School Daze

Summary

“WAKE UP!”

Sony Pictures has given Spike Lee’s second film School Daze a 4K UHD release. They had previously given the film a Blu-ray release in 2018. I have really appreciated how Sony has continued to release diverse films on the 4K format ranging from arthouse pictures to urban dramas. For example, they have given viewers a chance to view Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on 4K, or to view Boyz N the Hood in 4K. I am an admirer of Spike Lee’s work, and I had never seen School Daze. Given my affection for Do The Right Thing which he released one year later, I was excited to see what Spike Lee wanted to say about the collegiate experience. 

During homecoming weekend at Mission College, a black college in Atlanta, Vaughn “Dap” Dunlap (Lawrence Fishburne) leads a group of students in demanding that the school divest from South Africa due to apartheid. This group is watched closely by the administration of the school above, while it is interceded by a group of Gamma Phi Gamma brothers and pledges led by Julian “Dean Big Brother Almighty” Eaves (Giancarlo Esposito.) As the homecoming weekend occurs, and the pledges are initiated, including Dap’s cousin Half Pint (Spike Lee,) tensions boil over between different groups on campus including sorority girls led by Jane Toussaint (Tisha Campbell) and more natural girls led by Rachel Meadows (Kyme.) The film tries to show the entire college experience with all of its sexual and political dynamics over the course of one very busy weekend.

Every film by Spike Lee that I have seen has something that he is trying to communicate to the audience. I think this is probably why Spike Lee can be a bit divisive even amongst devoted film lovers. With School Daze, Spike Lee attempts to encapsulate the black college experience while also pointing out the sexual misconduct and moral decline that can occur within fraternal life. It is not exactly a groundbreaking issue to focus on within a film, but it is handled well in the picture with a solid ending that begs for the audience to wake up and recognize the issue. This preaching to the audience is not abnormal for Spike Lee and I tend to enjoy this approach from the filmmaker while understanding why it opens him up to criticism. The misogynistic actions that take place in the film are essentially the reason for the film’s existence, and they are approached without an exploitative angle (aside from possibly the sex scene with Lawrence Fishburne, but that was not that big of a deal for that era.)

For myself, School Daze is not a complete success nor is it a complete failure. I pledged a fraternity in college and my experience was very different. There was definitely hazing that occurred in my fraternity, but the hazing shown in School Daze would never have flown at my fraternity. I also never experienced any type of situation where a girl could be offered up to frat members like in School Daze. That said, School Daze is not really aimed at my demographic (WASP,) and my college experience took place sixteen years after the film was released. Films are always time capsules of the era in which they were made, and I do not find it hard to believe that fraternities still struggle with sexual impropriety or hazing. I will say that my experience did not match up with what was portrayed within the film. This caused a bit of a disconnection for me as an audience member.

School Daze is ambitious for a second picture by a director essentially beginning his career in that it is essentially a musical. The film has more song and dance numbers than you might guess given its subject matter. In this area, the film largely succeeds, especially with a performance of “Da Butt” in the film by the band EU which I thought was as hilarious as it was catchy. If you are not anticipating the film to have so many musical numbers, it may wear thin on you, and in some parts I did feel like it could have been reigned in a little more. In a way, School Daze has a lot more in common with West Side Story (musical and tragedy with a message) than it feels like Do the Right Thing. When School Daze focuses on the main story of the characters and their interactions, I felt engaged, but somehow the musical interludes took away from my ability to fully invest in the world that Spike Lee was crafting. I think everyone who watches the film will have a different takeaway of how successful it is. I can’t imagine anyone having an issue with the cinematography of Ernest R. Dickerson. He went on to work with Spike again on Do The Right Thing, Jungle Fever, and Malcolm X, before directing films himself. His work on School Daze shows early promise and many indicators of the stylization of his future works. I also think that the core message of the film is a good one. The actors in the picture are all up to the task with memorable performances by Lawrence Fishburne, Tisha Campbell, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, Kyme, Ossie Davis, and Spike Lee himself. 

For myself, the film just felt like a little bit less than the sum of its parts while also having some really interesting moments and ideas. Experiences viewing the film will vary, and I appreciate that Sony has given the film a solid 4K presentation.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, School Daze looks very good in its UHD presentation. Sony’s quality control team is some of the best in the business, and I feel secure in saying that the film has never looked better. Ernest Dickerson was still developing his signature style, so the film is not as visually interesting as his later work, but there are still numerous sequences that look quite nice. Fine detail is excellent and the film’s color timing seems true to the original source. Grain is very well resolved. While the film is not going to visually pop like some other films on 4K, I think fans will be extremely pleased.

Audio

Sony has presented the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that was featured on the prior 30th anniversary Blu-ray. Dialogue comes across clearly, and the track takes full advantage of the surrounds to maximize the effect of the music in the picture. 

Supplements: These supplements are carried over from the 30th Anniversary Blu-ray.

• Audio Commentary with Spike Lee
• Audio Commentary with Tisha Campbell, Rusty Cundieff, Bill Nunn, Darryl M. Bell and Kadeem Hardison 
• Anniversary of School Daze Q&A with Cast & Crew 
• Birth of a Nation – Lee and the cast discuss the project and their memories of working together to make a film that specifically represented them.
• College Daze – Spike Lee discusses his time at Morehouse. Other cast and crew members do the same. This was pretty entertaining.
• Making a Mark – Another enjoyable behind-the-scenes featurette.
• Music Videos  -“Be One” by Phyllis Hyman, “Da Butt” by EU and “Be Alone Tonight” with The Rays, Tisha Campbell, Jasmine Guy, Paula Brown and Angela Ali.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 3.75/5

School Daze is Spike Lee’s second film. Lee definitely swung for the fences by trying to tackle racial and sexual politics and fraternal life at a black college while also crafting essentially a tragi-comic musical. How well the film works is in the eye of the beholder. While I found the film and its ideas really interesting, I also felt like it was slightly less than the sum of its parts. This might just be a case where the film was not really aimed at me. I came of age in college fraternal life sixteen years later than the film was made at a predominantly white college. While sexual issues and hazing still occur within fraternal life, my experience did not match up to what I saw portrayed in the film. I still think that Lee’s message he was trying to convey of waking up to the type of sexual misconduct that can occur at college was a strong enough issue to warrant crafting the film. The film shows a lot of promise for Lee’s later career, but in my eyes it is one of his lesser efforts. Sony’s UHD release has good looking video, as one would expect, the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track sounded very good overall. The supplemental content is carried over from the 2018 Blu-ray release, and is of very good quality. Fans of the film will probably find that the enhanced video is worth the double dip, but first time viewers may want to rent the film before committing to a purchase.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.