She does a quick Web search and comes up with a more recent example: Leymah Gbowee and the 2003 sex strike that helped bring both sides to the table after 14 years of civil war in Liberia. Teyonah Parris plays an updated Lysistrata in Chi-Raq.Ĭhi-Raq's Lysistrata (a terrific Teyonah Parris), though, is dealing with gangland purples and oranges - the Trojans and the Spartans, as it happens. Aristophanes wrote a satire 2000 years ago in which his Lysistrata convinced war-weary women in Athens and Sparta that their men would lay down their weapons if the women just denied them sex. Her name is Lysistrata, and if that rings ancient Greek theater bells, you'll be able to guess what happens next. During the title sequence, rapper Nick Cannon, who plays an up-and-coming rap star in the film, underscores the urgency in song: "Please pray for my city / Too much hate in my city / City of Chi-Raq."īut his character's a gang leader, and when one of his concerts erupts in gun violence and he shrugs it off as an occupational hazard, his girlfriend decides she's had enough. "Homicides in Chicago, Ill., have surpassed the death toll of American special forces in Iraq," he says. The words "This Is An Emergency" flash on-screen in red block letters at the outset of Spike Lee's satirical call to disarm, Chi-Raq, setting up the newscaster who'll set up the title. Parrish Lewis/Courtesy of Roadside Attractions
Chi-Raq marks a return for Lee to vigorous, agitprop filmmaking.
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