DA 5 BLOODS (L to R) ISIAH WHITLOCK JR. as MELVIN, NORM LEWIS as EDDIE, CLARKE PETERS as OTIS, DELROY LINDO as PAUL, JONATHAN MAJORS as DAVID in DA 5 BLOODS. Cr. DAVID LEE/NETFLIX © 2020
Quick cut: On its surface, Da 5 Bloods is an exhilirating adventure filled with twists, turns, and Spike Lee's iconic style. However, it's also a depth-filled character study that his heartbreakingly prescient about our present moment.
Though Spike Lee has a penchant for cinematic flourishes—direct-to-camera monologues, splicing in archival footage and photographs, and, of course, his famous double dolly shot—he's not one to let style overcome the substance of a piece. Such is the case of his latest film Da 5 Bloods, which was released on Netflix this month. And as with his Oscar-winning previous effort BlacKkKlansman, it couldn't have come at a better time.
The five “bloods” that the title refers to are Vietnam veterans Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clark Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), Melvin (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), and their fallen comrade Norman Earl “Stormin' Norman” Holloway (Chadwick Boseman). During their stint in Vietnam, the squad was tasked with delivering a locker of gold bars to the Lahu people as a show of gratitude for their help fighting the Viet Cong. However, instead of delivering the bars as promised, the group conspires under Norm's command to take the gold for themselves by burying it and retrieving it later.
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In the present day, we learn that Norm was killed during the mission and a napalm strike of the area left them unable to locate the buried treasure. Now, with a lifetime behind them, the four surviving Bloods reunite to find the gold together. However, time—and society—has changed each of them. Not only that, their time in Vietnam still weighs heavily on their shoulders, especially Paul.
Lee's greatest talent as a filmmaker is finding a way to remit thematic heftiness and deep character explorations while delivering a genuinely entertaining story with striking characters. Da 5 Bloods may be his greatest success in that aspect. As the squad, joined by Paul's son David (Jonathan Majors), traverses the jungles of Vietnam and relive their past with the help of their local guide Vinh (Johnny Trí Nguyễn) and Otis' old Vietnamese girlfriend Tiên (Lê Y Lan), insecurities from the past and present begin to haunt them.
In particular, Paul, who has become a devout Trump supporter—he unashamedly wears a “Make America Great Again” hat throughout the film—has become disillusioned. For him, Vietnam is still the enemy and the cause for all the pain in his life—including his PTSD and loss of his wife during childbirth. The squad's return isn't triumphant for him like it is for the other men.Da 5 Bloods, though packaged as a story of adventure—an actual treasure hunt—and one of friendship and nostalgia, is incredibly profound and prescient about the state of this country. Norman, portrayed as a Christ-like figure—Otis even says, “he was our Malcolm and our Martin”—delivers the film's message.
The treatment of Black people in Vietnam is nothing more than an amplification of the treatment of Black people in America. They're underpaid, undervalued, and expected to subservient to their White commanders and the will of the country. The film even opens with a clip from Muhammad Ali: “My conscience won't let me go shoot my brother … some poor hungry people living in the mud. Shoot them for what? They never called me a n—–. They never lynched me. They didn't put no dogs on me.”
Lindo's performance as Paul—easily one of the best in a Spike Lee film since Denzel Washington's Malcolm X—is heartbreaking to watch as it shows what could happen when an oppressed person is so traumatized that their only salvation is the thing oppressing them. The other Bloods find joy in the adventure, Paul only finds pain.
Da 5 Bloods is Lee's most ambitious and impressive film to date. The sweeping cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel effortlessly switches between the vast Vietnam landscape of the present day and past to contribute to the narrative. As does Terence Blanchard's score, which is as epic as a war film requires, but still find nuances to help the characters along. Still, it's Lee's steady directing at the helm that makes Da 5 Bloods breezily enjoyable while finding moments to poke at your emotional vulnerabilities.
On its surface, Da 5 Bloods is a war epic about four Vietnam veterans hunting for treasure and finding their fallen comrade to bring him home. They do find that fallen comrade's remains and Lindo's monologue—laced with relief and regret—tells you everything you need to know about the film. Under the exciting veneer of this adventure, there's pain at the hands of society and self. And that pain is still here today. Black Lives Mattered then and they matter now.
Da 5 Bloods is now streaming on Netflix.
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Hey! I'm Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I'm also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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