editor Barry Alexander Brown, and score composer Bill Lee, the director's father. The film was shot mostly on location around Atlanta, Georgia, and at the aforementioned colleges until the production was asked to leave due to the negative image Lee was painting of the campuses.

To enhance the authenticity of the rivalry between the fraternity member characters and the more militant politically active students, Lee separated the actors' living quarters and gave nicer accommodations to the ones playing wealthier characters. This resulted in palpable tension on set and eventual unscripted fighting on camera.

Despite being a relatively young director, Lee managed to secure a deal with the studio to ensure he would have final cut of the film. With a wildly shifting tone, Lee juggles drama with political commentary, broad comedy, satire, romance, and musical numbers.

The film was released to positive reviews, further bolstering Lee's standing, with Roger Ebert calling it "one of the most honest and revealing movies I've ever seen about modern middle-class black life in America." It was a box office success despite its all-black cast with no stars, making over twice its budget.

Running time is 2 hours.