Kathryn Bigelow shot most of the heart-wrenching film ‘Detroit’ in Dorchester
The plot of Detroit, as its title would suggest, is deeply rooted in the Michigan city, taking place amid the violent and deadly Detroit riots of 1967.However, Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) took to Boston to make the film. “Beginning in 2016 we shot all around the city from Brockton to Dorchester,” Bigelow told The Boston Globe. “Thank the state of Massachusetts on my behalf, because it was a great production experience on all levels.” Detroit specifically chronicles the Algiers Motel incident. In the film’s portrayal, three young African-American men are shot in cold blood and several other young people are brutally beaten by three white police officers, who were never convicted.
“Mark Boal [the screenwriter] used his judgment as a reporter and he relied on the contemporary reporting on the incident, the court documents, and everything else that was available,” Bigelow told the Globe of the film’s story. “When there were gaps and discrepancies — it’s a movie, not a documentary — in those gaps we used a slight amount of fictionalization. But it’s all based in research.”
Filming of those pivotal scenes took place in Dorchester, Bigelow told the Globe.
“The house we used for the location where most of the film takes place is a residence in Dorchester,” she said. “Basically my production designer took over the house and transformed it into the Algiers Motel annex, which is a three-story Victorian that was physically right next to the motel. That’s where the alleged sniper fire came from that set in motion this tragedy.”
Will Poulter, left, and Anthony Mackie in a scene from ‘Detroit.’
Bigelow also spoke with the Globe about how she hopes the release of a film showcasing racial tensions could help catalyze discussion around the topic in this country.
“My hope is that by telling this story it might encourage other stories asking questions about why such racial conflict keeps recurring,” she told the publication. “It’s painfully complex and I don’t pretend to know how such a conversation can take place. But, as a filmmaker, this is a medium I am conversant in, so I hope to tell this story. Maybe then a dialogue can arise.”
Detroit hits theaters Aug. 4.
