Veteran actor Ossie Davis (Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever) sums up Spike Lee's role in the film world when he describes how Spike doesn't conform to all the stereotypes that the whites expect—that he must never be pushy or forward, he must never challenge the white man and his assumptions about blacks whatsoever, and he must be a very nice guy... Basically, Davis states that white America expects the black man to behave like an "angel." Instead, Spike said, "To Hell with that—going to be a Devil."

Even Spike's nickname is an indication of his character. Born Shelton Jackson Lee, the nickname "Spike" came from the fact that he was a difficult baby for his mother to deliver. The name just stuck, and Lee has been black America's conscience to the film industry and a huge thorn in its side for the past dozen years.

Lee sees that Hollywood can be so much more than it is today by creating more diverse films instead of continually going for the blockbusters, and the American Film Institute's Director's series serves as an introduction to Lee's film vision. Robert J. Emery's documentary also provides a few glimpses of his life and his body of work through 1996.

Although very few specifics about Spike Lee's childhood are illustrated, Ossie Davis relates the story of how he received a prophetic letter from young Spike that stated that one day he was going to make films, and that he was going to have Davis and his wife be in his films. Mostly the documentary meshes film clips and interviews with Spike Lee and some of the actors who starred in Lee's films, including Davis, Ruby Dee (Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever), Wesley Snipes (Mo' Better Blues, Jungle Fever), Delray Lindo (Malcolm X, Crooklyn), and Alfree Woodard (Crooklyn). The film provides an adequate overview of Spike Lee's body of work, beginning with his NYU Academy Award-winning 1983 student film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads through his 1996 film inspired by the Million Man March, Get on the Bus.

Lee occasionally invites spontaneity and improvisation in certain scenes that require it for their realism. That's why the "war council" scene in Jungle Fever sounds so real and true. Lee just turned his actresses loose to describe the relations between black men and white women, and let them rip. He said that there was no way that he could have written an accurate discussion like this, and he knew that the actresses he had hired would create some powerful dialogue.

Another example of this improvisational work occurs in Crooklyn when his child actors "jam" on each other on the stoop. Lee said that he didn't want any professional child actors for his movie, because they wouldn't be natural. Instead, he picked some kids from the public schools to play in his film, and they sound just like typical school kids in that stoop scene.

Some of Lee's interview clips give some insight into how he thinks as a director. For example, he states that it's the director's fault if there is bad acting. He faults himself with weaknesses some critics cite in his early She's Gotta Have It; however, there's no discussion concerning Lee's characteristic camera shots, which would have strengthened the film, given Lee's distinctive visual style.

Of course, Do the Right Thing is the most prominent film on racism in Spike's body of work, and it gets the most treatment here with two film clips and interviews with Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Lee himself. One really humorous item occurs when Spike tells how Danny Aiello couldn't bring himself to say the word "nigger" that was in the script. He just couldn't bring himself to say the word, so Spike talked with one of the other actors who began improvising and calling Aiello every Italian slur he could think of. That worked; Aiello began swearing in character, and actually shocked Lee with his response. It made the final cut. For the definitive background information on this film, however, pick up the fully loaded Criterion DVD edition.

Best known for his provocative portraits of racism, Lee makes it plain that many critics continue to evaluate his work based on the Spike Lee persona instead of examining the work itself. He makes a strong plea for people to examine each film to see what it really contains.

Fortunately Emery includes a characteristic Spike diss on the Academy Awards, and he's got great reason to do so. The idea that the Academy selected Driving Miss Daisy as the Best Film and shut out Do the Right Thing is ludicrous. To Lee, this plainly proves that the Academy is only comfortable with the subservient Negro who will shuffle along and say "yessir" and "yes'm." He's gone past their controls and makes the films he wants to make, even if they don't operate on all cylinders. But as bamboozled as Lee more recently seems as far as creating a coherent film, he remains keenly aware of his position in the industry. As Lee states in the documentary, "I've been blessed with the opportunity to express the views of black people who otherwise don't have access to power and the media. I have to take advantage of that while I am still bankable."

A thorough study of Lee's body of work, his film philosophy, and analysis of his films would take many hours. This one-hour documentary serves well as an introduction to Lee's work and renders greater appreciation for his work, whetting the appetite for more. Several nuggets of insight are worth examining if you have a special interest in Spike Lee's films, in African American culture, or in film background. But a deeper understanding will require delving directly into Spike's films, and that's a worthy trip.