“Do The Right Thing” is another movie to feature what I like to refer to as a ‘pseudo-reality’ like the ones in “Rear Window”, “Barton Fink” and “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”. I call it this because it seems real but an almost dreamlike effect is created via the lighting, the colouring and the camera angles. It’s a powerful movie with dialog like “Reservoir Dogs”.

“Do The Right Thing” takes place in a mainly black area of Brooklyn but also features Italian-Americans, Latinos, Koreans and whites. What’s happening is that it’s one of the hottest days of the year and tempers are rising so the various groups end up in a big scuffle. It’s done almost like a music video and features a lot of shouting and a lot of passion.

The film’s director, Spike Lee (“Malcolm X”), stars here as pizza delivery boy Mookie and he’s pretty darn good playing the average African American. Danny Aiello (“The Godfather Part II”), Ossie Davis (“Bubba Ho-Tep”) and John Tuturro (“Transformers”) are the best though. I particularly enjoyed Aiello, who plays the owner of a pizza place that Mookie works for and it becomes the place where most of the film’s aggression plays out. Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”) is also good as the radio disc jockey.

It’s fast, it’s funny, it’s emotional and it’s disturbing. It’s not really about the big scene; it’s all about the build-up. The dialog is written so beautifully here that you don’t say see stereotypes, you see real people occupying a world that uses stereotypes. As I say, what makes it work so well is the way it creates this otherworldly effect to use as an overlay. It makes the shouting sequences stick in one’s mind. It combines real people, real situations and real feelings but manages to give a slant that makes it seem somewhat different and intriguing.