#142: Do the Right Thing
Part of the Top 150 Films series
Do the Right Thing, that powder keg of racial divisiveness, practically explodes off the screen from the get-go, with Rosie Perez leading the charge for all of us to fight the powers that be. That the film only gets more scorching, more sensuous and more exhilarating from there is a testament to Lee’s ability to utilise every cinematic tool at his disposal to get us hot and bothered about the issues of the time (and, depressingly, still to this day). However, the MVP, justly credited first after the cast, is Skip Lievsay for his brilliant sound mix. Connecting the dialogue, score, diegetic music and sound effects from such a large set of characters and situations into a listenable rhythm is a feat unto itself. To do so with such eclecticism and to further the outrage as a key emotional beat (through Radio Raheem’s boombox) is a work of pure genius.
