“Menace II Society” concerns an 18-year-old named Caine (Tyrin Turner), whose soul is up for grabs in Watts, the land of riots, carjackings and drive-by killings. There is some humor here, but it’s the grimmest sort. At one point Caine jumps into somebody’s car at a fast-food drive-in, robs him and then tells him to order a double cheeseburger. But mostly, “Menace” is straight-up nihilism, an anti-violence parable that’s shatteringly violent. “America’s nightmare,” says Caine, is “young, black and [doesn’t] give a f—.”
The Hughes brothers, sons of an Armenian mother and an absentee African-American father, were raised in Detroit and Pomona, Calif. Pomona is not exactly Watts. Still, their environs were such that their mother, who now runs a vocational center. feared they might slip into trouble and gave them a video camera to tinker with instead. In their teens, the boys did expose themselves to Pomona’s drug culture, but as observers: they made a documentary about a crack dealer. They also re-created scenes from Brian De Palma’s “Scarface” and obsessed over their idol, Mar-tin Scorsese, whom Allen refers to as “The One.” The twins’ adolescence may have been relatively comfortable, but they insist they don’t need inner-city credentials. “Black filmmakers are always expected to make autobiography,” says Albert. “The media doesn’t see us as artists, but as politicians and biographers. They don’t believe we can expand our horizon to tell stories that are not our own.”
Albert took a few film classes at Los Angeles City College, but it was the Hughes brothers rap videos–for KRS–One and Tone-Loc, among others-that opened doors in Hollywood. For “Menace,” they interviewed Watts youths, Allen says, picking their brains and finding out how they felt when they killed people." The finished product is full of references to the twins’ favorite filmmakers: a climactic drive-by shooting is a nod to the stairway scene in De Palma’s “The Untouchables”; a fierce and sudden beating is a glance at Scorsese’s “GoodFellas.”
The Hugheses’ vision of urban America has been received peaceably, without the violence that attended “Boyz” and “New Jack City.” New Line Cinema, the independent company that produced the film, is downplaying violence in its advertising campaign. The print ad for “Menace II Society,” in fact. features a man and woman embracing, a misleading image at best. New Line is clearly trying to appeal to a mainstream audience, but it has admittedly limited means. As Chris Pula, president of New Line’s theatrical marketing, puts it, “There is no way we can outspend Columbia on ‘Last Action Hero’ or ‘Line of Fire’.” Still, “Menace” has made its presence felt, despite all the lumbering giants of summer. The film, made for just $3.4 million, has grossed $21 million since it opened in May. (Imagine, if you can, “Last Action Hero” pulling down $500 million.) Next. the Hughes brothers will make “Public Enemez,” which concerns four drug dealers on a road trip to New Orleans. New Line has an option on the film, but the twins are being courted by Warner Bros., Universal, TriStar, even Disney.
Though “Public Enemez,” they say, will be a “more upbeat, entertaining film” than “Menace,” Allen and Albert have no misgivings about their blunt, unnerving debut. “We’re not here to give people hope,” says Allen. “We’re here to display what’s going on. And if you have a problem, then open your eyes and do something about it. You be the hope.” Allen is too modest: sometimes truth and talent look an awful lot like hope.
