Spike Lee has done it again. The Morehouse College educated Hollywood director, filmmaker and producer has delivered an informative, exceptionally woke, Black classic film. Da 5 Bloods, is a war drama of a few Vietnam War veterans who return to their war grounds and the adventures that ensue. With frequent flashbacks from historical moments, this movie tells the story of Black men everywhere and highlights the beauty and resilience of the African American people.
The film opens to tunes of Marvin Gaye and instantly signals warm cultural nostalgia and Black family gatherings like cookouts and holidays spent with love, celebration and great food. Within the first 5 minutes, you’ve heard cultural colloquialisms, “brotha,”fought against the man,” “back in the day,” and the list continues. Lee opens with cameos from historic figures in the Black community like Muhammad Ali, Neil Armstrong, Malcolm X, and Angela Davis.
The main characters, former soldiers, Paul, Otis, Eddie, Melvin and their squad leader Norman are played by Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isaiah Whitlock Jr. and Chadwick Boseman embark on a quest that is both reuniting and culturally-awakening. The group of Black men who risked their lives for their country unearths shocking but frequent horrors Black men encounter. Among these shocking truths, the film amplifies the poor treatment of African Americans and the impact of systematic racism and prejudicial governing. Especially following the filmed murders of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, Da 5 Bloods couldn’t be more timely.
Watch the official trailer:
Did you know 186,000 Black men fought in the Civil War? Did you know 850,000 Black men fought in World War II? Did you none of them returned to a life promised when they enlisted? It only makes sense that Spike Lee used eye-opening prejudice to predicate his latest film. He delivered films like Crooklyn, Do the Right Thing, She’s Gotta Have It, Malcolm X, BlackKklansman, Jungle Fever and School Daze.
Raw. Black. Unrelenting. Stories!
Lee is a proud Black creative and artist whose production is his individualized form of activism, protest and is notorious for amplifying and celebrating the strife and story of Black people. Lee grew up Spike Lee is a proud graduate of historically Black Morehouse College, the only all-male Black college in the country. Lee’s parents graduated from Morehouse and sister school Spelman College, as did his grandparents and the 1979 graduate has repeatedly announced “Morehouse is where I became a man.” Da 5 Bloods debuted on Netflix on June 12. The film was written by Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee. It was produced by Jon Kilik, Beatriz and Lloyd Levin. Watch Da 5 Bloods today!
