Clockers

A director like Spike Lee faces the problem of having the messages behind his work second guessed before he has had a chance to put his case forward. This tends to colour the perceptions and acceptance of his films, tainting the expectations to a degree. When he made Clockers, with Martin Scorsese adding obvious influence as a producer, the end result was destined to be a not purely “Spike Lee Joint�, but a more accessible mainstream film.

Opening with a montage of crime scene photos set against laidback music, the scene is set in typical eye-catching fashion, but does it live up to the potential? Strike (Phifer) is a clocker – a drug dealer who works around the clock. He suffers ulcers from the stress of dealing, getting hassled by the cops, and being pushed to sell by his boss and mentor Rodney (Lindo). When offered the chance, he takes a job to kill someone for Rodney, hoping the deed will move him off the park benches dealing day in, day out and up the ranks to an easier job.

But in the aftermath of the shooting, it’s Ronald’s brother, Victor, who confesses to the police. Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel), the “homo-cide� cop investigating the case, doesn’t believe the confession, believing him to be too straight and narrow and without motive. Klein hounds Ronald, trying to get him to admit he was the real shooter.

Being Spike Lee’s work, it tends to come over a bit heavy handed delivering story. Then again, Lee has never been the subtlest of directors, an element which has made me a bit wary of him and what he no doubt calls his “art� for the simple fact that I usually have a low tolerance for preachy filmmaking pushing messages I couldn't care less about when I switch off the grey matter. This isn’t helped any by an inability to elicit sympathy for the characters or their plight. Whether this detachment was intentional or not is unclear –some scenes are shot in a voyeuristic manner while others are up close and personal.

Yet the strange thing is that looked at purely for its ability to entertain for two hours, I have to say Clockers does succeed. Even though it suffers some loss in the focus that makes the story drift a little around the middle, I still sit by patiently watching as Keitel winds up and comes down harder and harder on Strike as his drug dealing complacent life starts to fall apart. To really appreciate the film, though, I think you have to look a little harder into the story. There's a gem hidden inside there, but you've got to clear away the message covering it first.

Clockers has an interesting look with high contrast and deep rich colours. Rich inky blacks are strong throughout. This really shows up in the many scenes shot at night which are free from that artificially blue-lit style common to many films. It makes you feel like the dark is dense and real, with the cast slipping through the inky night. The colours are notable for their deep saturation, really pulling the attention into the foreground, which is most critical at night. The transfer, framed at 1.85:1 and 16:9 enhanced, handles everything - grain and all - with aplomb, resulting in a pleasing and consistent picture.

I think "pleasing" is a good word to use here, too. Everything sounds simple and well done. Front stereo channels are mainly used for the soundtrack, to good effect, kind of cushioning the dialogue. The film calls up the rears with only odds and ends of work to do, almost rendering the rears unnecessary really. But there’s no sense of loss here, as the film doesn’t really warrant anything but ambient utilisation of these channels. The dialogue, particularly early on, might find you struggling to keep up, but this is as much to blame on the dialogue and accents themselves, as it is on the centre channel level. Once you’re into it though, the film is clear and consistent, with an easy sound.

As a bonus feature, you get the grand sum of three trailers, one each for Clockers, Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever.

If you've picked up (or intend to pick up) the other two Spike Lee films (Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever), you'd be a loon not to go for Clockers as well. With regards to the picture and audio it does all the right things and the film is as enjoyable (if not more so) than the other two. He may not be the easiest director for some to get into, but this DVD is as good a place as any to start your appreciation.