There are very few filmmakers bold enough to make a film like Chi-Raq as Spike Lee, a director whose entire career has been defined by his willingness to push the envelope in ways that we had never seen before. Never afraid of controversy, since he knew what he was doing was for the greater good, and driven by a firm motivation to tell stories of vital importance, Lee is the embodiment of the revolutionary spirit that is not seen all that often in modern mainstream cinema, but which he has continued to represent through directing over two dozen exceptional projects, each one a detailed and complex account of the experiences of those on the fringes of society, whether on the basis of race, social status or any other issue that keeps them at a distance. Chi-Raq, which is a darkly comical adaptation of the classic Greek play of Lysistrata, tells the story of a group of women who, having grown tired of the incessant violence between gangs that have caused needless bloodshed (particularly amongst innocent bystanders), they choose to withhold sex from their partners until peace is achieved – and this is only made more quintessential of the director’s oeuvre through his stylistic approach to the material, filling the story with bright colours and dark humour, which all ultimately come together to be yet another groundbreaking achievement from a director whose work has reflected both his incredible merits as an artist, and the real-world issues that fuel his desire to create. Without the anger that impelled him to make films that reflect his experiences, as well as those he saw as worthy of having their story told, Lee would not be nearly as interesting a filmmaker, and Chi-Raq is the perfect example of how his audacity nearly always results in something astounding.

Art is mainly the source of either entertainment or information, sometimes achieving both at the same time if they are crafted by someone with talent. However, it is also true that it can be a form of resistance, and whether made by those with firsthand experience within some difficult social or cultural moment, or those who look at them with a combination of empathy and fury, it can be a powerful tool to show disdain and rebellion against oppressive structures. There is not a single film Lee has directed that does not explore this very concept, often with the kind of apoplectic intensity that has made him quite a polarizing figure, since his films are always no-holds-barred, insanely complex tapestries of injustice and tragedy, filled with violence and expletives that make them far from pleasant in many instances. Yet, this is part of what makes them so extraordinarily vital, and his social awareness often intermingles with his wicked sense of humour, which usually results in his films being as irreverent as they are heartbreaking. Chi-Raq is one of his most astonishing achievements, since he is able to use something as pressing as the gang violence in the city of Chicago (considered to be the crime capital of the United States, although the veracity of this fact is not clear – unfortunately, the nation is overwhelmed with violence and criminal activity from a range of sources), and crafts a work that feels urgent and essential, which is especially impressive considering the material he had to work with, in contrast to the obstacles presented to him by many naysayers, who could not see the merit in what he was doing here. Art is not supposed to be comfortable, and the decision to centre this film around some of the more grave subjects Lee ever touched on proves that it is drawn from a place of extraordinary complexity, making it a harrowing experience, but one that feels extremely important, much more than any preconceived notion of comfort and decorum may usually permit.

Lee is one of the only well-known directors who could not only take something like a play written thousands of years ago, and not only adapt it to the modern context without any difficulty, but do so in a way that is both artistically resonant and extraordinarily entertaining. Lee has always had quite an interesting approach to his films, with even the most sobering of them having some degree of humour – he seems to understand that a dour film rarely gets the message across, and that a more elegant kind of comedy can sometimes have a much broader impact. Chi-Raq is a film that occurs at the perfect intersection between comedy and tragedy (which is yet another reference to the Greek origins of the story, with many works of art produced during the Antiquity being blends of humour and pathos, since it is important to find the balance between the two), and it develops its ideas through the careful combination of absurd situations undercut by a deeper social commentary that can be extraordinarily difficult for anyone not acclimated to the wealth of extremely broad ideas embedded deep in the film. He works with Kevin Wilmott to adapt the original play, with Chi-Raq featuring one of his strongest screenplays – as the prologue to the film states, it takes a lot of work to not only tell this story, but also do it in rhyme. Of course it’s not consistent in taking this approach (since not every line of dialogue rhymes quite as well as others), but it points towards Lee’s incredible originality, as well as his ability to take an ancient text and breathe new life into it, which is far from an easy task, especially when working with something as layered and complex as this subject matter, which comes through beautifully when filtered through the director’s unique gaze.

In addition to being one of his greatest screenplays, Chi-Raq also features an exceptionally strong cast, a combination of seasoned veterans and newcomers to Lee’s world. Teyonah Parris is the de facto lead, a young woman who leads a sexual revolution in the hopes of forcing peace between feuding gangs, while Nick Cannon (who is surprisingly good here, hinting at the fact that he is a much better actor than his career choices may suggest) is her paramour, a disturbed young man who sees violence as not only a solution, but an outright necessity, in a society driven to the point of insanity. Parris and Cannon are excellent, but they are just two components of a sprawling ensemble, with the supporting cast being littered with familiar faces, each one contributing massively to the vivid tapestry Lee was trying to construct. The film sees Angela Bassett, Wesley Snipes and Samuel L. Jackson reuniting with the director for the first time in nearly two decades, each of them pivotal to his earlier career, and here given substantial roles that are poignant and powerful, and also extremely entertaining. Bassett is the heart of the film, bringing her intensity and forthright compassion to the forefront of the story, being the representative of the trauma inflicted on the community by gang violence. Snipes is a scene-stealer as the flamboyant Cyclops, a man whose violent tendencies serve as a catalyst for a lot of the story, and who is a formidable villain in a film that needed a face in order to fully realize the extent of the dangers posed throughout the story. Finally, Jackson is hilariously entertaining as the narrator, the voice who guides us through the world and allows us to see the story through both its contemporary and historical perspective, which is extremely important to understanding the context. A range of other great actors show up throughout the film, making Chi-Raq one of the stronger ensembles that Lee ever managed to assemble, which is an impressive feat all on its own.

Chi-Raq is one of the director’s more hauntingly beautiful films, both in style and substance. Lee’s movies are always so visually distinct, and they feel like they have been handcrafted by someone whose interest in the subject matter is reflected in how he frames every scene. Few contemporary filmmakers are capable of using colour and music to tell a story quite like him, especially in a way that is using our inherent curiosity with the bold visual palette to trick us into a false sense of comfort, which he uses to his advantage. There is nothing quite as effective as a great director who is equally adept at social commentary and formal filmmaking – and Lee’s adroit artistry has always been utilized well, especially when he makes a film that has something to say about complex subject matter. Chi-Raq is a perfect example of how he can pull together so many compelling ideas and make them look effortlessly easy. The fluidity with which he moves the camera and frames certain scenes allows for a complexity in purely the visual realm, which complements the bold story. It’s difficult to describe Lee’s visual style as anything less than a chaotic collision of colours, sounds and other peripheral elements that should not work together as well as they do, but somehow become definitive of a world that is uncanny but also extraordinarily realistic, which is the hallmark of his directorial vision. There are many beautiful sequences in Chi-Raq, but they’re contrasted with a dark tone that is contradicted but not betrayed by the dazzling style – and entirely on its own in terms of filmmaking prowess, the film stands as one of the director’s greatest achievements, which is a bold statement when discussing someone whose body of work is as impressive and expansive as Lee and his incredible career on both sides of the camera.

There is a reason why Lee is considered as someone who has not only bent the rules, but broken them entirely and rebuilt them along his own unique artistic vision. Chi-Raq is exactly what we’d expect from Lee in terms of the material and style, and as a result, it is essentially going to be just as polarizing as anything else he made. It is objectively an effective film, and one that approaches greatness with great rapidity and consistency. Whether or not it reaches it is a different matter entirely – for adherent to the director’s style, it is a masterful and exceptionally well-crafted dark comedy that embodies everything that makes Lee such an acclaimed filmmaker. For detractors, it could be seen as a loud, brash attempt at social commentary, the kind that lacks nuance and detail, and instead goes for the broad strokes when a more subdued approach may have been sufficient. However, anyone that takes the latter view needs to reconnect with Lee’s style and understand that such an approach is far from what we should expect from his work. Chi-Raq, like everything else has made, is bold and unsettling, and extremely confrontational. Subtlety has no place in his films, especially those with a powerful social message – and whether in the most intimate moments, or those that yearn for some kind of social or political change, this film embodies the audacity and brilliance that Lee has so consistently perfected over the course of the past few decades. It stands as one of his most ambitious efforts, and the combination of dark humour and terrifying imagery makes Chi-Raq a film that is singularly impossible to forget, which is entirely the point of a film that carries a message of grave social importance, delivered exactly what we’d expect from a filmmaker like Lee, whose work is always reflective of both unhinged artistic integrity and striking social importance.