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''Crooklyn'' is a 1994 American semi-autobiographical film produced and directed by
Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...
, who wrote it with his siblings Joie and Cinqué. Taking place in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, during the summer of 1973, the film primarily centers on a young girl named Troy Carmichael (played by Zelda Harris in her film debut), and her family. Troy learns life lessons through her rowdy brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph; her loving but strict mother Carolyn (
Alfre Woodard Alfre Woodard ( ; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. Known for portraying strong-willed and dignified roles on stage and screen, she has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Scree ...
), and her naive, struggling father Woody ( Delroy Lindo). A distinctive characteristic of ''Crooklyn'' is its
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
, composed almost completely of music from the 1960s and 1970s. The exception is the hit single "Crooklyn" by the
Crooklyn Dodgers The Crooklyn Dodgers were a hip-hop supergroup based in Brooklyn, New York City, consisting of rotating members. They appeared in three separate incarnations in 1994, 1995, and 2007. The first two incarnations recorded for the soundtracks f ...
, a rap crew consisting of
Buckshot A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...
,
Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...
, and Special Ed. A two-volume release of the soundtrack became available on CD concurrent with release of the film. As in his past films such as ''
School Daze ''School Daze'' is a 1988 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee and starring Lee along with Laurence Fishburne (credited as Larry Fishburne), Giancarlo Esposito, and Tisha Campbell. Released on February 12, 19 ...
'', '' Do the Right Thing'', and '' She's Gotta Have It'', Spike Lee appears in ''Crooklyn''. He plays a young glue huffer named Snuffy, who likes to bully the local children. ''Crooklyn'' is the second of two films directed by Spike Lee to earn a PG-13 rating in the United States, as did ''
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
''. Others were restricted to adults. New Yorkers selected the film in 2017 for simultaneous screenings across New York City as part of that year's "One Film, One New York" contest.


Plot

In 1973, 9-year-old Troy Carmichael and her brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph live in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn with their parents Woody, a struggling musician, and Carolyn, a schoolteacher. The neighborhood is filled with colorful people, such as Tony Eyes, the Carmichaels' next-door neighbor, whose house emits the foul smell of dog feces; Tommy La-La, who continuously sings; and Snuffy and Right Hand Man, glue sniffers; and war veteran Vic Powell, who rents from the Carmichaels and lives upstairs. One day, the Carmichael children get into an argument with Tony after he sees Wendell throwing trash into his area. It escalates when their mother Carolyn and several neighborhood children get involved. But Vic comes downstairs and punches Tony in the face. Troy, who has sneaked out to the corner store, sees Vic getting arrested as she leaves the store. One night, Woody and Carolyn argue about money; Carolyn resents Woody for using their money carelessly to fund his solo career. As the argument escalates, Carolyn yells for the children to turn off the television; later she turns it off herself. Clinton turns his back on her and she grabs him for disobeying. Woody grabs her and carries her out of the room, and down the stairs. Nate jumps on his father's back as the other children hold Carolyn apart; she hurts her ankle in the struggle. Carolyn kicks Woody out of the house, but later he brings her flowers and they reconcile. The family decides to go on a trip but, as they are leaving, a worker from Con Ed arrives to shut off the electricity due to an unpaid bill. The family has to postpone the trip and use candles for light. A few days later, the family travels to the South to stay with affluent relatives. Troy stays for a longer period with her cousin, Viola, who was adopted by Uncle Clem and Aunt Song. Troy has fun with Viola despite disliking her snobby aunt and her dog, Queenie. On Troy's tenth birthday, she gets a letter from her mother. After reading the letter and dealing with bickering between Viola and Aunt Song, Troy decides she wants to go home. When Troy returns to New York, her Aunt Maxine and Uncle Brown pick her up at the airport. Troy later learns her mother is in the hospital; she is taken to see her. Later that evening, Woody tells the kids that their mother has cancer and must stay in the hospital. The boys cry, but Troy remains stoic. Troy begins filling her mother's role. Carolyn continues to be treated in the hospital but later dies. Afterward, one of Troy's brothers wonders if they have to dress up for their mother's funeral. On the day of the funeral, Troy's Aunt Maxine coaxes her into trying on the new clothes she's brought, telling her it would make Carolyn proud. Troy calmly says that her mother has a strong dislike of polyester and would never let her wear it. Then she tells her father that she is not going to the funeral. After he says that Carolyn would want them all together at church, Troy agrees to go. At the house gathering after the funeral, Troy is withdrawn. Joseph comes inside crying, saying that Snuffy and Right Hand Man robbed him. Following her mother's wishes for her to protect her younger brother, Troy takes a baseball bat outside and hits Snuffy, telling him to go sniff glue on his own block. Early the next morning, Troy dreams she's hearing her mother's voice. She goes downstairs and sees her father trying to kill a rat in the kitchen. He says that it is all right to cry, and that even her oldest brother Clinton has cried. Troy concludes that it is good that her mother's suffering has ended. As the summer ends, the Carmichael family and their friends gradually resume their lives. Troy assumes the matriarch role left by her mother. Carolyn's spirit visits Troy, praising her for taking on such responsibilities.


Cast

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...
makes his feature film debut playing Connie, a woman customer who dances with another customer at the bodega. While co-screenwriter and actress Joie Susannah Lee is shown in the opening credits as one of the actors, she does not appear in the cast closing credits. She does appear in the filmmaker closing credits scroll.


Development and production

The concept and story for ''Crooklyn'' were created by Joie Lee in her first screenplay. She sold it to her older brother, Spike Lee, to direct and film. There was said to be creative and financial conflict among the three siblings (Spike Lee, Joie Lee, and Cinqué Lee), who all were credited as co-writers. Joie Lee had major creative direction in the movie's production through casting and advising actors according to her accounts of her childhood. She played the role of Aunt Maxine in the movie. Spike Lee had signed to a multiyear deal with
Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...
, giving them the first look at buying any of his films. In March 1993 they approved production for ''Crooklyn'', which would be the first one made under this deal. Lee co-wrote the script with two of his siblings, drawing from their own life experience for the story of the mother's illness and its effects on the family. Zelda Harris was cast for the role of Troy through an open audition process. For the music in the film, Lee picked all the songs himself, choosing ones from his childhood. The filming took place on location in New York, including
Fort Greene Park Fort Greene Park is a city-owned and -operated park in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The park was originally named after the fort formerly located there, Fort Putnam, itself was named for Rufus Putnam, George Washington's chief of engineers in t ...
. During the scenes of the film set in the South, the shots were filmed with an anamorphic lens. It produced a squeezed appearance, expressing the alienated feelings Troy was having in a place very strange to her. During the original run of the film, audience members were confused by these squeezed images, assuming there was some kind of technical error, so the studio put up signs in the theaters to explain the effect was intentional.


Themes and analysis

''Crooklyn'' depicts themes of black girlhood and coming of age through the narrative of Director, Spike Lee's sister, Joie Lee, and her own story of growing up with brothers in Brooklyn. The story of ''Crooklyn'' also focuses on themes of loss, family, nostalgia, memory, youth, and the black experience. Lee uses elements of
docufiction Docufiction (or docu-fiction) is the cinematographic combination of documentary film, documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is (as direct cinema or ciné ...
and a character-driven plot to showcase the everyday life of a family in New York. He considers the movie to be more of a reflection and break-down of what the family went through based on the scope of the understanding of Joie, Cinque, and him as children. The film focuses on the emotional and literal details of family life from Troy's perspective. Film critics mention how ''Crooklyn'' depicts the themes of change and connection that can come with the death of someone close. After Carolyn's death, relationships and dynamics shift in the Carmichael household and beyond.


Release and reception

''Crooklyn'' premiered at the
San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...
on May 12, 1994. It was released to theaters in May 1994, and debuted at number three at the box office. When the film was released,
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote: "Messy as the semiautobiographical ''Crooklyn'' often is, it succeeds in becoming a touching and generous family portrait, a film that exposes welcome new aspects of this director's talent." '' Variety's''
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
described the film as "both annoying and vibrant, casually plotted and deeply personal," adding that it "ends up being as compelling as it is messy".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film three-and-a-half stars, saying,
"Lee's wonderful opening title sequence shows the children's street games that flourished in Brooklyn in the 1970s. Today, he says, those games have died, and he had to teach them to the actors who played the children. They have died because the kids in comparable neighborhoods today are afraid to go outside and play in the streets. ''Crooklyn'' is not in any way an angry film. But thinking about the difference between its world and ours can make you angry, and I think that was one of Lee's purposes here."
In a 2018 ''Variety'' article looking back on Lee's filmography, Joe Leydon ranked ''Crooklyn'' at ninth place: "At once street smart and sweetly sentimental, this warmly nostalgic coming-of-age drama could be described as a Spike Lee movie for people who normally dislike Spike Lee movies." As of November 2023, ''Crooklyn'' holds a rating of 79% on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
based on 34 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "A personal project that warmly reflects on Spike Lee's childhood, ''Crooklyn'' is an episodic celebration of family and the indelible facets of one's hometown".


Soundtrack


Year-end lists

* Honorable mention – Dan Craft, ''
The Pantagraph ''The Pantagraph'' is a daily newspaper that serves Bloomington–Normal, Illinois, along with 60 communities and eight counties in the Central Illinois area. Its headquarters are in Bloomington and it is owned by Lee Enterprises. The name is ...
'' * Honorable mention – Dennis King, ''
Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...
'' * Honorable mention – Duane Dudek, ''
Milwaukee Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the ...
'' * 10th worst – John Hurley, ''
Staten Island Advance The ''Staten Island Advance'' is a daily newspaper published in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. It is the only daily newspaper published in Staten Island and the only major daily newspaper focused on covering it exclu ...
''


Legacy

In the 2017 "One Film, One New York" contest, New Yorkers selected the film for free, simultaneous screenings across all five New York City boroughs.


See also

*
List of hood films This is a list of hood films. These films focus on the culture and life of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and, in some cases, Asian Americans, Asian-Americans or White Americans who live in segregated, low-income urban c ...


References


External links

* * * {{Spike Lee 1994 films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks films African-American comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American independent films American biographical films Films about drugs Films directed by Spike Lee Films set in Brooklyn Films set in 1973 Hood comedy films Films with screenplays by Spike Lee Films scored by Terence Blanchard Universal Pictures films 1994 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Semi-autobiographical films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films