The Emory Cinematheque Presents: Summer of Sam

The Emory Cinematheque Presents: Summer of Sam November 11 at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall 208 1999 | Run Time: 142 min. | 35mm Directed by Spike Lee Introduced by Dr. Racquel Gates: https://americanstudies.columbia.edu/people/racquel-gates (Columbia University)

Released in 1999, Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam is based on the 1977 killing spree of David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam. It fuses that year’s heatwave, Bronx, New York energy, sex, and disco with the fear of a serial killer. It’s Lee’s first film not about Black communities.

Mike Imperioli (of The Sopranos fame), Victor Colicchio, and Lee wrote Summer of Sam. Actor and star Roger Guenveur Smith talks about the making of the film. “’Summer of Sam’ was shot almost entirely in the Country Club section of the Bronx where the first of the murders took place. ‘You could feel it among the people on the street who had actually lived through this summer and lost people to that man. On one level it's a movie; it's make-believe. But for some of the people in that community, it was a very real experience. It's difficult material and that's what makes for good drama.’” The parents of the young people killed by Berkowitz protested the making of the film with many feeling like the “portrayal of the Italian-American neighborhood focused on a sub-culture of the lowest form, teaming with criminal elements” (John Dabbene, Italian Voice).

Film philosophy scholar Dan Flory believes Summer of Sam functions thematically as a film noir about racial lynching. He writes, “Lee uses themes of confinement and determinism as in other noirs.” While film critic Keith Boseman calls the film “potent and occasionally electrifying. It is almost always riveting” (Hyde Park Citizen). Summer of Sam stars John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, and Roger Guenveur Smith.

Film scholar Racquel Gates of Columbia University will introduce the film and lead the Q & A.