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‘Hurricane’ at the IMAX
Movies: “Hurricane on the Bayou” only tangentially depicts a storm called Katrina.
In fact, filming on the IMAX documentary began well before the Category 5 hurricane hit Louisiana and Mississippi.
Rather, it concentrates on the diminishing wetlands that serve as the nurseries and filters for the northern Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, but also as “natural speed bumps” for hurricanes as they rage inland. Clearly, the indictments from the naturalists, musicians and others in the forefront of the 45-minute show are aimed at convincing governments to dismantle at least parts of the levee system that scientists blame on the wetland losses.
In the middle of production, however, Katrina slammed ashore near New Orleans. So the IMAX team, led by Greg MacGillivray and Glen Pitre, commandeered a helicopter and boats to take eye-popping footage of the area’s destruction.
For this — and the dreamy underwater shots of the swamps — “Hurricane” merits a short afternoon stop at the Bullock Texas History Museum.
Other elements nag: The CGI representations of the storm pale in comparison to the epic film of the aftermath. The partially staged social and musical scenes feel awkward bookending the documentary clips, and the in-swamp episodes strive to make a protagonist out of an alligator family.
Sorry, most audiences won’t summon moist sympathies for dragonlike reptiles that regularly chomp on humans. (On the other hand, filmmakers have made cultural heroes of man-consuming polar bears, so perhaps …)
The message sticks, but the rhetoric, as often is the case with IMAX documentaries, is as muddy as the Mississippi.
Permalink | | Categories: By Michael Barnes
