Maelstrom & Pandemonium (hell)

maelstrom







Y

[meyl-struhm]



D



–noun 

1. a large, powerful, or violent whirlpool.

2. a restless, disordered, or tumultuous state of affairs: the maelstrom of early morning traffic. 

3. (initial capital letter) a famous hazardous whirlpool off the NW coast of Norway. 



Synonyms:

2. tumult, pandemonium, bedlam.



pandemonium

–noun 

1. wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos.

2. a place or scene of riotous uproar or utter chaos.

3. (often initial capital letter) the abode of all the demons.

4. hell. 





　

Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY. 



Three businesses dominate the block: a storefront radio station, where a smooth-talkin' [deejay] (Samuel L. Jackson) [spins] the platters that matter; a convenience store owned by a Korean couple; and Sal's Famous Pizzeria, the only white-operated business in the neighborhood. 



Sal (Danny Aiello) serves up slices with his two sons, genial Vito (Richard Edson) and angry, racist Pino (John Turturro). Sal has one black employee, Mookie (Spike Lee), who wants to "get paid" but lacks ambition. His sister Jade (Joie Lee, Spike's sister), who has a greater sense of purpose and a "real" job, wants Mookie to start dealing with his responsibilities, most notably his son with girlfriend Tina (Rosie Perez).



Two of Mookie's best friends are Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), a monolith of a man who rarely speaks, preferring to blast Public Enemy's rap song Fight The Power on his massive boom box; and Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), nicknamed for his coke-bottle glasses and habit of losing his cool. 



When Buggin' Out notes that Sal's "Wall of Fame," a photo gallery of famous Italian-Americans, includes no people of color, he eventually demands a neighborhood boycott, on a day when tensions are already running high, that incurs tragic consequences. 





roil

to render (water, wine, etc.) turbid 

by stirring up sediment. 

that Mr. Montand communicates in the [roil] of indecision in this old fellow as to whether he should

swivel

He swiveled his [chair] around.  

he loosens up his neck and shoulders and swivels his [head]

rotary

[shag] carpets, oversize books bound in white leather, a fat rotary-[dial] telephone. 



phlegmatic

phlegmatic as ever, Samantha Morton. (The best gag in the film is that Hazel’s home is forever on [fire]

sedate

We just got him sedated.

valerian

How many drops? Of the valerian?

Raucous