If we had been in Cannes, Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” would have gotten a standing ovation last night at the Palais. Chadwick Boseman would have been the toast of the town, with lots of Oscar buzz.
Interestingly, Cannes’s Thierry Fremaux would have allowed “Da 5 Bloods” to be featured out of competition as a nod to jury chief Spike Lee, despite the festival’s long standing position against Netflix and TV platform films. But even Fremaux would have had to acquiesce this time, and Lee would have told me how grateful he was it all worked out.
“Da 5 Bloods” heavily features the Chambers Brothers’ great hit “Time Has Come Today” in the trailer. I hope they were paid very well.
The movie is described as the story of four African-American Vets — Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) — who return to Vietnam. Searching for the remains of their fallen Squad Leader (Chadwick Boseman) and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes, joined by Paul’s concerned son (Jonathan Majors), battle forces of Man and Nature — while confronted by the lasting ravages of The Immorality of The Vietnam War.
Norm Lewis, if there’s a god, you’ll get a nomination, too. If you don’t know Norm Lewis, he’s a Broadway superstar, and the most criminally underrated actor in the world.
