By Rolando Giustini
For the Clemmons Courier

Directed by Spike Lee, the film tells the true story of Colorado Springs police officer, Ron Stallworth, the first black officer on the force, and his undercover work infiltrating the Klan. He and his partner, Jewish officer Flip Zimmerman, a white cop, move up the ladder in the Klan. Stallworth answers an ad looking for new members by phone, while Flip makes all the in-person meetings.

They move up in the Klan all the way to the Grand Wizard David Duke, amid white supremacist rallies and much violence.

Spike Lee commented that once he saw the acts of homegrown terrorism like the riots in Charlottsville, Virginia, in 2017,

“that was the end of the movie.”

At the start of the movie, these words are on the screen: “Dis joint is based on some fo’ real, fo’ real s**t.”

Spike Lee, 61, never got an Oscar until now. This win came on the 30th anniversary of “Do the Right Thing,” one of his best joints,

the term used for his films. Lee won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay which he co-wrote. The film got six nominations overall.

Lee uses clips from other movies like “Birth of a Nation” and “Gone With the Wind” to show some parallels between the racism in those stories and the ’70s of his film.

Both John David Washington, son of Denzel, in his portrayal as Stallworth, and Adam Driver as Flip showed good acting, as did Topher Grace in the role of David Duke.

Spike Lee did his usual great job directing, and on a personal note, I loved the fact that he used film, not digital. There is no comparison between the two.

This is a very interesting movie and should be seen. The Oscar academy, in awarding Lee the Oscar — finally — “did the right thing.”