Spike Lee spoke about his upcoming film “Highest 2 Lowest” – which will see the director reunite with lead actor Denzel Washington – during an on-stage talk Tuesday at the Red Sea Film Festival, where he is the president of the competition jury.
The film is inspired by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller “High and Low,” he said, adding that Kurosawa has been a key inspiration for his career – from “She’s Gotta Have It” onward. In “High and Low,” an executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.
Lee said that attending NYU film school opened his eyes to filmmakers like Kurosawa, who introduced him to new approaches to story structure.
“One of the best things about film school is that you get introduced to world cinema, not just Hollywood. Seeing Kurosawa’s film ‘Rashomon’ and its structure inspired me to make ‘She’s Gotta Have It.’ In ‘Rashomon,’ you have three people who witness a rape, and each gives their own opinion of what happened. In ‘She’s Gotta Have It,’ Nola Darling has three boyfriends who each see her in a different way. From the very beginning of my career, I was influenced by Kurosawa.”
Teaming up with Denzel Washington for their fifth film together and their first since “Inside Man,” made 18 years ago, Lee described their collaboration as the “dynamic duo” and explained that both their families are also very close.
Asked about Washington’s claim that he will soon retire from film acting, Lee quipped, “I’m just glad we got five in.” In terms of whether Lee himself will ever retire, the helmer asked how old Kurosawa was when he made his last film, and when told he was 81 years old, he smiled and said, “Yeah, I got some time left!”
Lee provided few details about “Highest 2 Lowest,” which is inspired by the Japanese director’s 1963 crime thriller, “High and Low,” but insisted that “it isn’t a remake, it’s a reinterpretation of the great Kurosawa.”
“Highest 2 Lowest” is due to be released in early summer 2025 and is produced by A24 with Apple Original Films.
Asked what it’s like to work with Washington, Lee said, “We’re brothers. It’s 18 years since we shot our last film together. That’s a gap. But I was surprised it didn’t feel that way. I’m very blessed to have worked with him on five films. We don’t have to sit down and look at each other. We just do our thing.”
He added that it would be a crime just to make only one film with actors of the caliber of Washington or the likes of Samuel Jackson. “You have to surround yourself with great artists in front and behind the camera.”
That said, the director also explained that he will always make sure to provide opportunities for new talent in cast and crew, emphasizing how tough it it to make a career in film, especially for minorities.
Eventually, the conversation shifted to Lee’s “Malcolm X,” which shot in Saudi Arabia. According to the director, he was thrilled to be back in the country. “The third time is a charm, and this won’t be my last time,” he said. “I’m impressed how this festival has grown in four years and see how everyone comes together to watch films from all parts of the world.”
According to Lee, getting “Malcolm X” made almost sunk him. He recalled that one of the biggest obstacles during development was getting approval to shoot parts of the film in Saudi Arabia. This was partly because of the difficulties of getting a permit to shoot in Mecca but also because Warner Bros. was reluctant to fund a Saudi shoot.
“Instead of shooting in Saudi Arabia, they said, why not shoot in the Jersey Shore in January? I said, ‘Hell no!’ and Warner Brothers shut down the film. I’d been paid $2 million and put in half my salary to make the film. So we were stuck.”
While reading Malcolm X’s autobiography, written from a series of interviews by author Alex Haley, Lee found inspiration in the civil rights leader’s sense of self-determination and self-reliance. “It suddenly hit me like lightning: I know some Black folks with some money.”
Lee recounted how it took him a month to pluck up the courage to go, cap in hand and accompanied by several leading personalities, to raise the money for the film. He started by asking Bill Cosby before moving on to other prominent Black celebrities, including Tracy Chapman, Janet Jackson and Prince.
“Every time I asked for twice what the last person gave. The last two people were Magic Jackson and the GOAT Michael Jordan. Michael was the last. He’s very competitive. So I just let slip what Magic gave – and that way, I got the funding. But I promised each person, saying that I would go to my grave without saying how much each gift was.”
Lee concluded by revealing that he sees no distinction between making documentaries and features and, in both cases, focuses on the storytelling.
He said that he considers his 2017 documentary “4 Little Girls” about the murder of four African-American girls in Birmingham, Alabama, on September 15, 1963, to be his finest work to date.
“The same week we opened the film, the FBI reopened the case and charged those criminals for murder. But they knew it the week of the bombing, way back in 1963.”
English (US) ·