Movie Detroit (2017): Complete Analysis Of The Many Aspects

Movie Review: Detroit (2017)
Table of Contents
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Complete Analysis……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Full Synopsis of the Movie…………….………………………………………………………… 6
Relevance to Current Times.………………………………………………....…………………... 9
Review Summary....….…………………………………………………………………..……... 10
Bibliography…..………………………………………………………………..………….....… 11
Complete Analysis
There are a lot of good movies out there that just brings out the nitty-gritty aspects of life in a sinful and exemplary show of artistic flair. However, there are also those movies that show otherwise.
One movie that is currently a central point of many critics and controversies nowadays is the film directed by Kathryn Bigelow, entitled Detroit. It is a movie that shows artistic display of historic events but at the same time fail to capture the deeper aspect what the movie essentially aims to depict. Here is the complete analysis of the many aspects that comprise the movie:
Main Idea/Theme
The movie Detroit is based on a factual drama that took place on the July 1967. The movie specifically targets police violence. It circles on how some rogue officers from the Detroit Police Department respond to a filed complaint on basis of retribution rather than dole out fair justice.
The police department of Detroit comprised of white Americans violently dealt with the black residents as well as the white people associated with them. The police violence witnessed by other black residents caused the onslaught of riots and acts violence from the public. This series of violent events aims to embody and portray a chilling replica of one of the United States infamous racial disputes, centered on the 12th Street of Detroit.
The movie depicted the historical facts, the sheer brutality, and injustice of racism. The intention of how it is directed is to show the cruelty of racial discrimination and how little change can be seen now. This intention is clear throughout the movie as a reflection of the main theme― police violence.
Storyline
The movie centers on the events on the night of 25th of July 1967 where a racial dispute, one of the largest ever recorded in US history, occurred because of a police raid. The story focuses on the residents and guests of Algiers motel as they are dragged into the 12th Street Riot that killed three African Americans and involved the beating of seven more and two white female Americans.
The movie looks into the story of each of the central characters and how each coped and dealt with the stress and horror of their situations as they are interrogated and manhandled by police officers. The story further delves on how the aftermath of the incident affected the lives of the central characters.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack enlisted for the movie reflects the mood and shifts of the scenes. The songs used are all great works and seem to portray the different atmospheres of the movie. The soundtrack helps give the audience understanding on the transitions happening within the film. The tracks used to portray the shift from a calm and warm scene into more hostile and aggressive territory. It also helps provide emotional depth to the movie by successfully conveying the warm scenes, such as the Dramatics performance, and the chilling, fear-inducing scenes of the riot and beatings.
Atmosphere
The movie shows an interesting array of the atmosphere. There is a mixture of jovial and light atmospheres as can be seen in the party scene at the Algiers hotel. There is also an atmosphere of suspense, thrill, rage, and fear as portrayed on scenes in the streets of Detroit as white police officers and guards patrol the streets. The same atmosphere is intensified in the scenes occurring within the Algiers Motel, especially on how the police officers violently raided the motel and interrogated the guests to reveal the alleged sniper.
There is also a portrayal of a somber atmosphere laced with the feeling of betrayal and disappointment when at the end of the trial of the police officers, towards the ending of the movie, the accused were found not guilty by the all-white jury.
Actors Play
Although Kathryn Bigelow successfully depicted the intention of making the viewers reflect on the racial injustice that is still apparent in the United States, the manner as to how the main characters are portrayed seemed superficial and superfluous.
Even from the start, it can clearly be seen that the lives of the black residents of the city of Detroit are depicted as a singular indiscriminate mass. Even the beginning scene at the Algiers motel where the guests seem to interact and watch each other while they drink after-hours at a decrepit under-licensed motelseem bleak. It is only after the assault on rogue white police officers that these unseemly characteristics develop their distinct identities and evolve into the main characters of the drama.
The main characters get their distinctive spotlights when the party at one of the rooms of the Algiers gets violently crashed by jumpy police officers in search of a supposed shooter and the gun used. The main characters were subjected to such violence because one of the black men, Carl, decided to taunt the police officers outside by firing a starter pistol (a gun that only makes with no bullets fired) at them. If you look at the development of the plot and how the actors play their characters, it can be said that the drama is fast approaching its climax. However, the things that the director have the actors do to portray their characters is a bit repellent. Take for example the scene where one of the young white females is forced and violently manhandled to admit being a prostitute. The sheer...