“Why do you fight against us, so far away from where you are needed?” - Hanoi Hannah
Da 5 Bloods is the newest film directed by Spike Lee, and it stars Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, and Jonathan Majors. The film tells the tale of four Black veterans who return to Vietnam in the present day to bring home the remains of a fallen soldier. However, that isn’t their only mission. They are also there to recover a cache of buried gold and split the money between the four of them.
Da 5 Bloods is an incredibly intense yet heartfelt film, and it’s also very important and relevant to what’s going on in the world today. It’s an extremely politically charged movie, and while that could be a turn-off for some people, I think it’s the type of film that needs to be seen regardless of who you are. It’s informative and educational, and it gives the viewer knowledge about our current political climate as well as the climate of the ’60s and '70s.
Technically speaking, this film is a marvel to look at. The cinematography is beautiful, and the camerawork consists of lots of old-school techniques such as snap zooms. Something I loved about this film was the use of aspect ratio. The aspect ratio changes based on the time period and location, creating a visual diversity uncommon in a lot of current films.
Spike Lee chose to do something very interesting with Da 5 Bloods. He inserted actual footage and images of the Vietnam War into certain scenes. There are some scenes where characters will be talking about atrocities that happened in Vietnam, and as they’re talking, graphic images depicting victims of the war will show up on the screen. This was really disturbing, but also extremely effective. I don’t feel like those scenes would be quite as impactful if they were just told to the viewer rather than shown.
The acting towards the beginning of the film was a little bit iffy, but as the film went on, it got better and better. Delroy Lindo and Clarke Peters are amazing, but it’s Lindo that shines the brightest. There’s an incredible scene where he’s talking to the camera about how he will ultimately decide how he dies when the time comes around, and it made my jaw drop.
I do have a few issues when it comes to Da 5 Bloods. For one, the main characters look the same in the present as they do in the flashback scenes. There are scenes taking place in the ’60s and ’70s in which the actors don’t look a day younger than they do in the present. The war scenes take place roughly fifty years ago, and yet during those scenes, the actors still look like old men. Something else I noticed is that the film goes on a little longer than it should. At the end of the day, however, I think Da 5 Bloods is a very well done movie that has a lot to say about the state of America. I think it’s a film that people should see if they are interested in making a change, and I think it’ll impact a lot of people in powerful ways.
Rating: R
Grade: B+
Comments
Post a Comment