Da 5 Bloods (2020)
Thanks to Spike Lee's direction, Da 5 Bloods is one of 2020’s most visually arresting films. It also features one of the year’s best performances. This film has a lot to say. It’s bold, packed with tension, and rich drama.
During the war, Vietnam soldiers Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) discovered a locker of U.S. gold meant for the Lahu people. In present day, they return. Officially, to recover the body of the leader of the "Bloods", "Stormin'" Norman (Chadwick Boseman). They're also planning on smuggling the recovered gold home. As they approach their destination, old war wounds reopen and the poisonous draw of that treasure begins to tear them apart.
Generally, a 150 minute+ running time is excessive. Here, it’s necessary. There is so much to digest in this film you need those minutes to process it all. The very premise fills you with uncertainty. The gold the remaining Bloods are after isn't theirs. Then again, they’ve "earned" it. Even during the war, the Viet Cong used news reports and facts to make Black soldiers question their place in the conflict. The men we follow suffered greatly during the war, particularly Paul. His complex relationship with his son, David (Jonathan Majors), proves it. For all these men, Vietnam never ended and their government failed to take care of them once they returned home. Norman made them promise they would use the money to make a difference.
You expect a certain political standpoint from Spike Lee and it’s there… but the film is not “us and them”. To his friends’ shock and disappointment, Paul strolls into Vietnam with a red “Make America Great Again” hat. It perfectly summarizes the complexity of this group.
We've got a great story. In it are rich characters. These people feel real. They joke around, prove themselves the best of friends, expose their vulnerabilities... and don’t always do what you expect them to. You have no idea where the story is going but you’ve got a bad feeling. Rarely does a treasure trove prove to be the salvation men expect.
Da 5 Bloods is then elevated to the next level by the way Spike Lee tells this story by his co-writers Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, and Kevin Willmott. When the Bloods look at a photo, the film cuts to a shot of just that photo. When they remember Norman, it’s done as if this is a documentary. For a moment, you forget this is fiction. Then, we have the flashback sequences. There aren’t enough of them to make Chadwick Boseman’s performance more than a cameo but the way they’re presented I’ve never seen before. Rather than cast men who look like young versions of Lindo, Majors, Peters, or Lewis, they play themselves in these memories of the past. Why not? When you reminisce, the events you saw are from the same point of view as today. The difference in aspect ratio emphasizes these are memories, not literal trips through time. The editing, camerawork, music, casting, every aspect of filmmaking amplifies the film’s voice in a truly inspired way.
Da 5 Bloods juggles many complicated ideas and freshly presents them. Partly, it's because we haven’t seen what it was like to be a Black soldier in Vietnam, and certainly not within the context of 2020. It’s also a great story about greed and trauma with a fantastic cast. After it's over, I recommend you stay until the end of the credits to see a bonus “scene” showing the cast and crew. It isn’t essential in the same way a nugget that teases the next Marvel movie but it does give you a nice breather after all this heavy stuff. (January 31, 2021)
