Page 30 - bon-dia-aruba-20200620

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Saturday 20 June 2020
Delroy Lindo on his titanic performance in 'Da 5 Bloods'

By JAKE COYLE that Paul has experienced,
AP Film Writer the loss that Paul has expe-
NEW YORK (AP) — In rienced. One of the largest
the jungle of Spike Lee's betrayals had to do with
sprawling and anguished the betrayal by my country
"Da 5 Bloods," Delroy Lin- when I got back from the
do's titanic performance war. My two cousins said
as a Vietnam veteran rises to me they were stunned
to a ferocious, even Shake- by the reaction, the lack
spearean pinnacle. of embrace for them as
Lee's film, now streaming vets. Cumulatively, these
on Netflix, follows four Af- betrayals add up to feeling
rican American veterans disenfranchised that could
who decades later return result in this individual com-
to Vietnam to find the re- ing along in 2016 coming
mains of their fallen squad along and saying, "I can
leader (Chadwick Bose- make it better." I can see
man) and lost gold. Lindo how one could get sucked
plays Paul, the most tragic into drink that particular
figure of the bunch, a sol- cup of Kool-Aid. And Paul
dier haunted by PTSD. Man- drank a pitcher of Kool-Aid,
gled by disappointment, man. Not just a cup.
xenophobia and rage, he AP: You've spoken about
has turned into a supporter being particularly bothered
of Donald Trump and wears by the depiction of black
a "Make American Great soldiers in "Platoon." Why
Again" hat. In this May 13, 2013 file photo, actor Delroy Lindo attends the NBC Network 2013 Upfront in New do you think African Ameri-
In Lindo's intense perfor- York. can veterans are so rarely
mance, "Da 5 Bloods" Associated Press seen in film?
turns almost mythic in its Lindo: There is a tradition of
deconstruction of African old son. since you worked with as a creative worker. The black soldiers being mar-
American history in U.S. Lindo built his performance Spike. Did you notice any- overall experience was ginalized at best, expur-
combat and in war films. on research, meeting with thing different about him? enhanced by the 20-plus gated at worst. This film ad-
For the 67-year-old Lindo, two cousins who served Lindo: He first called me years that had passed dresses that from the stand-
it's a mountain-peak per- and a number of Vietnam when I was in the car. He since we worked together. point that we are front
formance in a career, first vets. He reread the oral his- said some things that re- We're both 25 years older and center. We're seeing
established on the stage, tory of African Americans in ally moved me in terms of but still on a similar track, the Vietnam experience
that began with a trio of the Vietnam War, "Bloods," his respect for me, his re- creatively. through the lens of these
films with Lee (1992's "Mal- and watched the 1974 gard for me. That was dif- AP: You and Spike initially brothers. It's important from
colm X," 1994's "Crooklyn" documentary "Hearts and ferent. I have to say that disagreed about making a historical point of view to
and 1995's "Clockers"). Minds." And he attempted there were disagreements Paul a Trump supporter. tell these stories. I was born
Lindo's gravity has long to funnel centuries of pain that we had. I'm not go- Lindo: I remember saying in England and my family is
been felt in roles large and for black American soldiers ing to tell you exactly what to Spike, "Spike, I'm a father Caribbean. Both in World
small, from "Get Shorty" to into a colossal, larger-than- they were, but there were and a parent. I don't want War I and World War II,
"Heist," but "Da 5 Bloods" life character. a couple of bumpy mo- my son to see me doing Caribbean soldiers fought
gives Lindo one of his fullest Lindo felt the role closely ments when we disagreed that." But once Spike made for the British, with the Brit-
showcases. If there's Oscar enough that, in an inter- about a couple things, a it clear to me, "I need this, ish, and generally speaking
buzz this year, he'll have it. view, he sometimes drifted couple very, very impor- man. I need this to be a that contribution has been
"I am deeply proud of this into referring to his charac- tant things. But, A, we were component of the story," virtually expurgated. Gen-
work," Lindo said in a recent ter as himself. Answers have able to move on and, B, then my job was to get my erally, there's this tradition
phone interview from the been edited for brevity and he apologized. That for me head around it and ratio- of not focusing on us and
Bay Area home he shares clarity. was a manifestation of his nalize it. It had to do with our achievements and our
with his wife and 18-year- AP: It had been 25 years regard for me creatively, the depth of the betrayal contributions. q

Lithuania erects sculpture in honor of J.D. Salinger

By LIUDAS DAPKUS United States but also was gers had lived in Sudargas Manhattan, New York, in of capitalism with wars,
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — banned for decades there, at least since 1831 after 1919. strikes, homeless people
J.D. Salinger, the American joined other another figure the writer's great-grandfa- When his novel, depict- and unemployed workers,
writer best known for his with a statue there: singer ther, Hyman Joseph Salin- ing loss of innocence, was among others.
1951 novel "The Catcher in Leonard Cohen, whose ger, moved there from the published, it became an "We did not have rock 'n'
the Rye," was honored Fri- mother was born in Lithu- nearby town of Taurage. immediate success in the roll, freedom or other things
day with a sculpture fea- ania. The village still exists but the Western world. that young Americans
turing a rye field near the The history of the Salinger Jewish settlement does not. But at that time, Lithuania enjoyed," said Rolandas
Lithuanian village where his family goes back to Sudar- His grandson emigrated to was occupied by the So- Skaisgirys, one of those be-
ancestors lived. gas, a small Jewish settle- the United States in 1881, viet Union. Life during the hind the statue initiative.
The writer, whose book was ment on the Lithuanian-Pol- during famine and mar- Soviet-era was dominated The sculpture is of a human
popular among the post- ish border in what was then ried a Lithuanian immigrant by staged images of happi- silhouette cut out in a steel
World War II generation the Russian Empire. Village in Pennsylvania. Jerome ness and success, and was plate that is bent before a
of college students in the records show that the Salin- David Salinger was born in contrasted to grim images void. q