Exclusive: Spike Lee on Da 5 Bloods and injecting Black History in his stories

As studios are campaigning some of their films in the hopes of landing Oscar nominations, one of the films being touted and rightly so is Da 5 Bloods, director Spike Lee’s follow-up movie to his Oscar-nominated BlacKkKlansman.

Released last June on Netflix. the film follows 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 (the late 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.

The cast also includes Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser, Jasper Pääkkönen, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Van Veronica Ngo, and Jean Reno.

Lee re-wrote Da 5 Bloods with fellow BlacKkKlansman co-writer and Oscar winner Kevin Willmott from a script originated by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo. The film will be produced by Beatriz Levin, Lloyd Levin, Jon Kilik and Lee. The film has received numerous awards and nominations, and was named by the National Board of Review as the Best Film of 2020.

In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales, Lee talks about the importance of infusing Black history in the film as he’s done with his previous films.