DO THE RIGHT THING

Nation : U.S.A.
Directed by Spike Lee
Main cast: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee
Year: 1989
Length: 120′
Language: Original English audio version
Version: DCP international distribution by Park Circus for concession of Universal
PG-13

The film tells about life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn, on a hot summer Sunday. As he does every day, Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlor he’s owned for 25 years. The neighborhood has changed considerably in the time he’s been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. A complaint from an African-American client, ended in a tragic accident, detonates the rage and violence of the black population of the neighborhood, highlighting the latent racial tensions of the popular urban area.

The film, inspired in part by real events, was one of Spike Lee’s first big hits. The director tells the African American community in an extremely current way, without filters, with violence and communicative power, but not only. Do the Right Thing is a portrait of how more cultures coexist in modern America and how violence never leads anywhere. The film became one of the manifestos of black culture of the early 90s, influencing art, music and genre cinema throughout the decade.