Detroit

Kathryn Bigelow is a skilled director who has delivered many films that are impressive in every respect, so I was really looking forward to this lesser-known film for most people. The movie deals with the Detroit riots of 1967 and primarily focuses on the murders at the Algiers Motel. I must commend the cinematography, which pulled me into the story with its dynamism from the very first minutes. Normally, I’m not a fan of this type of “shaky” camera work, but it was truly fitting here. Additionally, I greatly appreciate the cast that the creators assembled. John Boyega surprisingly didn’t bother me here; I could more easily imagine someone else in his role in Star Wars, but I had no issues with his uniform expression here—it suited the character. Will Poulter particularly gave an outstanding performance, making everyone probably want to pull their hair out whenever his antagonist appeared on screen. The middle section set in the motel is probably the most suspenseful part of the film; there were moments when the actions of many characters genuinely made me feel uneasy, and the final trial added the figurative cherry on top. Incomprehensible. Excellent craftsmanship. I give it 81%. (09/16/2019)

This is a film that's just formally well made, but it turns out that Bigelow puts more focus on the story until it leaves the motel. After that it's just kind of a necessity that doesn't have the right drive and seems to simply fade out. Besides, the main point was said in the motel by the actions of those involved. (12/12/2017)

A tense drama with a lesson that even the smallest mistake can cost you your life when people are under stress. Detroit is mainly about the inability to communicate and racism against both blacks and white that results. Bigelow cleverly does not favor any minority (either the police or color) and, even though in the finale the white boys are branded as criminals, at the beginning it’s clear that they were just trying to keep order before their nerves snapped. Racism isn’t the problem. The problem is as always about moral and immoral behavior. I used to think I couldn’t, but in the end I could. (03/06/2018)

With Kathryn Bigelow's films I usually appreciate a lot the quasi-documentary portrayals, but I also have a problem with the dramatic detachment and the not-quite-successful attempt at maximum plot complexity. Detroit is her first film where both aspects work almost 100% of the time. The visual naturalism and authentic atmosphere are established in a matter of seconds and don't let up until the end, and in the first 90 minutes we follow a precisely constructed story moving from an overarching racial conflict to a conflict between a group of more or less profiled characters. The actors are excellent and it’s perhaps a pity that we learn so little about some of them despite the long runtime, while others are artificially made-up types in order to classically dramatise the true story. The last 45 minutes do ease off the throttle, and the film eases the viewer out of the emotional cage thanks to a softening of the radical editing and shaky camerawork, but as a whole it’s a narrative without major flaws or hesitations, writing a dignified and urgent epitaph to the victims that emerged from the event. Even an old song about race still has its power when it gets a creative conductor like this. 80% (12/24/2017)

Kathryn Bigelow has been doing more or less the same thing over and over again for the last few years, but she does it with precision and personality, whether it's choosing a general theme or one specific story like Zero Dark Thirty. Detroit is another textbook procedural, but one that offers both points of view. The first twenty minutes give us a whiff of uncompromising turmoil and chaos through volatile camerawork and grainy images, after which the key figures on both sides and the supporting storyline of the entire film begin to coalesce from crude silhouettes. She knows how to escalate the atmosphere, she works brilliantly with the violence, whether direct or indirect, and she escalates emotions very well. There aren't as many stellar acting names as in other, similarly focused films, so it will take the viewer a little longer to find "their favourite", but in the end it will probably work out for most, as the further we get through the story, the more personal and urgent the final statement is. A sensitive subject for the USA and Bigelow as usual doesn’t beat around the bush. (12/04/2017)