Topic > Comparison between the films Do the Right Thing and Spike Lee's The 25th Hour

Compare and Contrast: 25th Hour and Do the Right Thing Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay For this essay, I watched and saw both the films Do the Right Thing and 25th Hour by director Spike Lee. While on the surface the subject matter and most of the films are very different, some of Lee's signature traits shine through in both films, thus tying them together and giving a sense of the style that Spike Lee has in all of his films. Basically, you could be forgiven for not making Do the Right Thing and The 25th Hour both Spike Lee films. They are very different and apparently represent two completely different storytelling styles. In Do the Right Thing, we see Lee deal with racial tensions and racism itself, all in the course of a single, hot summer day, while in 25th Hour we see the final days of one man, Montgomery Brogan, as he mentally prepares himself leave everything behind on one last day of freedom before going to prison. These are clearly two different plots, as 25th Hour is completely removed from the racial tension themes of Do the Right Thing, and our main character in 25th Hour is also seen dating a black Hispanic woman, Naturelle Riviera, who appears to be l The only notable person of color in the film. For those who had not completely unpacked and mentally reviewed both films, almost no similarity can be found between the films, except for the director. Luckily, looking closer one can find some overarching themes that are able to successfully indicate that both films have earned their mark as Lee's works. The simplest commonality to notice in both 25th Hour and Do the Right Thing is the director's use of color. Occasionally in shots, we will see a full saturation of the current scene in a certain color, most commonly red, which we see most notably in Do the Right Thing when the three old men (Sweet Dick Willie and his friends) are standing in front of a wall bright red. Red is typically used to indicate tensions or simmering passions (tensions, in this case). In 25th Hour, however, while we see several shots of full saturation in the club scenes, we also see the director utilize the lack of color. According to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, this serves to make the city appear covered in ash, relating to its setting in post-9/11 New York. The other thing people might notice is the use of innuendo. In Do the Right Thing, we see Radio Raheem give an updated version of the "Love and Hate" speech originally given in "Night of the Hunter", which is the main allusion of that film, while in 25th Hour, our protagonist Montgomery Brogan has a large, almost oversized poster for the movie "Cool Hand Luke," meant to give a sense of the character. Finally, we see an allusion to Catcher in the Rye in both films, where in Do the Right Thing we see characters of different ethnicities making derogatory speeches towards other ethnicities, while in 25th Hour we see Montgomery Brogan's reflection making derogatory speeches in comparisons of the various groups. seen around New York City. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Overall, for the average person, one might find little in common between the films 25th Hour and Do the Right Thing. Many probably wouldn't even guess that they came from the same director. Both feature very different topics and different protagonists making it difficult to connect the two. For those who dig a little..