BlacKkKlansman - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of BlacKkKlansman or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to BlacKkKlansman

[ken]

During an interview with Dave Karger at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Topher Grace said that once he got the role and during the filming, he was not allowed to tell anyone that he was playing David Duke.

[edgar]

Early in the film during Kwame Ture's speech to students, the police officers eavesdropping from their car can overhear a female say "F*** tha police." That phrase is also the title of a famous NWA song. Corey Hawkins, the actor portraying Kwame Ture, also portrayed Dr. Dre in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton - which chronicled the controversial rap group.

[kyle]

Contrary to popular belief, the real Ron Stallworth never used a "white" voice on the phone. He ironically had to use his real voice or they would have caught him if he slipped out of character. When his white colleagues told him it could not work, he asked what made his voice any different from theirs and they never answered.

[ella]

The music used during the ending scene and closing montage is a track called "Photo Ops" originally composed by Terrence Blanchard for Spike Lee's film Inside Man. Lee has also used it in his documentaries When the Levees Broke and If God is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise.

[claude]

This film contains clips from D. W. Griffith's silent movie The Birth of a Nation. While Spike Lee was a student at NYU Film School, he was so outraged that his NYU Film School professors taught The Birth of a Nation (1915) with no mention of its racist message or its role in the Klan's twentieth-century rebirth that he made a student short film titled The Answer (1980) as a response. The film so offended many of his professors that Lee was nearly expelled from NYU. He was ultimately saved by a faculty vote. After Lee's film industry successes, he became a professor at NYU Film School, serving as the Artistic Director of the Graduate Film Department.

[ronnie]

The film is dedicated to the life of Heather Heyer, who was fatally hit by a car while protesting the "Unite the Right" rally held on August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, VA. The film opened in the US on August 10, 2018 to mark the first anniversary of the rally and her death.

[beth]

John David Washington was in Cincinnati filming The Old Man & the Gun (2018) when he was offered a key role by Spike Lee without any audition. This would mark Washington's first major part in a Lee feature.

[ruby]

Laura Harrier's character Patrice is a fictional construction for the film.

[tammy]

The real David Duke called Ron Stallworth to express his concern over his "baffoonish, cartoonish idiot" portrayal in the film. Duke also said he respected director Spike Lee. After seeing the film, he was not pleased that the film did not follow the events of the book.

[javier]

The real Ron Stallworth kept his Klan membership card and unexpectedly revealed while promoting the film that he still carries it in his wallet. Stallworth joked that he was amused at the prospect of someone discovering it in his personal effects after his death. His KKK membership card, simply signed, "Duke" (David Duke), had the pledge outlined on the back as follows: I Pledge - 1. to untiringly work for the preservation, protection, and advancement of the White race2. to forever be loyal to the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan - as the only true Klan3. to obey all orders from officers of the Empire4. to keep secret all fellow members and Klan rituals5. to never discuss any Klan affairs with any plain clothes officers on a state, local or national level6. fulfill social, fraternal, and financial obligations to this order as long as I live

[edgar]

Nominated for Academy awards including, Best Picture, Adapated screenplay, Original Score, Actor in supporting role, editing, and Best Director.

[nicholas]

Coincidentally, John David Washington made his film debut as a six-year-old Harlem classroom student in Spike Lee's Malcolm X (1992), which featured his father, Denzel Washington, and his grandmother, Lennis Washington.

[beth]

Spike Lee claimed that when he first heard of the murder of Heather Heyer, President Obama was playing a game of golf near his home in Martha's Vineyard and Lee went to talk to him about the incident.

[ava]

In an interview, Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen stated that his experience of witnessing racism daily while living in America as a teen helped him prepare for his role of a Klansman.

[miriam]

DIR. TRADEMARK: When Ron and Patrice enter the hallway with their guns drawn, they are standing on a moving platform making it appear they are gliding down the hall. A technique frequently used by Spike Lee.

[duane]

While attending the Klan ceremony, Ron silently regards a conspicuously pale faced portrait of Jesus. In Spike Lee's film Malcolm X there is a scene in which the historical accuracy of Jesus' complexion in artwork is debated.

[norma]

BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee's first Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay.

[carla]

The real Ron Stallworth had originally wanted Denzel Washington to play him, but was ecstatic to find out his son got the role.

[scarlett]

David Duke did not discover that Ron Stallworth was a black man until 2006, when a Miami Herald reporter contacted him for his side of the story.