Круклин (Crooklyn)

1994 film directed by Spike Lee
A distinctive characteristic of Crooklyn is its soundtrack, composed almost completely of music from the 1960s and 1970s. The exception is the hit single "Crooklyn" by the Crooklyn Dodgers, a rap crew consisting of Buckshot, Masta Ace, and Special Ed. A two volume release of the soundtrack became available on CD concurrent with release of the film. As in his past films such as School Daze, Do the Right Thing, and She's Gotta Have It, Spike Lee appears in Crooklyn. He plays a young glue huffer named Snuffy, who likes to bully the local children. Crooklyn is the second of two films directed by Spike Lee to earn a PG 13 rating in the United States, as did Malcolm X. Others were restricted to adults. New Yorkers selected the film in 2017 for simultaneous screenings across New York City as part of that year's "One Film, One New York" contest.

In 1973, 9 year old Troy Carmichael and her brothers Clinton, Wendell, Nate, and Joseph live in the Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn with their parents Woody, a struggling musician, and Carolyn, a schoolteacher. The neighborhood is filled with colorful people, such as Tony Eyes, the Carmichaels' next door neighbor, whose house emits the foul smell of dog feces; Tommy La La, who continuously sings and plays his electric keyboard; Snuffy and Right Hand Man, glue sniffers; and war veteran Vic Powell, who rents from the Carmichaels and lives upstairs. One day, the Carmichael children get into an argument with Tony after he sees Wendell throwing trash into his area. It escalates when their mother Carolyn and several neighborhood children get involved. But Vic comes downstairs and punches Tony in the face. Troy, who has sneaked out to the corner store, sees Vic getting arrested as she leaves the store. One night, Woody and Carolyn argue about money; Carolyn resents Woody for using their money carelessly to fund his solo career. As the argument escalates, Carolyn yells for the children to turn off the television; later she turns it off herself. Clinton turns his back on her and she grabs him for disobeying. Woody grabs her and carries her out of the room, and down the stairs. Nate jumps on his father's back as the other children hold Carolyn apart; she hurts her ankle in the struggle. Carolyn kicks Woody out of the house, but later he brings her flowers and they reconcile. The family decides to go on a trip but, as they are leaving, a worker from Con Ed arrives to shut off the electricity due to an unpaid bill. The family has to postpone the trip and use candles for light. A few days later, the family travels to the South to stay with affluent relatives. Troy stays for a longer period with her cousin, Viola, who was adopted by Uncle Clem and Aunt Song. Troy has fun with Viola despite disliking her snobby aunt and her dog, Queenie. On Troy's tenth birthday, she gets a letter from her mother. After reading the letter and dealing with bickering between Viola and Aunt Song, Troy decides she wants to go home. When Troy returns to New York, her Aunt Maxine and Uncle Brown pick her up at the airport. Troy later learns her mother is in the hospital; she is taken to see her. Later that evening, Woody tells the kids that their mother has cancer and must stay in the hospital. The boys cry, but Troy remains stoic. Troy begins filling her mother's role. Carolyn continues to be treated in the hospital but later dies. Afterward, one of Troy's brothers wonders if they have to dress up for their mother's funeral. On the day of the funeral, Troy's Aunt Maxine coaxes her into trying on the new clothes she's brought, telling her it would make Carolyn proud. Troy calmly says that her mother has a strong dislike of polyester and would never let her wear it. Then she tells her father that she is not going to the funeral. After he says that Carolyn would want them all together at church, Troy agrees to go. At the house gathering after the funeral, Troy is withdrawn. Joseph comes inside crying, saying that Snuffy and Right Hand Man robbed him. Following her mother's wishes for her to protect her younger brother, Troy takes a baseball bat outside and hits Snuffy, telling him to go sniff glue on his own block. Early the next morning, Troy dreams she's hearing her mother's voice. She goes downstairs and sees her father trying to kill a rat in the kitchen. He says that it is all right to cry, and that even her oldest brother Clinton has cried. Troy concludes that it is good that her mother's suffering has ended. As the summer ends, the Carmichael family and their friends gradually resume their lives. Troy assumes the matriarch role left by her mother. Carolyn's spirit visits Troy, praising her for taking on such responsibilities.

RuPaul makes his feature film debut playing Connie, a woman customer who dances with another customer at the bodega. (While co screenwriter and actor Joie Lee is shown in the opening credits as one of the actors, she does not appear in the cast closing credits. She does appear in the filmmakers closing credits scroll.)

The concept and story for Crooklyn were created by Joie Lee in her first screenplay. She sold it to her older brother, Spike Lee, to direct and film. Joie Lee had major creative direction in the movie's production through casting and advising actors according to her accounts of her childhood. She played the role of Aunt Maxine in the movie. Lee co wrote the script with two of his siblings, drawing from their own life experience for the story of the mother's illness and its effects on the family. Zelda Harris was cast for the role of Troy through an open audition process. For the music in the film, Lee picked all the songs himself, choosing ones from his childhood.

Crooklyn depicts themes of black girlhood and coming of age through the narrative of Director, Spike Lee's sister, Joie Lee, and her own story of growing up with brothers in Brooklyn.

In the 2017 "One Film, One New York" contest, New Yorkers selected the film for free, simultaneous screenings across all five New York City boroughs.