25th Hour

25th Hour Focus On Film Mondavi Center Presenting Program

Directed by Spike Lee (2002), Rated R,
135 minutes This undersung Spike Lee joint is one of the director’s and actor Edward Norton’s finest moments. Norton gives an emotionally riveting performance as Monty Brogan, a drug dealer living through his last hours of freedom before a seven-year jail term. With an evocative score by jazz trumpeter (and longtime Lee collaborator) Terence Blanchard, the 2002 film is an intense exploration of one man’s last gasp to understand his life before it changes irreparably. A Message from the Executive Director: On Thursday January 27, the Mondavi Center is presenting Spike Lee’s 25th Hour, as its second “Focus on Film” presentation of the 2010-11 season. Picked as one of the 10 Best Films of the decade by Roger Ebert, 25th Hour also features a transcendent film score by Mondavi Center guest artist Terence Blanchard, who will appear with his Quartet on April 1. Early in 25th Hour, the main character Monty Brogan (played by Edward Norton) has a shocking scene in which he insults various groups of New Yorkers using ugly words and stereotypes. Spike Lee has called this the “most talked about scene” in the film – and one which resolves itself to show that Monty’s hate is really self-hate, disguised as contempt for other people. In the last scene of the film, there is a beautiful recapitulation of images in which the various groups who were denigrated by Monty Brogan, smile and wave and wish him well. We believe that 25th Hour is a strong work of art, made by the leading African-American filmmaker of his generation, and that his ultimate intent, in the wake of 9/11, is to create a love letter for the diverse patchwork quilt of people that is his beloved New York City. We would never feature the kind of language Monty Brogan uses, if the artist’s intent were to hurt or disparage. We wanted to make sure that anyone who plans to view this film not be surprised by the extraordinary intensity of this scene; we would encourage anyone who might be uncomfortable experiencing such a scene to not attend this screening. For context, here’s what New York Times critic A.O. Scott wrote in his 2002 review of 25th Hour:

“Monty, staring into a men's room mirror, launches into a profane tirade against his fellow New Yorkers (and everyone else). His rage is impressively ecumenical, encompassing blacks, brutal police officers, gays, Osama bin Laden, the rich, the poor and every other ethnic or social type you can think of: all of them put down with ruthless, scabrous precision … Monty's outburst, and the montage that accompanies it, contain tenderness as well as hate. Mr. Lee, an irreplaceable New York filmmaker, understands better than most that the true New Yorker's deep, exasperated and unquenchable love for his city is sometimes best expressed in the language of rage.”

Preceding the 7 p.m. screening, I will be giving a brief Pre-Performance Talk, during which both of the scenes I’ve referenced here will be shown; there will be time for audience questions and comments as part of this PPT. Anyone attending the film is invited to this talk free of charge. Thank you. Don Roth