Spike Lee and The Enduring Legacy of 25th Hour (Exclusive)
Edward Norton (Touchstone Pictures)
In the shadows of 9/11, New York City had no clear way to start over, but there was a sense of community. Amongst the rubble and debris was a collaborative and united spirit, not just with New Yorkers, but across America, arm in arm for the first time in our recent memory, working together, showing the world that we may have been kicked down, but we were far from beaten.
One of the most legendary New Yorkers of all time, Spike Lee, received a rare opportunity to be the first director to begin filming in the city post-9/11, delivering one of the best films of the aughts, 25th Hour, capstoned by the best career performances of its principal cast. Adapted from the novel of the same name by David Benioff, 25th Hour follows the story of Monty Brogan (Edward Norton), a heroin dealer navigating his final 24 hours of freedom before beginning a seven-year prison sentence. A heavy drama interwoven with love, loss, and consequence, the film draws from the feelings of New York at the time, the loss of the innocence and shattered sense of both identity and security in the face of near total destruction.
The film was in pre-production when 9/11 occurred, and while most of Hollywood steered clear of even showing the Twin Towers in upcoming programming or films, Lee felt it was necessary to fully integrate the attacks and their aftermath into the story, but he did so without directly acknowledging the disaster itself. He makes the aftermath its own subplot through the film without ever fully mentioning it by name, save two brief references to a firefighter’s death and the scene in the penthouse of Frank Slaughtery (Barry Pepper) when he and Jacob Elinsky (Philip Seymour Hoffman) prepare for their last night out with Brogan.
In the almost 25 years since its release, 25th Hour has been lauded as one of the most important American cultural films post-9/11. It’s more than a story about freedom and loss, it’s a love letter to a city in mourning and rebuilding. During the Tribeca Film Festival red carpet premiere of his short animated film Apart, Lee reacted with shock at the passage of time when reminded of the film’s upcoming milestone 25th anniversary.
“25 years for 25th Hour?! Damn! I spell that D-A-Y-U-M. DAYUM!”
When asked about the cultural significance of the movie, Lee says it captured the mood of the city perfectly.
“Well, it was the first film shot in this, the world's greatest city, after 9/11, and the performances by everybody in it - that film's gonna stand the test of time, and it really caught the mood of all New Yorkers after that day.”
Lee bottled that mood - fear, anger, grief, loss, confusion - and put them on screen, in front of us, forcing us to sit in the reality of our new world while looking inward at our own choices, much in the same way Norton’s oft lauded “Fuck You” speech encompasses a unique anger of the time. It was an odd place to exist in the aftermath of the attacks; all of us looking for someone, anyone, everyone to blame for what happened. Norton’s volatile, back in the mirror at their own culpability for their decadence and ignorance. The speech is the apex of the film, and its aftermath sets the stage for each character’s discovered, but not necessarily quiet, anger and eventual atonement for their own self-righteous, morally ambiguous behaviors and actions.
Barry Pepper, Philip Seymour Hoffman overlook Ground Zero (Touchstone Pictures)
This quiet anger fades and gives way to crushing self awareness and sadness in the last few scenes of the film, as Brogan tearfully concedes his decisions caused his consequences. Is this acknowledgment self reflective inside the scope of the film and its characters, forced to face the responses to their calls? Is it an allegory to the American pursuit of democracy internationally and the repercussions that brought terror to our doorstep? The viewer is left to decide while parsing through their own feelings, their own choices, their own consequences of their lives, a forced reflection of who we are, collectively and individually.
As 9/11 meets its 25th anniversary today, 25th Hour exists as the best living historical capture and document of the mood, feelings, and thoughts of a city and country still reeling from the deadliest attack on its soil. For all its exploration of a new world, it asks us to come to grips with who we are, how we got here, and where we go after, whether we’re ready to face it all or not.
