Jungle Fever
This critically acclaimed film from Spike Lee explores the provocative consequences of interracial relationships.
Black architect Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) begins an affair with his working-class Italian secretary, which causes them to be scrutinized by their friends, cast out from their families and shunned by their neighbors in this moving view of inner-city life.
Member Reviews
Nothing to say - SeanShawn
First off, Snipes was fine. In fact, I think the characters were played almost entirely to the best of the scripts abilities.
But this film simply has nothing to say.. nothing. It's stereotypes, piled upon more stereotypes. Everything is inflated to whatever extreme was in reach, there's not a subtle act in the entire Film.
Lee's "Jungle Fever" hypothesis is ridiculous.
Black women have ridiculous reasons as to why Black men like White women. Italian characters, have nothing to say about Black people, nor anything else for that matter. Nor does this film say anything about (White) corporate America or Drug use, you've seen this all before, and done better.
How about we also toss in an over the top ridiculous ending?
A film like this, needs to be smart. If a film, which is this hard to get through, has nothing to say, not a conclusion, a thought process to introduce, something smart to say about interracial relationships. Then what in the world is it's purpose? It doesn't need one to exist mind you, but it should have one for you to watch. Trust that anything this film will introduce to you, you've already thought past.
So after that, what are you left with? A very tedious and unpleasant Drama. Now, is that a film you want to watch?Layered and unique film - mittymitts
This film is full of texture and colour. What I like about these early Spike Lee films (like Do the Right Thing...) is that he takes a slice of of New York at a particular time and fleshes it out. Even if you don't agree, he makes you think.
He has racist Italians who loathe themselves as much as they hate black people. He has black women of mixed parentage lamenting the loss of their men to white women. He has parents dealing with the loss of a child to drugs... And amidst it all, we have our interracial couple, who weave us in and out of all these stories.
We want to believe that racial issues are behind us and that mixed couples can now live happily ever after; unfortunately that's still not the case. Jungle Fever is an important examination of one example, and can facilitate helpful discussions about where we're at today.
The acting could have been better from our main characters, but good music, a fresh script and Lee's signature camera tricks make this a tense and very watchable film.Tiresome look at race relations. - cathyottawa
I think this was even outdated in 1991, when it was made. It's certainly outdated now.
This is a tedious look at black & white issues. Everything is about race. All white people are racists. All black people hate to see a black man with a white woman. After a while, you just start rolling your eyes as yet someone else uses the "n" word, and yet someone else has a problem with an interacial couple.
On top of that, the romance between Wesley Snipes and Annabella Sciorra isn't even believable. When they first hook up, it makes absolutely no sense.
And if all that weren't bad enough, the background music throughout the movie is often inappropriate, and way too loud. It drowns out the dialogue in spots.
The one, small saving grace is the subplot involving Samuel L Jackson's & Halle Berry's crackheads. It's good stuff, although, why it was included in this movie, I don't know. It doesn't serve the main plot at all, and it's not enough of a bright spot to recommend this movie.
Member Reviews
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Nothing to say - SeanShawn
First off, Snipes was fine. In fact, I think the characters were played almost entirely to the best of the scripts abilities.
But this film simply has nothing to say.. nothing. It's stereotypes, piled upon more stereotypes. Everything is inflated to ...Layered and unique film - mittymitts
This film is full of texture and colour. What I like about these early Spike Lee films (like Do the Right Thing...) is that he takes a slice of of New York at a particular time and fleshes it out. Even if you don't agree, he makes you think.
He ...Tiresome look at race relations. - cathyottawa
I think this was even outdated in 1991, when it was made. It's certainly outdated now.
This is a tedious look at black & white issues. Everything is about race. All white people are racists. All black people hate to see a black man with a white ...