*Originally written September 2nd, 2017*
"Racial Tension"
If cinema's mission is to invoke a reaction out of its audience, then I have to say bravo to Katheryn Bigelow's Detroit. In a very troubled time, releasing a film like this a very risky move, and one that sadly didn't pay off based on box-office numbers. Still, Detroit is a very important film, a film that will leave you disgusted and infuriated.
Telling multiple stories of the 1967 Detroit Riots that all conjoin to a fateful night at a motel, Detroit is some of the most painful, hard-hitting viewing I've seen in a long time and by far the most successful of Bigalow's career.
I did not think I'd ever come out of a film and say Will Poulter gives one of the best performances of the year, but hey, here we are. His portrayal of a racist and murderous cop in a very dark passage in America's history was one of the most engrossing and unsettling things from 2017. He's cruel, relentless, yet never falls into caricature or anything over the top.
Bigalow splits the film into three distinct acts. Before the motel, the night at the motel, then the court case aftermath. While the strongest material by far was all the stuff at the motel, everything else was still transfixing and tense. Bigelow does her usual style, shakey-cam almost documentary aesthetic that keeps things grounded and the audience with the events. It never feels cheesy or Hollywood. It just tells this story in the most realistic way possible.
When I say Detroit is tense. It's insane. Every moment at the motel is gut-wrenching and hard to stomach. Helped by excellent performances from everyone involved (It's always great to see Hannah Murray pop up too). Detroit refuses to shy away from graphic, horrible and impossible to comprehend events and tackles them head first with care without its themes hitting you over the head and feeling preachy.
If I had any problems, I'd say Detroit tries to juggle a lot of characters and arcs, with a few feeling a bit incomplete and I wish we spent a little more time getting under the skin of a few of these people. There's also a strong focus on a character's music career that probably could have been tripped a little to help an already long film.
Detroit tackles a sensitive subject, but Katheryn Bigelow does an incredible job putting you in the middle of this horrific event that is still sadly relevant to today's society. It's a film that needs to be seen. One of the best of the year in an already incredible year.
9/10 Dans
Detroit is out now in cinemas in the UK
Watch the trailer below:
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