Watch Spike Lee’s New Short Film, ‘New York, New York’
Spike Lee has a new movie coming to Netflix next month; Da 5 Bloods, about four African-American vets played by Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. after their return from the Vietnam War. That film premieres on June 12 on Netflix. But Spike’s also a got a brand new short film, and that’s available for free right now on his Instagram.
It’s titled “New York, New York,” and it’s a three-and-a-half minute tribute to the filmmaker’s home and its heroes. To the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York,” Lee tours all five boroughs, finding them quiet and shuttered by the coronavirus. He visits many of the town’s most iconic locations, from Yankee Stadium to the Empire State Building. And it concludes with a tribute to its health care workers, who are doing an incredible job in these terrible times.
Plus, this is a true short film; as Spike Lee notes in the Instagram caption, Kodak provided 8mm film and a camera for the shoot. And the title card is in New York Knicks blue and orange, of course. Watch it below:
It’s a very straightforward film — as Lee puts it, it’s a “A Love Letter To It's People. Plain And Simple.” — but for those of us living in New York right now, it’s a pretty affecting one. Timing the appearance of doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, and firefighters to the song’s big final crescendo packs quite an emotional wallop. I can’t wait for Da 5 Bloods next month.
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