Spike Lee on the genius of Denzel Washington, robust Black households and the deathbed promise he is but to meet

Decked out in a resplendent orange-and-blue-striped zoot go well with symbolizing the colours of his beloved New York Knicks, Spike Lee hit the Cannes Movie Pageant’s pink carpet in Could in full boogie mode.

As Lee and his spouse, producer Tonya Lewis Lee, huddled beneath an umbrella and made their method by means of a throng of photographers, he began dancing as audio system blasted “Trunks,” a monitor from the soundtrack of his new movie, “Highest 2 Lowest,” by ASAP Rocky, who additionally acts within the film. Accompanied by his celebrity companion, Rihanna, exhibiting her sizable child bump, the rapper locked eyes with Lee and the 2 broke out right into a spontaneous shimmy.

Aside from the Knicks successful the NBA championship (they might be eradicated from the playoffs a number of days later), it might be exhausting to think about Lee in a extra joyous spirit than the one he was in at that Could 19 occasion. His movie “Do The Right Thing” had premiered at Cannes on the identical date in 1989. It was additionally the a centesimal birthday of Malcolm X, who was portrayed by “Highest” actor Denzel Washington of their most profitable partnership, 1992’s “Malcolm X.”

Although months have handed since that triumphant night, Lee is extending his “Highest 2 Lowest” victory lap, delighted that he and Washington, whom he calls “America’s greatest living actor,” have joined forces for a fifth time.

“I’ve had a love relationship with the Cannes Film Festival since 1986 — they’ve loved all my films that have been there,” says Lee, 68, talking on a current video name from his residence at Oak Bluffs in Martha’s Winery. “May 19, 2025, was a continuation of that. I don’t think it was a mistake that the world premiere of ‘Do the Right Thing’ was May 19, 1989. I don’t think it was a mistake that May 19, 2025, was Malcolm X’s 100th birthday.

“For me, some things you just cannot explain. They just happen. And to add to that, this is the first time Denzel has ever been to Cannes with a film.”

He pauses: “It was ancestral spirits, whatever you want to call it,” including with a mischievous cackle, “But not voodoo!”

Denzel Washington within the film “Highest 2 Lowest.”

(David Lee / A24)

A reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 thriller “High and Low,” “Highest 2 Lowest” stars Washington as a rich music mogul whose livelihood is threatened by a life-or-death ransom demand. (The movie is Lee’s first with Washington since 2006’s “Inside Man.”) The thought for an up to date “High and Low” has circulated round Hollywood for a number of years, sparking curiosity from David Mamet and Chris Rock, amongst others. Playwright Alan Fox’s New York-set script was despatched to Lee by Washington, who was satisfied he was the one director who might do it justice.

“He didn’t have to ask me twice,” cracks Lee. Seated in entrance of a Kehinde Wiley portray and inside attain of a “Jaws 50th” T-shirt, Lee, who wore a Knicks cap, is relentlessly jubilant, flavoring his feedback with humorous exclamations and explosive laughter whereas declaring “Highest 2 Lowest” as one of the crucial deeply felt endeavors of his decades-long profession.

The passage of time since he and Washington labored collectively surprised them each. “Denzel and I didn’t realize that it’s been 18 years since ‘Inside Man,’” he says. “We only found out when journalists told us.”

“Highest” can also be his first movie shot and set in New York in additional than a decade. The motion strikes from Brooklyn to the South Bronx. A key set piece involving a subway chase (an homage to “The French Connection” and the late Gene Hackman, Lee says) is a kinetic mash-up, switching between the pursuit, rowdy Yankee followers touring to a day sport in opposition to the “the hated motherf—ing Boston Red Sox” and a boisterous Nationwide Puerto Rican Day celebration within the Bronx that includes Rosie Perez, Anthony Ramos and Eddie Palmieri’s Salsa Orchestra.

“We were not playing around,” declares Lee, nearly doubled over with glee. “Bedlam! Mayhem! Puerto Rico is in da house! It’s the Bronx, baby! The Bronx!”

The brand new film additionally displays Lee’s severe admiration for Kurosawa. His introduction to the work of the legendary Japanese filmmaker got here whereas attending New York College’s Graduate Movie College:

“I just dug him from the beginning,” Lee says. “I’ve always been a student of him. His work dealt with the human condition — human beings and the trials and tribulations they go through. There is morality in all of his work.” The director credit “Rashomon,” a thriller about 4 individuals who current completely different recollections of a rape and a homicide, because the genesis for his breakthrough movie, 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It,” which revolved across the depiction of an artist juggling three boyfriends on the similar time.

His huge assortment of props and memorabilia incorporates classic posters of “Rashomon,” signed by Kurosawa. Lee’s movie is a New-York-state-of-mind twist on Kurosawa’s state of affairs, initially primarily based on a novel by Ed McBain and riven with tensions between the poor and wealthy. Washington’s David King is a revered report label head grappling with a altering music trade and upset by a proposed company merger that he fears will transfer his label in a brand new route and injury his legacy. He plots a dangerous company maneuver that he hopes will cement his standing as a top-hit maker.

However these plans collapse when King receives a telephone name from somebody claiming to have kidnapped his teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and demanding $17.5 million for his return. It seems that the kidnapper has mistakenly snatched the son of King’s oldest good friend — and driver — Paul (Jeffrey Wright). However the ransom demand stays, forcing King right into a painful ethical quandary: whether or not to face monetary damage in an effort to save his loyal good friend’s son.

Lee doesn’t name “Highest 2 Lowest” a remake a lot as a reinterpretation. “There’s a history of jazz musicians doing reinterpretations of standards,” he says. “We’re jazz musicians in front of and behind the camera.”

(Victoria Will / For The Instances)

Although there are parallels between the 2 movies, Lee is emphatic that “Highest 2 Lowest” isn’t a remake. “It’s a reinterpretation,” he says. “There’s a history of jazz musicians doing reinterpretations of standards. We’re jazz musicians in front of and behind the camera. I love ‘The Sound of Music.’ One of the greatest musicals of all time. Julie Andrews killed it when she sings ‘My Favorite Things’ and it’s one of the greatest songs of all time.”

However he emphasizes with a smile and a blast of laughter, “We’re doing the [John] Coltrane,” referencing the enduring saxophonist’s epic rendition of the tune.

Lee additionally notes that the “2” within the title “is a shout-out to my brother Prince” who continuously used the quantity in his track titles and lyrics.

To Lee, the ethical themes of each movies are common. “It’s deep,” he says. “The audience gets so much into this film, asking themselves, ‘What would I do if my best friend, my wife, son, daughter, is kidnapped, and I‘ve got to put up all the money I’ve got to save them?”

Requested how he would reply if confronted with that dilemma, Lee beams, rocking forwards and backwards.

“Depends on how much the ransom is,” he says. “I’m not gonna lie, man. I ain’t got all that jack. $17.5 million? You better play the lotto!”

“That is what makes the whole scenario great,” he continues. “Everyone would answer that situation differently. [Toshiro] Mifune laid down the foundation. He handed the baton to Denzel and Denzel took it, and did not miss a motherf—ing stride. You know like those brothers in the Olympics? We don’t drop the baton.”

Along with “Inside Man” and “Malcolm X,” Lee and Washington teamed on “Mo’ Better Blues” (1990) and “He Got Game” (1998). The practically two-decade hole between collaborations has had no influence on their on-set communication, the filmmaker says, though he quips, “We’re 18 years older and we both got bad knees.”

Says Lee, “All jokes aside, the word is ‘chemistry.’ We’re both professionals. You don’t have to be best friends. You got a job to do. Also, we don’t really hang out. But once we started rehearsals, we didn’t have to have a long talk and realign ourselves because it’s been 18 years. We got it like that. It was like ‘Inside Man’ was yesterday.”

Taking a breath, Lee provides, “You hope and pray that you learn from experience. It’s easy to say that, but hopefully you get wiser and smarter with the life you’re living. How you live can definitely affect your art.”

“I’m just getting started,” Lee says. “As an individual and an artist, when you’re doing what you love, you win. I don’t see the finish line, the tape.”

(Victoria Will / For The Instances)

Nonetheless, there have been instances when Lee’s star stunned him. Throughout a emotional alternate between Washington and Wright’s characters, Washington unexpectedly began dealing with a hand grenade that had been positioned in King’s workplace by the prop man.

“It made the scene,” he says. “Denzel is a master of improvisation. He’ll get an item or prop, and incorporate it into the dialogue. I’m looking at the [pages] we’re shooting that day and saying, ‘Where did that come from?’ But that’s his genius. He’ll look around. You can’t tell what he’s thinking but he’s going, ‘Is there anything on this set I can use?’”

The scene demonstrated the highly effective performing dynamic between Washington and Wright, says Lee. “Jeffrey is one of the great, great actors. To have those two together, it’s gold, solid gold. All I had to do was sit back and look at the monitors.”

The significance of household can also be a part of their longtime connection and so they have been decided to indicate the King household as a close-knit unit that all the time tells one another “I love you.”

“I know we portray a strong Black family in this film,” Lee says. “There is connection and there is love. That’s Denzel and that’s me, too. You don’t see that a lot. In this film, they go through hell and high water. But it’s that love that keeps them together when everything around them is chaos.”

That significance additionally exists between them off set.

“Our wives and families are tight. We call it the Washing-Lees. His son John David was in my film ‘BlacKkKlansman.’ Besides my wife, Denzel’s wife Pauletta is my No. 1 cheerleader. I’ll just make it simple — it’s a blessing.”

With the completion of “Highest 2 Lowest,” Lee is considering what comes subsequent. Retirement isn’t a consideration.

“I’m just getting started,” he says. “As an individual and an artist, when you’re doing what you love, you win. I don’t see the finish line, the tape.”

One main precedence of his is to see the belief of “Save Us, Joe Louis,” a screenplay Lee co-wrote with late screenwriter Budd Schulberg (“On the Waterfront”) concerning the relationship between rival boxers Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. “I promised Budd on his deathbed that I would get this made.”

And he would like to work on one other challenge with Washington.

“I’ve stopped saying that this would be our last film,” Lee admits, reversing a few of his Cannes feedback. “It would be a blessing to do another one. We’ll see. But you know what? There’s ‘Mo Better Blues,’ ‘Malcolm X,’ ‘He Got Game, ‘Inside Man’ and ‘Highest 2 Lowest.’ We got those for the world to see forever.”