Home > The M.O. > Archives > 2007 > April > 26 > Entry
“When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”
Last night I watched one of the most powerful and moving films I have ever seen in my life.
It’s been about 20 months since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and much of the region, especially New Orleans, is still in shambles. Following the hurricane, director Spike Lee took cameras into the region and began filming a documentary (“When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts”) that tells the underreported story of a region and its people still reeling from the effects of the worst natural disaster in American history.
I realize that watching or talking about a film that came out 8 months ago may seem pointless, but I could not avoid sharing my thoughts on the film and strongly encouraging you to view it. You may ask what took me so long to watch the movie, which is a point well-taken. One of the reasons I had been postponing of late is the fact that my girlfriend evacuated to Austin from New Orleans, and the events and fallout surrounding Katrina were the most heartbreaking thing she has ever endured. Having seen bits of the film, she needed some time before she could return to the pain she had mourned since the destruction of her hometown of New Orleans. Last night, she decided it was time to revisit the life-changing event.
In the film, Lee avoids any heavy-handed proselytizing, adding almost no commentary or voice over of his own. Instead, he allows the people, the pictures and the sounds of New Orleans to tell the story for him, as any great documentarian should. The film ends up resembling a traditional New Orleans funeral, scored beautifully by New Orleans musician Terrence Blanchard.
This space is not the place for me to point fingers or make accusations laying blame at people’s feet, but witnessing the movie, you realize that there is plenty of blame to go around, from the local government to President Bush. The massive, historic failures and incompetence of the government (especially the federal government) are given facts at this point, and Lee generally spends less time casting blame and more time allowing the people to tell their stories. The pain, outrage, and hopelessness of the disenfranchised people of New Orleans are palpable in almost every scene.
The citizens portrayed in the film from the “city that care forgot” span the socio-economic spectrum, eliminating any cynical viewer’s loathsome opportunity to asperse any particular group. While the first half of the movie generally rehashes the tragedy that most of the public saw on television in those weeks (although delving deeper into the malaise with more graphic and heartbreaking original footage along with British television coverage) the second half of the movie tells the woefully disregarded tale of the reasons behind the levee breeches, the attempts of hundreds of thousands of people to rebuild their lives both in and out of New Orleans, and the unfortunately bleak prospects for the future of the most authentic culture and city in the United States.
The film had originally been commissioned to be two hours, but after nine trips to the region, the director felt compelled to double the length. At four hours, you will need to set aside an entire evening (and box of Kleenex and possibly a punching bag on which to release your anger with the horrific treatment of the storm’s victims) to watch the magnum opus.
Spike Lee has made some wonderful and topical films, but he has never made anything with this much heart, subtlety and soul. And it shall be his legacy. All Americans owe it to themselves to watch this film and recognize the plight of, and devastation and indignation suffered by, their fellow brothers and sisters.
(Almost everyone to whom I have mentioned this film in the past says, “Yeah, I hear it’s an amazing and heartbreaking film. I want to see it.” I, too, used to have that response when the movie was mentioned. Well, it’s readily available. Watch it.)
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
