By Seemingly out of the blue, we’ve got a new Spike Lee film on our hands. Da 5 Bloods looks like Kelly’s Heroes by way of Platoon, and the new trailer released by Netflix backs it all up with 100% Spike Lee style.
Set in present-day Vietnam, a squad of veterans (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) return to dig up the past. Literally. On the hunt for buried treasure from the war days, the four confront the memory of their fallen squad leader (Chadwick Boseman); the fifth of the titular “5 Bloods.”
Boasting a contrast of sharp widescreen modernity and oversaturated, lush filmic imagery, the trailer sets up the parallel timelines the film looks to explore, as well as feature a plethora of archival footage.
Da 5 Bloods looks to bottle the anger and injustice experienced particularly by African American soldiers during the Vietnam War; “The United States Armed Forces came close to being torn apart when black soldiers heard that Dr. King was assassinated,” Lee said when speaking to Vanity Fair. “The tipping point came very close; the black soldiers were getting ready to set it off in Vietnam—and not against the Vietcong either.”
Da 5 Bloods will hit Netflix on June 12th.
First Look at Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods [Vanity Fair]