Jungle Fever

In his opening sequence to Jungle Fever, Spike Lee introduces the pervasive theme of the appropriateness of sex. Through the red haze of a Harlem morning, we are introduced to Flipper and his wife Drew in a very compromising position. Entangled in both the sheets and a moment of passion, the couple begin their morning in copulation, all the while trying desperately not to `wake the baby.' This `baby' could be a child who they've already produced or a child who is potentially in the making.

This notion of sex as a means of producing children runs throughout the film. We find that even after Flipper has begun his relationship with Angela Tucci, he would never think of having children with her. Flipper's fear of having mixed (`octoon, quadroon, mulatto') children is very high. We learn that his wife is mixed herself. Her father is white and her mother is black. During the scene in her office, we get a glimpse of the kind of heartache that she has suffered from her skin color, a result of the intermingling of the two races of her parents. This sex-and-its-aftermath theme manifests itself in the dysfunctional parent/child(ren) relationships throughout the film. Angie is tied to her father and two brothers as a sort of domestic slave. Not only does she have to work hard in a distant part of town all day, but she also has to return home to cook for and clean up after her three male family members. She seems to receive no financial or emotional support for her efforts either. This becomes very clear when her father beats her up after learning of her relationship with Flipper. We see a similar relationship develop with Paulie and his father. His father's constant nagging about the number of each of the periodicals that he orders on a daily basis coupled with his lack of gratefulness for the meals that he cooks for him each day drive Paulie mad. Though Paulie's father isn't as physically abusive as Angela's father is, we see his proclivity toward violence we he forces his way into the bathroom and whaps a teary-eyed Paulie on the head with a magazine. Eventually, Paulie is able to stand up to his father, telling him `I'm not your f***ing wife; I'm your son.'

The most powerful and destructive parent/child(ren) relationship that unfolds on the screen is that of Flipper's family, including his brother Gator and both of his parents. Lee's choice to introduce the reverend doctor and his wife as parents of Gator first necessarily colors our impression of them as good parents. What type of parents produce a crackhead? Certainly not the same type of parents that produce an upstanding architect, but maybe the type of parents who would rear an interracial adulterer. Other than Drew, who we really never see interact with her child, Gator's mother is the only mother to which we're physically exposed in the text. She loves both of her children and would rather not talk about the problems that exist in their relationships. Instead, she closes her eyes to the truth of Gator's drug habit and hands him money while he does the dances that she likes, and she would rather change the subject at the dinner table than broach the topic of adultery. This approach to parenting doesn't work any better than that of her counterpart. The reverend doctor doesn't ever want to really talk to his kids about their problems without using biblical metaphors. These one-sided diatribes seem to drown out any potential discussions just as much as the wailing of his favorite Mahalia Jackson records. In the end, he must kill his neglected son because he has deteriorated so extensively from crack use. The film's concluding sequence has brought us full circle. The framing of the newspaper landing on Flipper's stoop initially suggests that everything has returned to normal - that Drew has accepted her husband back into her life. Their daughter's smiles and giggles also point to the same conclusion. But we find, as Drew rolls over in bed and tells Flipper he better leave, that the sex is only a temporary fix for a desire for pleasure. The sex will not solve the problems that it has created. In the film's resolution, we see echoes of Paulie's father's former explosion in the bathroom: `All they think marriage is for is humping.'

The final, seemingly confusing line of the film - `Yo, daddy, I'll suck your big black d*** for $2.' - sums up this theme well. It both mirrors in video and echoes in audio an almost identical part from earlier in the film. When Flipper was walking his daughter to school, a crack whore approaches him with the offer, `I'll suck your d*** for $5.' By the film's end, the price has lowered, the sex has been cheapened, and the whore is addressing Flipper as `daddy.' In this final line, the importance of parent/child relationships is emphatic. Sex, a supposedly physical manifestation of love, often results in a product - a child. This child will then live in a society where sex and love is misguided or undirected altogether.

Spike Lee's films are consistent in one respect, even for the lesser ones, which is that they're always pressing buttons. In the case of Jungle Fever, it's another work where messages come out more than from a guy on a postal route. But that's perhaps part of the point, where such points come in many forms and sometimes like a barrage. This time, it doesn't completely gel as well as Lee's Do the Right Thing, which also held anger, contemplation, humor, and pathos about city life. But this time it's also a tale of sexual morays, where both white and black sides have their share of racism and prejudices, and at the core is a story of outcasts. The interesting thing then about Jungle Fever is how Lee's own decisions in casting and in the unique way he shoots his subjects and implements a subjective take more often then not trump what comes out in his script. Then again, maybe it's close to being inevitable with how the elements mix, and at the end there are some parts of the film that are the best that Lee's done so far as a filmmaker.

Wesley Snipes and Anabella Sciora star as the said 'jungle fever' couple, the man being married with a kid, of all things to a woman who is also light-skinned and with her own 'issues', and the woman having an 'old-fashioned' Italian father. When their affair becomes known to both sides, the costs come out and they both become outcasts. And at the end of all of the points that are made in Jungle Fever by Lee, even through the ones that are pounded and (of the period) quite topical and prominent, this notion of society and culture being the biggest culprit is hard to ignore. This main point is made very well by Lee's script, and even as sometimes the script doesn't have the best dialog or lines a little 'too easy', if that makes any sense, there are many scenes which do support this to the fullest. And as the job of any good director is to cast right, this film is filled with a who's-who's of professionals and character actors.

One could go on as to who appears in the film, from Anthony Quinn to Tim Robbins to Ossie Davis to John Turturro, and they all fit their parts and contribute to adding a level of fascination in each. When the less desirable aspects peak in even more, it only adds to what ends up working on screen. Sometimes the script, as mentioned, is a little derivative and trying to touch ALL bases, with a but the film is more often than not alive due to (some of) the music at times. Maybe the most genius pieces of casting were Samuel L. Jackson, in (arguably) one of his very best performances, and Halle Berry. In a sense there are similar points made in the "A" storyline and the "B" one, where there is some extra interest in the supporting characters and their connection with the main ones. Jackson and Berry are crack-heads, and outcasts, and to their own degree have the same crap end of the stick as the leads to. Among many scenes where confrontations reach a great emotional intensity, the best comes with Snipes going into the crack-house and seeing just the purest dark side of society, what really does bring people down.

In the end, Jungle Fever is one of the Lee movies that is worth seeing, that may prove on a repeat viewing to bring even more thought than previous. It's energetic, somber, occasionally funny and shocking in equal measure.

Lots of hate and not much love is the feeling I get when looking this film up; ironic then that the idea of interracial relationships in 1990s America has much the same stance on the idea – stick to what you know or else people who have long since died will be angry at you, oh and the current parent who hasn't died (the father in both cases) will either threaten to or indeed literally beat you senseless.

I don't think Jungle Fever, directed by Spike Lee, is all that bad in fact I found it interesting, engaging and somewhat tragic which means I liked it; I liked it a lot. I think one of the primary reasons this film works is that it achieves something extremely difficult and that's being able to get across a narrative of love, loss and temptation all the time being able to put across and offer opinions on race and ethnicity whilst also being able to merge in a healthy and satisfying amount of humour which, oddly enough, only really comes along when the film is dealing with its 'tragedy' sub-plot involving Gator (Jackson). The idea behind the character is tragic but it is Jackson's presence and approach to the material that makes it humorous: a crack addict that turns up at the most inconvenient of times asking for money, often doing a little dance in order to get it; but he does not learn the wrong of his ways and that's the tragic thing.

So you see, the fact that Spike Lee has created this universe for all these issues to be digested and be put across all the time keeping you interest with some individual acting performances, good music and a fair amount memorable dialogue moments is extremely impressive – my favourite of which is Spike Lee himself portraying a character who goes up in extremities when he learns of an affair, the fact the wife doesn't know and then that the girl is actually white. Jungle Fever starts out in pretty humorous yet tragic circumstances, echoing the atmosphere to come for the rest of the film; the pre-film titles have road signs displaying things like 'drugs, left; crack, right' which is a damned if you do, damned if you don't idea that works amongst the upbeat music. It's this sort of juxtaposition in visuals that works and challenges the viewer as well as possibly being Lee getting across what life is like in these sorts of places 'No matter where you turn, you cannot escape certain failure'.

So, to have the rather oddly named Flipper Purify (Snipes) as an architect who is living a good life with a great job with great prospects with a wonderful wife and kid gives us the sense he is an achiever but he cannot live in a district that is pleasant, so that 'tag' that you never escape the ghetto is present. Likewise, Flipper is a big cheese in his company but he must answer to two white yuppies ahead of him and when things get a little heated, it seems the two white men have defeated the hard working black character. But it is Flipper's own stupidity that sees him go on his journey of hell and self-discovery and all in the name of curiosity which is the film's only real flaw but I cannot hold it too much against it. This is a film in which everybody gets a bite of the cherry; the African-American characters in the film are people who are striving to survive (the credits suggesting the ghetto is a no win place suggests this) doing whatever means necessary no matter how high up you are (crack head or rich architect); Italians are people who perhaps come across as quite needlessly aggressive and yet are the sorts who hold onto values and friendships despite whatever situations arise – they are also people who look out for their sisters.

Then there are the women; in what is one of Jungle Fever's more remarkable scenes, a half dozen women sit around and consolidate Drew (McKee) as she comes to terms with the affair. It is remarkable because it shows women have a voice and they are voicing their opinions in a true-to life manner – remarkable that Lee scripts this scene and shoots it not in a voyeuristic manner but one that lets us know how they feel; I wonder how many other films revolving around an male instigated affair would stop to include this scene? Jungle Fever is a film that has heart but it has brains to boot; there is another great scene when Frankie Botz (Badalucco) is being wound up over his girl and he slams people who are Aryan, blaming Hollywood (another Spike Lee scripted dig?) for it but this is right after heart of gold Italian Paulie Carbone (Turturro) points out that Italian's several decades ago who paid the blacks equal wages were hung for doing so; this echoes the overall theme of the film in a single scene, that being that "it is the 1990s, things like this happen" says Debi Mazar's character and that the disapproving parents should not be too affected by something that supposedly insults tradition.

Jungle Fever is not about 'x' is black and shouldn't date 'y' because they're white; if anything it's about the reason to stick with your partner: if Flipper was curious as to what 'white' would've been like, surely that echoes compliment to Drew because he doesn't consider he so; even though she has been bullied over the light tone of her skin. Spike Lee has made something here that is epic and intriguing; tragic and yet funny at times. This is a modern piece trying to push out what's wrong and what's right: 'stay with partner' is better than 'stay with race' but that doesn't mean you have to choose the latter if you cannot keep the former.

Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" is an eye-opening introspection into the limits of that so-called melting pot sold by America as the epitome of tolerance and universalism... yet contradicted by the statistics and all the racial tension that prevailed in the early 90's. As a social commentary, the movie raises many important issues about interracial relationships in a less politically lauded tone than the iconic "Do The Right Thing", which is a wise choice for a movie mostly centered on human relationships.

Through Stevie Wonder's titular song, "Jungle Fever" refers to the diagnosis of that strange mutual attraction between two persons from different races. The term strongly implies the idea of a relationship against Nature's law, if not a sickness, a deviation. And the central couple to deviate is Flipper, an ambitious architect, and Angie, his new secretary. He's Black, she's Italian. He lives in Harlem, she's from Benston Hurst, he's married with one daughter, she has three men, and two too many: her father (Frank Vincent), and her two brothers. Angie's doom is that she's young and single enough to be the overprotected sister, but mature enough to take care of the house. Angie dates Paulie, a shy and affable storekeeper (John Turturro) in a relationship that doesn't really ring true. Whatever is obviously lacking, Angie would find it in Flipper.

Spike Lee's direction patiently depicts the growing attraction between Flipper and Angie. Interestingly, the first door to a growing intimacy is opened when they break the taboo of races and talk about it in the most casual way. And after that, we stop looking at the difference of skins, and pay more attention to the contents of their hearts. So they have sex, and no sex scene is sugarcoated in Spike Lee's film, not overdone either, but what is Spike Lee's point? To insist that it's only sexual like in adultery, or because of the 'Jungle Fever'? Whatever theory we believe in, the relationship would be wrong, but Lee cares less about pleasing us ethically than inviting us to examine the aftermath of that pivotal night where a Black man and a Italian (Caucasian) woman … did it.

And the way the relationship evolves could be perceived as bad writing on the surface, while it's only extremely well-written 'bad reactions'. For one thing, the adultery is less condemned than its interracial nature. Flipper's wife, Drew (Lonette McKee) is from a mixed couple, and always feared to be only one step in Flipper's attraction process toward light skinned women, until he'd finally go with a plain Caucasian. Flipper's denial might be sincere but then why did he ask his bosses to only hire African American women? Did he know he would automatically fall in love with a Caucasian? The ambiguity remains and is displayed from a different perspective during a dinner with Flipper's parents played by the veteran actors Ossie Davis, as a fanatic preacher, and Ruby Dee, a loving mother and devoted wife.

Flipper's father reminds Angie that white women always sensed an exciting mix of fear and fascination toward Black men and this is what ultimately tarnished the purity of the race, by providing so many mixed ethnicities. While succeeding on the field of disturbing realism, this scene allows us to understand Flipper's background and the amount of pressure he and Angie would endure, Angie, almost beaten to death by her 'dishonored' father, is then coldly compared to a whore. The couple wouldn't survive this last display of hatred and rejection, and in a very thought-provoking approach from Spike Lee, Flipper breaks up with Angie with a very calculated arrogance by pretending it has never been love. In a way, he joined the cause of those who pretend it's all about black men seeing that white is right women-wise, and white girls seeing blacks as sexual supermen, Jungle Fever … again.

Flipper uses an obvious carapace to hide his own weaknesses. In many intimate scenes, he's the one lying beneath the shadow, while Angie's face shines under the window's light. She's genuinely in love with him while Flipper opts for a more convenient pragmatism. Again, no one is right or wrong, Flipper has many responsibilities and Angie's simply in need of a disinterested love, she's the victim of this relationship, as the one who lost the most, her 'honor', her boyfriend, and the man for which she took the risk to lose everything. The counterpoint of this failed relationship is Paulie's tender and more optimistic romance. Paulie who also grew up with an authoritarian fatherly figure (Anthonny Quinn) and endures the racist pressure of his entourage, but finally decides to date Ordyl, the woman who's always so nice to her, regardless of any skin consideration.

But Flipper and Angie's relationship is less the core than the starting point of the analytic journey into the myths that surround sex, part-pride, part-doom, total pressure, marked by a great deal of hypocrisy and suspicion, due to the weight of history. Here comes the most poignant subplot involving the crack addiction of Flipper's brother, Gator, Samuel L. Jackson in an Oscar worthy performance. Gator's descent into self-destruction is the emotional pillar of the film allowing us to put Flipper's romance into perspective. There's more to worry about for the Black community, which in quest of its identity is torn between two unacceptable realities: degradation or obedience to the white man rules. Is 'Jungle Fever' the first step of that assimilation? The ending is a father's cry of despair for never seeing his daughter falling in that trap anyway.

"Jungle Fever" works less as a romance than as realistic depiction of the racial myths poisoning the society. Through many secondary characters with an impressive level of depth and believability, we realize that most of them defines themselves through their ethnicity … as pure survival instinct. When the world is a jungle, it can only inspire self-preservation.

With some interesting ideas about racism, some creative camera-work, and generally solid acting, there is enough in this film to make it worth checking out, albeit not enough to make it a great film. Spike Lee's depiction of a modern society build about racism lacks credibility, as it is hard to believe that the only thing the characters care about is racism-related. Lee's colour scheme hurts the film too, as the hues, in particular the oranges, are very harsh on the eyes, this distracting one from the on screen action. There are also some drug addiction subplots fitted in, to no certain advantage, and despite Terence Blanchard providing a nice multi-style score, it is used rather awkwardly throughout. Plus, there one large unanswered question: is Lee endorsing segregation and racism in the film? Believe it or not, in spite of these problems, the film has enough in it for adequate viewing. Seeing Halle Berry in her first big screen appearance is quite interesting, and Queen Latifah makes her debut appearance too as a waitress. It is very well shot, competently acted and it provides some things to think about, even if it is not too great overall stuff.