Da 5 Bloods – The Gold Standard

Setup your login for Craigslist gold and clear the landing zone to fly like Moses. Join us as we pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman and discuss the well rounded view on how everyone loses in war with Da 5 Bloods this week.

Stats

Director: Spike Lee
Released: June 2020 (netflix)
Writers: Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
Budget: $35–45 million
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis

Breakdown and Analysis

• First Spike Lee joint we have convered on the podcast.
• Oti’s first introduction to Spike Lee was Malcolm X. He is one of the first Black directors that was immediately recognisable in Kenya.Oti appreciated seeing perspective from African American soldiers. Something about coffee growing in different countries.
• It’s interesting what you get taught in schools is not only your allyship but also proximity to other countries. KT references Winston Churchill’s quote about history being kind to those that write it. How war movies only focus on one side hero and everyone else is evil.
• KT shares her education in Australia and unlike Oti, the Vietnam war was covered in detail even about Agent Orange but there was absolutely bias being allies to America.
• Real people are going to fight wars, whether you agree with them or not and we could all do better in taking care of our veterans. Making sure they have adequate resources to get back to as normal a life as possible.
• We appreciated that this film depicts that everyone loses out when it comes to war.
• This isn’t a perfect film but KT will fight and defend this movie. It deserves all the credit for it’s multifaceted lens of everyone involved.
• Oti gives credit to facts that were woven into the film. Hearing stories like Hidden Figures. Our stories don’t get told unless we tell them. Oti enjoyed the morsels the movie dropped on Black soldiers. Paul didn’t take anything away from Oti’s enjoyment.
• In Vietnam, it is known as Resistance War against America or less formally known American War it was between 1955-1975. Paul’s character mentioned being in the war in 1967 and 1971. This is also well within the Civil Rights Movement in America. So we have Black Americans in the army fighting for a country that doesn’t even acknowledge them as people.
• Hanoi Hannah broadcasted about Americans fighting a war that wasn’t there. For what? What the fuck are you fighting for?
• Chadwick Boseman fit in so well with Veteran actors that have had careers for decades. It speaks to his talents to be the beacon in every scene he was in. He had a bond with the bloods. This film would have benefited in having more Stormin’ Norman as he was the catalyst for the premise of the movie. KT wanted to live in his story a little bit longer. Oti wanted more on their comraderie.
• As far as we can understand, PTSD doesn’t just go away especially if you are not seeking professional help. This story is based in fiction and we are exploring characters. We need to have hope that the character is working towards a satisfying arc and the movie focused so much on Paul even though he was not changing.
• The use of having the actors in flashback scenes was super effective and removed pages of dialogue. What was missing from younger bodies, KT found all of that in sentiment.

Unrelated but vital points

• First notable role KT saw Delroy Lindo in was This Christmas.
• Oti wants to fight spoilt moviegoers.

For Your Reference

Oti

[imdb style=”gray”]tt0104797[/imdb]

KT

[imdb style=”gray”]tt5301662[/imdb]