Detroit
30/08/17 Filed in: Cinema
Detroit is a very intense film and one that leaves you shocked as to the violence meted out to a group of innocent people, and incredulous as to the lack of justice these people received. Set around the 1967 riots one can't help feeling that not a lot has changed, with police killings still invariably not resulting in convictions, and sometimes with charges not even being instigated.
The troubles start after a police raid on an unlicensed drinking club where returning black veterans were celebrating. This in itself appears as an entirely unjustified and heavy handed action, resulting in spectators starting to protest and after a while throwing rocks. This soon escalates into what is referred to as the 12th Street Riot. With local authorities and elected representatives unable to restore order Governor George W Romney calls in the Michigan National Guard and army paratroopers. Looting is rife and properties are being torched. It is like a war zone. Cruising around and watching this are three cops, and witnessing a looter, one of them, Philip Krauss gives chase. Unable to catch the fleeing negro he shoots him in the back, and although the man carries on running he later dies of his wounds. Krauss is called in to the office back at the station and rebuked for his actions, being told that a murder charge may follow. But Krauss turns out to be nothing less than a psychopath, who is allowed back out into the melee.
We are next introduced to an all male vocal group, The Dramatics, who are awaiting their big chance to go on stage when the theatre is emptied on police orders. Forced to leave their bus because of the rioting, the lead singer, Larry Reed, and his young friend Fred Temple rent a cheap room at the Algiers Motel. There they meet two young white girls, who in turn introduce them to a small group of negro friends. One of them, Carl Cooper, plays a prank, pretending to shoot one of the others, but it's only a starting pistol. At this point Larry and Fred return to their room. But Carl's pranks aren't over, as he starts firing the pistol out of the window to 'frighten the troopers'. This provokes a full-scale sniper alert as troops and police rush to the motel and take up assault positions.
These movements have attracted the attention of Melvin Dismukes, a negro security guard who has already acted to diffuse one encounter between a young black man and the police. He makes his way to the motel to see what's happening. Meanwhile the three cops led by Krauss have entered the motel annex, where the now petrified group of friends have already been peppered with automatic gunfire from the army and police. What follows is a display of abject inhumanity as the group are heinously assaulted, at the end of which three negroes are dead. Dismukes, played superbly by John Boyega, tries his best to moderate, but he is himself conscious of his precarious position in such a charged atmosphere.
The police authorities are quick to recognise the culprits, who are interviewed with a view to prosecution. The case goes to trial, where the defence attorney performs the usual ploy of painting the victims as unreliable witnesses, who in some cases have criminal records. Add to that an all-white jury, and it's not hard to imagine the outcome.
The incident at the Algiers motel left a group of people severely traumatised, parents grieving and individual futures irrevocably altered.
Obviously nobody can categorically describe everything that happened in that motel and the film reports from the evidence that is available, but what's clear is that this incident shows in a cold light the conflict between white supremacy, exemplified by Krauss and the two other officers, and the multi-cultural community within which people such as them operate. This is a chilling film, and its message ought to resound loud in present day America, that is once more in danger of moving towards this sort of outcome. And there are also lessons for us in here in Britain, where hate and intolerance are also on the rise.
These movements have attracted the attention of Melvin Dismukes, a negro security guard who has already acted to diffuse one encounter between a young black man and the police. He makes his way to the motel to see what's happening. Meanwhile the three cops led by Krauss have entered the motel annex, where the now petrified group of friends have already been peppered with automatic gunfire from the army and police. What follows is a display of abject inhumanity as the group are heinously assaulted, at the end of which three negroes are dead. Dismukes, played superbly by John Boyega, tries his best to moderate, but he is himself conscious of his precarious position in such a charged atmosphere.
The police authorities are quick to recognise the culprits, who are interviewed with a view to prosecution. The case goes to trial, where the defence attorney performs the usual ploy of painting the victims as unreliable witnesses, who in some cases have criminal records. Add to that an all-white jury, and it's not hard to imagine the outcome.
The incident at the Algiers motel left a group of people severely traumatised, parents grieving and individual futures irrevocably altered.
Obviously nobody can categorically describe everything that happened in that motel and the film reports from the evidence that is available, but what's clear is that this incident shows in a cold light the conflict between white supremacy, exemplified by Krauss and the two other officers, and the multi-cultural community within which people such as them operate. This is a chilling film, and its message ought to resound loud in present day America, that is once more in danger of moving towards this sort of outcome. And there are also lessons for us in here in Britain, where hate and intolerance are also on the rise.