Review: Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee joints are confrontations. Confronting our stereotypes and prejudices. Confronting our relationship to art. With the exception of a few of his more mainstream films, (Inside Man and BlacKkKlansman) his projects even defy linear storytelling and conventions with the goal of shaking us up and inviting us to engage with what’s being presented to us. His latest film acquired by Netflix, Da 5 Bloods, is no different.
This film, though, hits a bit different as the issues Lee consistently and persistently addresses in his movies seem to be playing out in real life simultaneously. As Black Lives Matter protests sweep the country and there’s a collective awareness about the institutional and systemic effects of racism in America, this film feels like a good companion piece to real life.
The film follows 5 Black Vietnam vets who decide to reunite and make a trip back to the country that holds a lot of trauma for them. They have two goals: recover the remains of their fallen commander (played by Chadwick Boseman) and reclaim the gold they discovered and hid during the war. Each of the men carry the literal and metaphorical wounds of their days as soldiers and the subsequent years in a country that failed to not only acknowledge their sacrifice but prevented them from thriving in society.
It’s moving to witness the bond between these characters, but in true Spike Lee form, they’re all a complicated bunch. There’s no better picture of the conflicted nature of these characters than Paul (played by a brilliant Delroy Lindo). Paul is a MAGA hat wearing, embittered mess of walking contradictions. Suffering from PTSD, looking for a fight, and working through intense trauma and grief. Lee wants us to be in that world with these men, feeling the intensity and discomfort. While that process can feel like a jumbled mess at times, it’s an important story and worthwhile journey.