Spike Lee’s new film, CHI-RAQ, will be opening in Vancouver, Friday April 1st, 2016
CHI-RAQ will be opening at the VanCity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street) tickets and times: http://www.tribute.ca/showtimes/theatre/vancity-theatre/vancity/
http://www.officialchiraqthemovie.com/
I am honored to share this review with you.
Background information:
After doing some research, I was interested in the history of sex strikes led by women from the time of the ancient Greeks which began with the Greek playwright Aristophanes’ work Lysistrata, an anti-war comedy. The female characters in the play withheld sex from their husbands as part of their strategy to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War.
During the 21st century , there have been at least five sex strikes by women, including the women of Liberia helped who helped end a 14-year civil war. Their leader, Leymah Gbowee, won a Nobel Peace Prize for their combined efforts. Some of the other successful countries were Togo, the US, Italy, Columbia, Barbados and the Philippines
Spike Lee’s movie , brings a modern twist to this strategy weaving in the horrific gun deaths in the United States, the persecution of people of colour and showing a possible alternative . It is a film well worth seeing and could be an alternative for world peace.
Synopsis:
Beautiful LYSISTRATA (Teyonah Parris) is in love with aspiring Rapper DEMTRIUS “CHI-RAQ” DUPREE (Nick Cannon), but she is disturbed by the bloody war between his Spartan gang and the rival Trojans, led by CYCLOPS (Wesley Snipes). After Trojans set fire to her apartment while she’s in bed with Chi-Raq (pronounced Shy-RACK), Lysistrata moves in with her neighbor MISS HELEN (Angela Bassett), a book-loving Peace activist who lost her daughter years before to a stray bullet.
When Patti, an 11-year-old neighborhood girl, is accidentally killed in a drive-by shooting, her grieving mother IRENE (Jennifer Hudson) pleads with anyone who witnessed the crime to come forward. But even after a reward is offered by a local Church congregation led by fiery anti-gun-violence activist FR. MIKE CORRIDAN (John Cusack), no one is willing to identify the killer.
Shaken by Patti’s death and desperate to do something to stop the escalating bloodshed, Lysistrata persuades Spartan and Trojan women to swear off sex with their men until the fighting stops. To draw more attention to their cause, she leads the women in a bold occupation of a local armory, inspiring women across the city—and eventually the world—to join the boycott. As the ultimate battle of the sexes rages on, the city’s fate hangs in the balance in this searing satire of gun violence in America.
Source: Robyn Mogil Partner, TARO PR.
Stills: The Archive: Canadian Distributor.
https://youtu.be/KHdjX9D4_RU
