Do the Right Thing (1989)

It's the hottest day of the summer. You can do nothing, you can do something, or you can...

Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.

Directed by: Spike Lee

Written by: Spike Lee

Music by: Bill Lee

Starring: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison

Genre: Drama

Released: 1989-06-14

Runtime: 120 minutes

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Do the Right Thing (1989): trivia & fun facts

Fun facts

• Initially considering De Niro for the role of "Sal," Lee eventually cast Danny Aiello at De Niro's suggestion.
• Lee originally wanted Bill Nunn to play the role of Mister Señor Love Daddy but later recast him as Radio Raheem.
• 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.
• The acting couple Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, who were friends of Lee's father Bill, were cast as Da Mayor and Mother Sister.
• 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.
• In 2006, Writers Guild of America West ranked the film's screenplay 93rd in WGA’s list of 101 Greatest Screenplays.
• The film's score (composed and partially performed by jazz musician Bill Lee, father of Spike Lee) was released in early July 1989 while the soundtrack was released in late June 1989 on Columbia Records and Motown Records, respectively.
• 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.
• And when Spike Lee puts ice cubes on my nipples, the reason you don't see my head is because I'm crying.
• In the 2021 Cannes Film Festival award ceremony, Chaz Ebert, the wife of the late film critic Roger Ebert, noted that her husband had been appalled that the film had not received any awards from the Cannes jury in 1989, and he had even threatened to boycott the festival as a result.

Source: Wikipedia

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