AndrewBloom
CONTAINS SPOILERS7/10 3 months ago
[7.4/10] *She’s Gotta Have It* is shaggy. It is indulgent. It *feels* like a first film. But that also gives it power. Even if you didn’t know that Spike Lee would go on to become one of the United States most iconic and influential directors, there is something engrossing about Lee’s wide-ranging character study. What he lacks in polish and focus at this early stage, he makes up for in a sort of unvarnished authenticity that bleeds through whatever growing pains are present in the rightly famed director’s first outing.
The film has its foibles. The acting is often stilted and less than convincing. The script is all over the place. Scenes crash into other scenes. The tone shifts markedly from moment to moment. You can practically feel Lee throwing everything and the kitchen sink into his first feature, as though he was never sure if he would get another and wanted to toss every idea he’d ever had into the mix.
But amid that convert’s zealousness is an artist’s truth. In some ways, *She’s Gotta Have It* is larger than life. The premise, of a sex positive, self-possessed, and uncommitted young woman trying a neapolitan ice cream of suitors is often played to extremes. There is Jamie, the ostensibly good and loving beau. There is Greer, the self-obsessed, negging, white-washing model who aims to “improve” the protagonist. And there is Mars, the amusing, jobless, jester-oft-proving-prophet of the film. None of the dalliances, let alone the three combined, feels down-to-earth.
And yet, even as the tripartite courtship is prone to *Wizard of Oz*-homaging musical interludes, invitations to the Caribbean, and “African” dances leaping off loft mattresses, there is a recognizable quality to Nola Darling’s dalliances. Each comes with a certain intimacy. Each comes with its own rhythms and quirks. Each gives you a reason, however compelling or strained, why Nola might want to spend time with each, or all, of these gents. The scenes don’t always stitch together perfectly, but the messiness befits a certain realness that belies the heightened reality Lee casts his players in.
Not for nothing, for a young male filmmaker releasing his first movie back in 1986, *She’s Gotta Have It* reads as a surprisingly feminist film. Nola is not only the film’s focus, holding court amid talking heads, love scenes, and casual hangouts galore. She’s also a self-possessed young woman, confident and unashamed in her sexuality, unwilling to be controlled, and content to direct her own life. She is vulnerable, particularly in moments with Jamie, but never diffident or strong-armed. Her relationships, her body, and her mind are her choices, and it’s surprising and bold for now, let alone decades ago.
All that said, for a director as distinctive as Lee, who’s left his mark on cinema writ large and has certain trademarks that are conspicuous even in this early outing, it’s striking how much this film plays like his spin on the Woody Allen formula. Whether it’s the direct addresses to the camera, the focus on domestic drama and personal relationships, or the slice of life vision of New York City (albeit one much more colorful than Allen embraces), the contemporary influences seem clear, in a way that differs from the rest of filmography.
Despite that, there’s an argument that this is Lee’s most striking visual presentation, which is no small feat. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson outdoes himself, finding the majesty in black and white, with light and shadow, in a fashion that is downright Hitchcockian. Symmetrical framings in Nola’s studio, wide shots with the Brooklyn Bridge cutting through the frame, and impressionistic depictions of intimacy all convey both a beauty and rawness that sets the tone for the film. And with Lee himself editing the reels, a naturalistic pacing mixed with a stylized presentation abides.
If that weren't enough, it may also be Lee’s best role? (Give or take Mookie.) In truth, the acting in *She’s Gotta Have It* are pretty tepid across the board, but Lee is the exception. His motor-mouthed, endlessly comic, patently earnest take on Nola’s; third suitor is the film’s comedic highlight. Mars is a bit of a sideshow, but he’s charming and guileless, in a way that makes him the least objectionable of Nola’s various-shades-of-uptight suitors.
That too speaks to a certain boldness in the film. For ninety percent of the film’s runtime, the obvious choice is Jamie. Mars is a clown. Greer is a peacock. Jamie seems to genuinely love Nola, however jealous he may be. He wants to care for her when she’s sick, pamper her when it’s her birthday, and despite a certain squareness, seems to be the one most unbothered by her awkward “three lovers meet over stuffing” Thanksgiving. When he tells Nola, “Pick me or give me up,” you get it, even if his leveraging of another relationship plays like dirty pool.
But then he rapes her. And suddenly, the scales fall for what is ostensibly the film’s nice guy. True to the title, *She’s Gotta Have It* is as much about sex as it is about relationships. And in a movie where the protagonist’s lovemaking is freely given and experienced on her own terms, without compunction, suddenly the act is forced on her, and becomes something chilling, ugly, and demeaning. For a film that can be tonally all over the place, it’s an object lesson in how context can turn on a dime, and turn affection and romance into imposition and violation.
Therein lie Lee’s skills as a filmmaker, which are evident here, even if they would be refined and deployed with more precision later in his career. Not every part of *She’s Gotta Have It* fits together perfectly. But Lee knows where to find the power in each scene, the force in each character, the wrinkle in each relationship that makes the film compelling on a moment to moment basis.
This movie is plainly an initial effort by a creative force still working out themes and ideas and style. But the talent is plain from the word go: in the gorgeous visuals, in the messy but vulnerable depiction of human relationships, and in the willingness to strike a nerve -- for a laugh, a shock, or a profound insight -- that would mark Lee’s works from here to the present.