DETROIT ON BIG SCREEN
Boyega arrives for premiere
There’s a good chance you’ve never heard this story, and it’s probably going to make you queasy.
The cast and creative minds behind the new movie Detroit, chronicling the relatively unknown but horrifying story of the Algiers Motel Incident during the 1967 riots, are in the Motor City for Tuesday’s world premiere.
Before their red carpet walk, stars including director Kathryn Bigelow, John Boyega of Star Wars fame and Anthony Mackie from Captain America: Civil War held court with the media Monday in downtown Detroit.
“I thought it was a tragedy that needed to the see the light of day,” Bigelow told reporters at the Detroit Foundation Hotel. “Yes, it’s a story that probably is familiar to people in Detroit. But outside of Detroit nobody knew about this. And there’s probably a lot of other stories like that, and maybe those other stories will see the light of day if this can generate meaningful conversation.”
The movie focuses on what has become known as the Algiers Motel Incident, a bloody tragedy that unfolded not far from where the 12th Street Riot began 50 years ago this month.
A group of black men and women sought refuge in the motel during the rioting, only to be attacked by police. The tragic story began July 25, 1967, with a report of gunshots near the hotel. Riot police moved in. They killed three black men and brutally beat nine other people.
Two of the deaths were ruled self-defence or justifiable homicide. Three officers and a security guard were charged with a list of crimes including murder. They were all found not guilty.
Bigelow started reading the script in early 2015, shortly after the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who shot Michael Brown was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“I felt a very strong emotional reaction to that,” she said. “I heard this story and I thought, all right, that’s 50 years ago. But it’s today, and it’s yesterday and it’s potentially tomorrow. And so I felt this has to stop.”
They don’t sugar coat what happened during one of the darkest chapters of the riots. The movie, which opens Aug. 4, has been described as turbulent, nightmarish and agonizing.
Boyega, who stars as a security guard at the centre of the drama, said he’s still scarred after putting himself in the shoes of the people who really lived it while shooting the hotel scenes.
“We were shooting night shoots, we were there for a long time,” said Boyega, who rose to fame as Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “It was claustrophobic. These guys were hyperventilating on the wall. There was blood, there was must. It’s the worst trip ever.”
Despite the film’s depiction of violence and racism, screenwriter Mark Boal hopes people won’t look away. After hearing Monday there were people refusing to watch the movie, he said that was “the saddest thing.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to get people to face things they don’t want to face,” said Boal, who also worked with Bigelow on Zero Dark Thirty and the Academy Award-winning Hurt Locker. “It’s a very intense, hard core, riveting experience. I have an idea, maybe you could sell it (to) them by saying it’s an important piece of American history that they don’t know about and that it’s just a movie and they’ll be fine. They can go back to their lives afterwards.”
Mackie said people should watch Detroit because it tells an important story that has been largely ignored for 50 years.
“When you look at this movie, what Mark and Kathryn were able to do — which drew me in and really blew me away when I saw the movie — was give voice to the voiceless,” he said. “No one knew this story. Everybody knows about the riot. Nobody knows what happened at the Algiers Motel.”
That’s 50 years ago. But it’s today, and it’s yesterday and it’s potentially tomorrow. And so I felt this has to stop.