Spike Lee’s latest channels US black history, greed and a treasure hunt gone wrong in present-day Vietnam.
A Spike Lee joint: Yes, while other movie credits proclaim, ‘A Film by XYZ’, this is what Spike Lee movie credits display cheekily – A Spike Lee Joint.
Lee has been an American icon, channelling the voice of the black community through his prickly, hard hitting movies. The 1957-born director hit culture consiousness with the comedy-drama Do the Right Thing (1989), and raising important social political issues in the romantic drama Jungle Fever (1991).
The provocation in Spike Lee movies is fiery, and invokes thought. A good example of this is the Denzel Washington starring biopic Malcolm X (1992).
Lee’s adaptation of Davif Benioff’s debut novel is now regarded as one of the greatest movies of the 21st century. The 25th Hour (2002), starring Edward Norton, tells of a man’s last 24 hours free before he will be put away in prison for seven years for a drug dealing case.
BlacKkKlansman (2018) is my favourite recent Spike Lee black comedy. Based on a true story of a black undercover police officer infiltrating the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, this is Lee at his hilarious best.
Vietnam, again
Four US Army war veterans Paul (Delroy Lindo), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Eddie (Norm Lewis) and Otis (Clarke Peters) head back to Vietnam to reclaim the gold they had taken and buried from a CIA plane crash along with their 1st Infantry Division leader Norman (Chadwick Boseman) decades ago. FYI – The five called themselves “bloods.”
Years later, an incidental landslide leads to the uncovering of the crashed plane, causing the four surviving ‘bloods’ to go treasure hunting and recover Norman’s remains.
The four gradually discover that the ghosts of the past still linger, danger lurks and their lives are at risk.
Absorbing Spike Lee joint
Da 5 Bloods stands out from other Hollywood action dramas for the context and telling.
This isn’t just a treasure hunt story – US black life legacy features prominently, distinct outlook on the Vietnam war, twisted tale on how greed gets the best of them in the end.
The culminating gun battles convey the vicious consequences of a history of violence.
The tremendous Terence Blanchard background score (longtime Spike Lee collaborator) and Marvin Gaye songs add to the deviant tempo.
The flashback sections unconventionally feature four of the five bloods (except Norman) in their present-day aged looks – comes across as effective symbolic take on Norman’s early death.
Powerhouse Delroy Lindo performance
Delroy Lindo packs more than a punch into the traumatic, fragile Paul. Lindo makes most of haunting monologues and the volatile character texture.
Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Clarke Peters and Chadwick Boseman (particularly fluid in brief role) are superb as rest of the ‘bloods.’
Jonathan Majors as Paul’s son David is also good, as are Mélanie Thierry, Jean Reno and Johnny Trí Nguyễn.
Da 5 Bloods review
I love how the Vietnam and French side of history is played up to echo the past in the present.
Da 5 Bloods is not just entertainment, there is a lot going on between the lines – lively conversations, layering and revelations.
A good Netflix watch, way above recent action dramas like Extraction.
