When smiley first sets fire to Sal’s shop the scene feels extremely chaotic with the sounds of people yelling. When Smiley first lights the match the rioters are already in a frenzied rage, and are screaming as they destroy Sal’s shop. Most of these screams are undistinguishable. Soon the screams turn into a chanting. It’s extremely difficult to make out the words of the chant before we hear the screams of Motha Sista, “Burn It Down!” Her voice is raised in anger. Then the rioters choose to turn their anger to the Asian shopkeeper across the street. He screams “I no white!” His voice is frantic as he tries to stop the group from doing any more damage. After the police and fire trucks arrive someone shouts “Power to the people,” which is heard off screen. This soon blends in with the other members of the group who are shouting “Sal’s Pizza.” Near the end of the scene Motha Sista is heard screaming “No.” It seems now like she is upset about the situation, where as before she was cheering on the destruction, this makes the scene very confusing to the audience. The screams come from both on screen and off at times, which can confuse the audience. The yells and chants seem almost constant through the scene, and give the sense of mass hysteria, and chaos. The continuous screams also blend together, and are often unable to be understood, which is very confusing to the audience.
Not only do the sounds within the scene give it a confusing feel, but also many of the storylines within the movie are brought together in this scene. Most of the characters in the movie are all a part of this mass disarray that the riot has caused. We see Sal’s shop being completely torn apart and destroyed which causes us to feel sympathy for Sal. As we watch the shop being destroyed we do get a glimpse of Sal and his sons. They watch the destruction blankly unable to stop it. We know that Sal cares a lot about his shop, so we feel bad when we see it being destroyed. We are also shown the conflict of the group of rioters with the Asian shopkeeper. We can clearly see how frightened the man is when the mob turns on him. This makes us feel sympathy for the shopkeeper. We also see the conflict between the rioters, police, and firemen. When the firemen turn their hoses on the rioters the spray from the hoses is extremely powerful, and we can clearly see that the pressure from the water is causing pain to some of the rioters. The brutal nature of the firemen and policemen give us the sense to feel bad for the rioters. All these seem to contradict each other, and cause great confusion for the audience. We can’t decide which side to be on because they all seem to have some negative qualities. This causes the audience to feel very confused.
This scene is not only chaos and confusion; however, it is also very unified. Music plays a huge role in bringing unity to the film. The first piece of music we hear is the jazz piece that we have heard previously in the movie when Smiley makes his first appearance. It is also heard again when the two quotes from Martin Luther King and Malcom X are shown before the credits. This music features a lone saxophone that plays an ascending scale, then continues into the familiar theme. This music brings a feel of separation from all the chaos that is happening. Along with the music we see a track in shot on Mookie and Jade. They stay extremely still while someone in front of them is resisting the police in slow motion. Some screams can still be heard, but they seem to be overpowered by the music. The music takes the audience away from the chaos and allows the audience to get a perspective on the events that had just happened, as well as linking it with other parts of the movie.
Another musical theme that is repeated in this scene is “Fight The Power.” This song has been a reoccurring theme within the entire movie, and also is linked to Radio Raheem. The music makes its comeback when we see images of various objects on the floor burning. The camera pans left to see Radio Raheem’s radio burning. “Fight The Power,” is a very strong piece that sounds angry. The music continues to play as Smiley walks in Sal’s shop to the Wall Of Fame, which is now partially burning, and only a few pictures remain hanging at angles. Smiley puts the picture of Malcom X and Martin Luther King on the wall. This song really is appropriate for this action because Smiley is “Fighting The Power,” that was Sal, who said that black people were not going on the wall. This song also brings back the idea of Radio Raheem and Buggin’ Out, as Smiley does what they wanted in the first place, to have black people on the wall of fame.
Many storylines may have been brought together within this scene, but the scene is not at all pure confusion. Many of these storylines are brought to a conclusion, and create an emotional impact on the audience. The conflict between the Asian shopkeeper and the group of rioters is brought to a climax, and resolved within this scene. The Asian man says, “We same,” trying to reason with the group of rioters, and explain that they are the same. This scene creates emotion because throughout the entire film race has been a key issue between all the different races, and in this moment there is a thought presented that they are all just people. Another storyline that is brought to a close is the relationship between Da Mayor and Motha Sista. Throughout the film Da Mayor tries to win the approval of Motha Sista by bringing flowers, and doing good deeds. When Da Mayor hears Motha Sista’s cries he moves to comfort her. She tries to push him away, but he refuses to let her go. This really brings out the emotion that the riot has caused because it shows that Motha Sista was too upset to fight Da Mayor. It shows that in these times of crisis people are brought closer together even if they weren’t close in the beginning.
The last storyline that is brought to a close within this scene is perhaps the most important. Throughout the film Buggin’ Out was intent on causing a boycott of Sal’s pizza because Sal wouldn’t put pictures of black people on the wall of fame. Buggin’ Out then enlisted Radio Raheem and Smiley in his efforts. After Radio Raheem died, and Buggin’ Out is carted away by the police, the riot really starts. Smiley sets fire to the shop. Closeup shots of the pictures on the wall of fame are shown as the fire begins to engulf them. Some of the pictures are cracked, and some have condensation from the fire on the glass. The condensation on the pictures makes them look almost as if they are crying. Then at the end of the scene Smiley appears again in the shop. He places a picture of Malcom X, and Martin Luther King on the wall of fame. Earlier in the film Buggin’ Out suggests that Sal put a picture of Malcom X on the wall, and when Smiley puts this picture on the wall it brings that storyline to a close. These images are extremely powerful, and give the film thematic unity by bringing storylines to a close. These scenes bring out the emotion of the riot, and really depict the social destruction between the different characters as well as depicting the physical destruction of Sal’s shop.
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