Sam, but also among other things, the summer that disco died. This is one example of how Spike Lee ties historical events into his narratives.In Do The Right Thing, Spike Lee illustrates significant occurrences of historic themes associated with primary characters, Mookie and Sal. Mookie's theme is heard several times when he is outside of Sal's pizzeria, walking the neighborhood that requires the camera to follow and capture the block's constant activity. This theme brings out Spike Lee's recurring concern with older and younger generations, their Knowledge, histories, and differing responses to contemporary problems of race relations. For example, it is present as Mookie acknowledges Mother Sister, who represent the eyes and ears of the block from the older generation, and Mr. Love Daddy(a radio dj), who represents the middle generation. Spike Lee associates Sal's theme with his pizzeria and his family, their history, and their current struggles running a business in the middle of an African-American neighborhood. On the other hand, Summer of Sam opens with a prelude by introducing Berkowitz's killing spree as just one of millions of stories in New York. Spike Lee's interest in Berkowitz is exposed in the artful cinematography and editing, used to capture Berkowitz in his house. The camera angles in these scenes are distorted, the color and quality of the film varies, and there are a lot of jump cuts. However, the film's focus is not limited to Berkowitz in the same manor that Do The Right Thing is not just limited to what goes on outside of Sal's pizzeria. In Summer of Sam, Berkowitz plays little part in the overall narrative even though his actions are presented as the cause of almost everything that occurs. Instead, the film focuses on two couples, Dionna (Mira Sorvino) and Vinnie (John Leguizamo), and Ritchie and Ruby who are all from the same self-enclosed Italian American neighborhood in the Bronx. Spike Lee takes...
