This insightful study probes the iconic filmmaker’s career as a director and shaper of American culture. It not only sheds light on the ways in which Lee’s background, influences, and outlook affect his films but also discusses how he participates in, transforms, and transcends the tradition of black American filmmaking.

Each chapter offers a critical assessment of at least one, and sometimes multiple, Lee films, examining their production history; their place in Lee’s filmography; and their aesthetic, cultural, and historical significance. Readers will come away from this first scholarly assessment of Lee’s career and work with a better understanding of his penchant for stirring up controversy about significant social, political, and artistic issues as well as his role as an American artist who provokes his audiences as much as he pacifies them.

Features

• Examines the full range of Lee's career, including the five film books he authored or coauthored, his feature films, his television projects, and his documentaries
• Offers a comprehensive, scholarly analysis of how, as both an American and African American filmmaker, Lee tells stories that might otherwise have remained untold on American movie screens
• Analyzes Lee's place in a rich tradition of African American filmmaking that includes Oscar Micheaux, Gordon Parks, Charles Burnett, Julie Dash, and John Singleton
• Discusses the influence directors such as Martin Scorsese and Melvin Van Peebles have had on Lee
• Reveals how Lee's films expose little-known aspects of American social issues, historical events, and public figures