'Mo' Better Blues': backstage with Spike Lee and the cast

Ebony, Sept, 1990 by Lynn Norment

As moviegoers flock to the theaters to see Mo' Better Blues, Lee is already doing pre-production work on his fifth film, Jungle Fever, a story about a Black architect who has a relationship with an Italian-American secretary who lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. It is the same neighborhood in which Black teen Yusuf Hawkins was killed by a White youth, who was incensed that a neighborhood girl was dating Blacks.

"Whereas Do The Right Thing was about race, Jungle Fever is about race, class and sex. People are still very uptight about interracial relationships."

Undoubtedly, some people will be upset by Lee's Jungle Fever, but that doesn't concern the bold Brooklynite whose social activism extends to his films and generous contributions to the UNCF and other causes.

While some who have worked with Lee jokingly describe him as a "slavedriver," Sam Pollard, a film editor who recently worked with Lee for the first time, simply describes him as challenging. "He knows what he wants but he gives you room to be creative," he says. Leander Sales, 26, an assistant film editor, says his boss is very focused. "He's relaxed, but when it's time to work, it's time to work," says Sales.

Because he's involved in so many projects, Lee has no choice but to make good use of his time and dollars. He also is intimately involved in production of the movie's soundtrack and videos, as well as making new ads for Nike and Levis 501 jeans. Also set for release in August is Lee's book on the making of Mo' Better Blues. Earlier this summer, he opened Spike's Joint, a retail outlet a block from his office down busy DeKalb Avenue that will market his popular T-shirts, posters, postcards and other merchandise.

Somehow, Lee makes time to indulge his passion for movies and sports. On those infrequent occasions when he takes vacation, he favors relaxing in Jamaica. "My grandmother always asks me when am I going to take a rest and start a family," he says, "but I would not have been able to do what I have done if I had a wife and children."

Lee insists, as usual, that there is no special woman in his life, but he concedes that he prefers women who are "intelligent and know how to laugh."

Right now what is most important to Lee is that he gets his message to the masses and that he grows personally and professionally with each film.

"I think I'm a better filmmaker now than I was when I did my first film," he says. "I'm a better writer now, and I'm more mature than I was when I made She's Gotta Have it, and hopefully it is reflected in this film."

PHOTO : In his new film, Mo' Better Blues, starring Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, Spike Lee

PHOTO : explores male-female relationships. Lee, who wrote and directed the $10 million movie,

PHOTO : also appears in it as a jazz band manager. "Acting is the least of what I'm about," says

PHOTO : the director-writer.

PHOTO : In Mo' Better Blues, Denzel Washington's character, "Bleek," marries "Indigo," played by

PHOTO : Joie Lee. The ceremony is performed by real-life Brooklyn minister, the Rev. Herbert