Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American independent comedy-drama film produced, written and directed by Spike Lee. It features an ensemble cast that includes Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro and John Savage and is the feature film debut of Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez. The story explores a Brooklyn neighborhood's simmering racial tension between its African-American residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in tragedy and violence on a hot summer's day.
Do the Right Thing premiered at the 42nd Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 1989, and was theatrically released in the United States by Universal Pictures on June 30. It was a major critical and commercial success, grossing $37.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $6.2 million. Blending elements of comedy, drama and social commentary, the film is noted for its vivid color design, stylized cinematography, direct-address monologues and an influential hip-hop-driven soundtrack, prominently featuring Public Enemy's "Fight the Power". Lee's direction combines heightened realism with theatrical and symbolic techniques to convey the psychological and emotional effects of heat, crowd dynamics and urban life. The film's ambiguous and controversial conclusion sparked widespread debate upon release regarding the nature of protest, responsibility and moral judgment.
The film earned nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Aiello) at the 62nd Academy Awards. It has since been widely recognized as one of the most important American films of the late 20th century; in 1999, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In 2022, the film was ranked the 24th greatest of all time in Sight and Sound magazine's decennial poll of international critics, programmers, curators, archivists and academics. It has been featured on many other lists of the greatest films of all time by numerous critics.
Plot
Twenty-five-year-old Mookie lives in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, with his sister Jade. He has a toddler son named Hector with his Latina girlfriend Tina, and works as a delivery man at a pizzeria owned by Italian-American Salvatore "Sal" Frangione. Sal's oldest son, Pino, is a racist who holds contempt for all the Black residents in the neighborhood. Sal's younger son, Vito, is friends with Mookie, which Pino feels undermines their fraternal bond.
Other residents of the neighborhood include friendly drunk Da Mayor, who dispenses unsolicited wisdom; Mother Sister, who observes the block from her brownstone; Radio Raheem, who blasts Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" on his boombox; Buggin' Out, a fast-talking young man who talks about Black civil rights to anyone who will listen; Smiley, a mentally disabled man who meanders around town with hand-colored pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.; and a local DJ Mister Señor Love Daddy.
At Sal's, Buggin' Out questions Sal about his "Wall of Fame", which is decorated with photos of famous Italian-Americans. He demands that Sal put up pictures of Black celebrities since the pizzeria's customers are mostly Black. Sal refuses, feeling he has no obligation to put other photos on the wall, and ejects him. Buggin' Out attempts to start boycotting the pizzeria, but only Raheem and Smiley join him.
During the day, local teenagers open a fire hydrant to beat the heat wave before white police officers Mark Ponte and Gary Long intervene. Mookie confronts Pino about his contempt towards African Americans. Later, Pino expresses his hatred for African Americans to Sal, who insists on keeping the business in the majority African-American neighborhood.
That night, Buggin' Out, Smiley, and Raheem march into Sal's and demand that the Wall of Fame include Black celebrities. Sal demands that Raheem turn his boombox off, but he refuses. Buggin' Out badmouths Sal and threatens to shutter the pizzeria for good. The rest of the black customers join in the badmouthing after Sal calls Buggin’ Out the n-word. Finally, Sal snaps and destroys Raheem's boombox with a baseball bat. Enraged, Raheem attacks Sal. A fight ensues that spills out into the street, attracting a crowd, becoming so violent that the police arrive, including Long and Ponte. They break up the fight and apprehend Raheem and Buggin' Out. But as the officers attempt to restrain Raheem, Long begins choking him with his nightstick. Though Ponte and the onlookers plead for him to stop, Long tightens his choke-hold on Raheem, killing him. Attempting to save face, the officers hide his body in the back of a police car and drive off.
The onlookers blame Sal for Raheem's death, despite Da Mayor's unsuccessful attempts to defuse the situation. Suddenly, Mookie grabs a trash can and throws it through the pizzeria's window, sparking the crowd to trash it. Da Mayor pulls Sal, Pino, and Vito away from the mob, and Smiley lights a match, burning the pizzeria down to the chants of the crowd which had gathered. The mob then turns toward the Korean market across the street to destroy it, too. Sonny, the owner, eventually dissuades the group with the help of Coconut Sid.
The police return with the fire department and riot patrols to extinguish the fire and disperse the crowd. The firefighters, after several warnings to the crowd, turn their hoses on the mob, enraging them, causing more violence and arrests. Da Mayor embraces Mother Sister as she wails over the chaos, while the main cast simply look on in a haze. Once the scene settles down, Smiley stumbles through the burnt out pizzeria, puts the photo of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X on the hall of fame, and grins.
The next day, Mookie returns to Sal and demands his weekly pay. After an argument, Sal pays Mookie, and the two part. Mookie leaves to visit Hector as Mister Señor Love Daddy announces that the mayor of New York City has founded a committee to investigate the incident and dedicates a song to Raheem.
An epilogue shows two quotations that demonstrate the dichotomy of the film's theme—one from Martin Luther King, who claims violence is never justified, and one from Malcolm X, who claims violence is "intelligence" when used in self-defense—and dedicates the film to six Black people, five killed by police officers (Eleanor Bumpurs, Arthur Miller Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, and Michael Stewart) and one killed by a white mob (Michael Griffith).
Cast
Spike Lee as Mookie Danny Aiello as Sal Frangione Ossie Davis as Da Mayor Ruby Dee as Mother Sister Giancarlo Esposito as Buggin' Out Bill Nunn as Radio Raheem John Turturro as Pino Frangione Richard Edson as Vito Frangione Roger Guenveur Smith as Smiley Rosie Perez as Tina Joie Lee as Jade Steve White as Ahmad Martin Lawrence as Cee Leonard L. Thomas as Punchy Christa Rivers as Ella Robin Harris as Sweet Dick Willie Paul Benjamin as ML Frankie Faison as Coconut Sid Samuel L. Jackson as Mister Señor Love Daddy (credited as Sam Jackson) Steve Park as Sonny Rick Aiello as Officer Gary Long Miguel Sandoval as Officer Mark Ponte Richard Parnell Habersham as Eddie Lovell Luis Antonio Ramos as Stevie Frank Vincent as Charlie John Savage as Clifton
Production Development Writer, director, and actor Spike Lee conceived the idea for Do the Right Thing after discussing a 1986 incident at Howard Beach, Queens, with actor Robert De Niro. This incident involved an attack on African-American men in a predominantly Italian-American neighborhood, resulting in one victim being struck by a car and killed. Lee was also influenced by the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Shopping for Death," in which the main characters discuss their theory that hot weather increases violent tendencies, and the killing of Eleanor Bumpurs by police. He wrote the screenplay in two weeks.
The original script of Do the Right Thing ended with a stronger reconciliation between Mookie and Sal than Lee used in the film. In this version, Sal's comments to Mookie are similar to Da Mayor's earlier comments in the film and hint at some common ground and perhaps Sal's understanding of why Mookie tried to destroy his restaurant. Lee has not explicitly explained why he changed the ending but his contemporaneous notes compiled in the film's companion book indicate Lisa Jones expressed Sal's reaction as "too nice" as originally written.
Casting Initially considering De Niro for the role of "Sal," Lee eventually cast Danny Aiello at De Niro's suggestion. Aiello's son Rick played Gary Long, the police officer who kills Radio Raheem. Roger Guenveur Smith, who was pestering Lee for a role in the film, created the character of Smiley, who was not in the original script.Do The Right Thing DVD Audio Commentary Four of the cast members were stand-up comedians: Martin Lawrence, Steve Park, Steve White and Robin Harris. Samuel L. Jackson was chosen for the role of Mister Señor Love Daddy. Jackson later revealed that he spent much of his time on set sleeping as he has no scenes outside. Lee originally wanted Bill Nunn to play the role of Mister Señor Love Daddy but later recast him as Radio Raheem. The acting couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, who were friends of Lee's father Bill, were cast as Da Mayor and Mother Sister. Perez was cast as Mookie's love interest Tina after Lee saw her dancing at a Los Angeles dance club. Perez decided to take the part because her sister lived four blocks from the set. She had never been in a film before and became upset during the filming of Radio Raheem's death scene.
Filming Principal photography commenced on July 18, 1988, on a single block in Brooklyn, New York. The film crew transformed the dilapidated Stuyvesant Avenue, between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood, creating new structures such as the Korean grocery store, a functional pizza parlor representing Sal's Famous Pizzeria, and a radio station replacing a burnt-out building. Some characters' residences were set in a former crack house shut down by the production, and the brownstone serving as the home of the only white resident, "Clifton," was a vacant building before filming. Lee organized a block party before principal photography to foster a positive relationship between the neighborhood residents and the filmmakers. Production designer Wynn Thomas altered the street's color scheme, using a great deal of red and orange paint to convey the sense of a heatwave. During filming, the neighborhood's crack dealers threatened the film crew for disturbing their business, leading Lee to hire Fruit of Islam members to provide security. Filming wrapped on September 14, 1988, with a budget of $6.2 million.
During the final confrontation between Danny Aiello's character, "Sal", and Giancarlo Esposito's character, "Buggin' Out", Lee allowed the actors to improvise racist remarks. Esposito, who is of half-Italian and half-African-American descent, found the scene cathartic.
Radio Raheem