Chi Raq

Plot

After a child is accidentally killed in a gang shooting, a group of women led by Lysistrata organize against the ongoing violence in Chicago's Southside: They will withhold sex from their men until they agree to lay down arms. Lysistrata is inspired by Leymah Gbowee who led a peace movement to stop Second Liberian Civil War with their feminine sexuality. Lysistrata's lover, rapper/gang leader Demetrius - nicknamed "Chi-Raq" - retaliates by intensifying his feud with gang lord Cyclops. Lysistrata's movement challenges the nature of race, sex and violence in America and around the world, and raises tensions in his already violent neighborhood.

Production

Rapper Kanye West was originally supposed to star in the film but dropped out, possibly due to scheduling conflicts. On July 21, 2015, it was announced that La La Anthony had joined the cast of the film, as well as Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, John Cusack, and Samuel L. Jackson. Dave Chappelle appeared in the film as the owner of a strip club. This film saw Lee reuniting with Bassett, Jackson, and Snipes, having worked with all three actors on such earlier films as Mo Better Blues, Jungle Fever and Malcolm X.

Principal photography commenced in June 2015 and continued production through July. The project hired many local actors and had an open casting call in Chicago on May 9, 2015.

Controversies

The November film trailer was controversial. Criticism included an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune by emergency physician Amy Ho, who argued (before the film's release) that Chicago deaths occurring nightly in local hospitals were used for the purpose of entertainment. Critiques of a similar vein were published on Twitter and other social media sites.

The term "Chi-Raq" is a portmanteau of "Chicago" and "Iraq", as well as an endonym commonly used by some Chicago residents to liken the area to a war zone due to its extremely-high crime rates. City residents and City Council members requested that Lee change the name of the film, and threatened to withhold tax credits that the filmmaker would receive from the city. Lee later called Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel a "bully" and several Chicago aldermen "bootlickers" for their criticisms.

The film's production received further negative press when it was discovered that its music supervisor, Thomas "DJ Slugo" Kendricks, was charging artists a submission fee in order to have their music considered for the soundtrack. These measures were taken to the film's production team and Kendricks was fired.

Release

Chi-Raq was the first original film to be distributed by Amazon Studios In addition Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate partnered with the company for a limited release in theaters on December 4, 2015, with the film premiering on Amazon Instant Video shortly after. The first trailer for the film was released November 3, 2015.

Box office

The film had a limited release into North American theaters on December 4, 2015. It grossed $1,250,224 from 305 theaters in its opening weekend, including a $15,000+ per screen average on 22 screens in Chicago.

Reception

Chi-Raq received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has rating of 81%, based on 84 reviews, an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Chi-Raq is as urgently topical and satisfyingly ambitious as it is wildly uneven – and it contains some of Spike Lee's smartest, sharpest, and all-around entertaining late-period work." Metacritic reports a score of 77 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Metacritic also found Chi-Raq to be tied with Steve Jobs as the 27th most acclaimed film of 2015, with five critics having named it the year's greatest and 18 others having ranked it in third place or below.

Chi-Raq: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring music from the film, was released via digital download and physical formats on December 4, 2015 by RCA Records,

1. Nick Cannon – "Pray 4 My City"
2. R. Kelly feat. Tink – "Put the Guns Down"
3. Mali Music feat. Jhené Aiko – "Contradiction"
4. Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers feat. Eryn Allen Kane & Sasha Go Hard – "Born in Chicago"
5. Mali Music – "Sit Down for This"
6. Sam Dew – "Desperately"
7. Treasure Davis feat. Kid Ink – "Simple"
8. Kymm Lewis – "I Want to Live"
9. Nick Cannon – "My City"
10. Kevon Carter – "WGDB"
11. Sophia Byrd – "I See the Light"
12. Cinque Cullar – "All Power"
13. Jennifer Hudson – "I Run"