Detroit
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
- drama
- thriller
- history
The story
A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest citizens' uprisings in the history of the United States.
What it’s like
Hand-held, close-quarters camerawork gives this film the immediacy of news footage: smoke-hazed streets lit by flickering fire and flashing police lights, grainy night exteriors, and cramped motel rooms rendered in dingy, sweat-damp browns and greys. The palette shifts between sun-bleached summer afternoons and the sickly orange glow of burning blocks, while long, unbroken takes hold on faces and silence until the tension becomes unbearable. Sound does much of the work, moving from the swell of a church choir and the ordinary hum of a city to the sudden crack of gunfire and the stillness that follows. The mood is sustained dread and grief, with a slow build toward one night of violence that is protracted, brutal and frequently unflinching, including beatings, a murder and overt racism. Gore is limited, but the cruelty lands hard and the pacing rarely gives the viewer room to breathe. It suits a serious, attentive evening rather than casual background viewing, and it is best for viewers prepared for a heavy, morally grim historical drama.
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