I love watching documentaries. But I can safely say that very few of them have made me cry. (The only other documentary that did that was 9/11.) Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke is a four-hour documentary on HBO is an unflinching portrayal of the Katrina disaster. It starts with a jazz tune, the music for which New Orleans is so famous. However, while the happy music plays, grim pictures of New Orleans' past interweave with images of hurricane Katrina, and the devastation it wrought shone on the screen.
The story of Katrina is told through a series of interviews. Spike Lee has woven quite a tapestry out of these interviews. We have people like the New Orleans mayor and the Governor of Louisiana giving accounts. But what's most effective were the stories told by Katrina survivors. I remember watching this calm-looking man giving an account of how he tried to move his ailing mother to the convention centre where so many suffered in the later days. Only later, as his story unfolded, did I realise that his mother later died and was one of the bodies that were left outside the stadium. In fact, I remember watching and reading news reports and seeing the body either in pictures or telecast over CNN.
I was quite moved to see Sean Penn helping Katrina victims, getting down and dirty in the flood waters (by then flooded by sewage and goodness knows what else). It's unfortunate that people say that he's making use of the Katrina disaster to boost his popularity. Excuse me, but the people criticising him were doing it from the comfort of their own couches while the actor waded through dirty waters pulling out the infirm or elderly to boats. At least give him that — he's doing something, whatever his real motives are.
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Article comments
1 - handyguy
Thanks for your review. It's one of the very best movies of the year, and one that everyone should see -- especially, of course, people like your parents. Only the most defensive of conservatives would see this beautiful work as a political rant. Most who describe it that way haven't seen it.
2 - doctorj
Please, as a conservative New Orleanian, ask your parents to watch this documentary for me. It lets the citizens of New Orleans tell their story in their own words. It is the only time their voices are allowed to be heard. I thought it was very balanced. If any people came off looking bad, it was just because of their own actions.
3 - Phyllis Montana-Leblanc
My name is Mrs. Phyllis Montana-Leblanc. I was featured in Spike Lee's "When The Levees Broke." If it were not for this documentary the world would not have known what we endured, all of us, during and after Hurricane Katrina. I have since written a first-hand account memoir of my experiences and those of my family. My book is titled: "Not Just The Levees Broke" My Story During and After Hurricane Katrina." Foreword By: Spike Lee. We have been our new home for 8 months this month. We were in a fema trailer for almost 3 years due to the price gouging for apartments and it's still going on. The Lower Ninth Ward is still suffering badly, where I live there is no hospital, but clinics that are housed in trailers. Spike helped me to connect with a publisher and an agent for my book. Simon and Schuster,NY is my publisher and William Morris Talent Agency, NY is my agent. We are moving forward by our own strength, the help of volunteers who are still giving us their blood,sweat and tears. New Orleans is coming back because we are strong people and our Gumbo is the backbone of our strength and most of all our Faith in God. Thank you for not having "Katrina Fatigue." Phyllis Montana-Leblanc. Hurricane Katrina Survivor. November 28, 2008.