[yasr_overall_rating]
A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.
“Chi-Raq” gets its plot from ancient Greece, but its inspirations are thoroughly modern. The events in the film are incited by the accidental shooting death of a young girl (caught in the crossfire of gang warfare), but it finds no shortage of social ills to address. The film is ambitious, broad in scope, and keen to attack the political policies that keep Chicago mired in heavy crime.
The plot comes from the ancient Greek play, “Lysistrata,” a comedy from the playwright Aristophanes. Our heroine, Lysistrata (played by Teyonah Paris), leads a grassroots sex strike, in order to force peace among the local gangs who have turned parts of Chicago into the “Chi-Raq” depicted here (an area plagued by violence, with no real hope for relief in sight). Paris’s Lysistrata is radiant, charming, and – when she takes a stand against the violence that surrounds her – inspiring. She also exhibits terrific chemistry with her boyfriend, rapper and local gang leader Chi-Raq (played by Nick Cannon – for the record, I’m only fairly certain the film is named “Chi-Raq” as a tribute to the city, and not because of Cannon’s character). As the film makes clear, the violence in urban Chicago is in many ways stoked by larger and more universal social issues, and Lysistrata’s protest spirals into an international movement, with widespread support – and plenty of resistance from men.
The dialogue is a perfect blend of colloquial conversation and classic verse – as a tribute to the style of Greek plays, “Chi-Raq” has characters speak in rhymes, which gives the dialogue a lyrical boost. In effect, the rhyming has a range of applications; some characters work it in subtly enough it’s difficult to notice, while narrator Samuel L. Jackson seems to relish building to the climax of each rhymed line. It’s a busy film, veering from broad comedy to earnest introspection. These shifts can occasionally be disorienting, but “Chi-Raq” is structured so that we’re never moved too violently from one extreme to the other, and everything ultimately feels necessary. The characters in the film live in a state of heightened anxiety, but they are fully realized people – they laugh, bicker, and love just like anyone else. It would be a disservice to the people Lee depicts to only make their grief and pain visible. At the same time, “Chi-Raq” tackles heady subject matter, which deserves to be taken seriously. Racism, gun control, mass shootings, war, and police brutality are all frankly engaged. The politics of the film are justifiably unsubtle – these are literal matters of life and death, and to diminish them for the sake of maintaining a breezy tone would have been grossly irresponsible.
As a political piece, “Chi-Raq” is unapologetic and unwavering in its convictions. As entertainment, it frequently swings for the fences, with spirited comedic dialogue, barbed satire, and even a few musical interludes. Its commitment to being both high-concept entertainment and scathing social indictment can occasionally induce a tonal whiplash, but overall the film triumphs as agitprop, and as entertainment.
In select theaters December 4th
Judging from other reviews I wasn’t too interested in seeking this movie, but now I may have to check it out. I didn’t know about the connection to Greek plays. Great article