Today Marks 25 Years Since ‘Jungle Fever’ Hit The Silver Screen

By Sameer Rao Jun 07, 2016

As Shadow and Act noted, today marks a full quarter century since Spike Lee‘s "Jungle Fever" lit up movie theaters across the country with its frank portrayal of interracial relationships, substance addiction and machismo-driven violence. Lee commemorated the occasion himself with a simple Instagram post: 

 

 

Today marks the 25th anniversary of JUNGLE FEVER opening in theaters 6/7/1991

A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on

The film depicts the fallout of a Black architect Flipper’s (Wesley Snipes) affair and subsequent relationship with his Italian-American employee Angie (Annabella Sciorra). Both risk ostracization and familial violence in pursuit of this taboo relationship. The star-studded film also features Samuel L. Jackson in a breakout role as Flipper’s crack-addicted brother, Gator, whose dependency compels scorn from Flipper and their parents (Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee). Halle Berry made her film debut as Gator’s girlfriend. 

Check out the "Jungle Fever" trailer above and reflect on the iconic film in the comments.